SPYCRAFT 101

Today Justin sits down with Kirillo Alexandrov. Kirillo grew up in the United States, but moved to Kherson, Ukraine in 2018. In April 2022, following the Russian invasion and occupation of eastern Ukraine, Kirillo was taken prisoner. He was held for 37 days on charges of espionage, but was rescued by a small privately funded team led by Brian Stern. After a harrowing 20-hour journey across Ukraine, Kirillo crossed into Poland before safely returning to the United States. He’s here to discuss his capture, detention, and rescue, which resulted in indictments of four Russian service members by the Department of Justice on charges of war crimes.

Connect with Kirillo:
Instagram: @thecactuswatch
Substack: @thecactuswatch
Connect with Spycraft 101:

Get Justin’s latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.

spycraft101.com

IG: @spycraft101

Shop: shop.spycraft101.com

Substack: spycraft101.substack.com

Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin’s first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.

Check out Justin’s second book, Covert Arms, here.

Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative’s Sidearm of Choice, here.

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Today’s guest is Dr. Emrah Safa Gürkan. Emrah received his bachelor's and Master's degree from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and graduated with a PhD from Georgetown University in 2012. He's worked as a consultant for historical television series and co-hosted the Ottoman History Podcast with Chris Gian beginning in 2011. He also hosts the YouTube History Channel, Omnibus Live, which currently has nearly half a million subscribers. He's here today to discuss Ottoman intelligence operations throughout the Mediterranean.

Connect with Emrah:
ottomanhistorypodcast.com
YouTube: @OMNIBUSLIVE
Check out the book, Spies for the Sultan, here.
https://a.co/d/06c9iIqR
Connect with Spycraft 101:

Get Justin’s latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.

spycraft101.com

IG: @spycraft101

Shop: shop.spycraft101.com

Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin’s first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.

Check out Justin’s second book, Covert Arms, here.

Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative’s Sidearm of Choice, here.

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Today Justin sits down with Eduardo Barreto. Eduardo is a high school teacher at Gulliver Prep School and an adjunct professor of English composition at Miami-Dade College. He's married with five children and lives in Miami, Florida. Eduardo has published several books and various subjects, including both fiction and non-fiction. He's here to discuss the life and wars of his "uncle" Angel Benitez, who he has written about in his book. Eduardo was also joined during this interview by Mercedes Benitez, Angel's wife of more than 60 years. You may hear her contribute to the conversation here and there.

Connect with Eduardo:

theteacherwriter.net

Check out the book, Rebel with a Cause: A Cuban in the Congo, here.

https://a.co/d/0cwKm2hT

Connect with Spycraft 101:

Get Justin’s latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.

spycraft101.com

IG: @spycraft101

Shop: shop.spycraft101.com

Substack: spycraft101.substack.com

Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin’s first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.

Check out Justin’s second book, Covert Arms, here.

Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative’s Sidearm of Choice, here.

Kruschiki

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Justin's guest for today is Sean Wiswesser. Sean is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in History and Russian and Slavic Linguistics. He also has a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the Air War College. Sean is a former senior operations officer and former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency and has served multiple overseas tours, including in war zones during his career. He's here to discuss his career with CIA, working inside and against the Russian Intelligence Services, which he has written about in his new book. In it,  he details lessons learned from more than 30 years in the intelligence community, working up close with Russian spies, dissidents, and defectors.

Connect with Sean:

LinkedIn: Sean Wiswesser

Check out the book, Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin's Secret War, here.

https://a.co/d/0ckwvi9m

Connect with Spycraft 101:

Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.

spycraft101.com

IG: @spycraft101

Shop: shop.spycraft101.com

Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.

Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.

Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today Justin sits down with Mubin Shaikh. Mubin grew up in Toronto, Ontario in a family of Indian Muslim immigrants. As a young man, he was drawn down the path of radicalization after traveling to India and Pakistan and encountering Taliban fighters there. However, in 2004, he experienced a change of heart and soon began working with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to identify potential jihadis in Canada. In 2006, Mubin was the key witness in Canada's biggest ever homegrown terror investigation, which resulted in nearly 20 convictions. He's here today to discuss his experiences undercover with a terror group that later became known as the Toronto 18, which he wrote about in his book. Mubin's work was instrumental in securing convictions for the participants, but living a double life for more than two years also came at great personal cost to him.

Connect with Mubin:

parents4peace.org

LinkedIn: Mubin Shaikh

Check out the book, Undercover Jihadi: Inside the Toronto 18, here.

https://a.co/d/06jRj4HA

Connect with Spycraft 101:

Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.

spycraft101.com

IG: @spycraft101

Shop: shop.spycraft101.com

Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.

Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.

Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.