SPYCRAFT 101

Chart trend

Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#100#199JunJulAugSep

#44

all-time peak

days in the top 3 since Nov 2024

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

263. Infiltrating the Cartels with Robert Mazur

Today Justin sits down with Robert Mazur. Robert is a world-renowned authority on money laundering techniques. He spent 27 years working as a US federal agent, including

Aug 31
1 h 18 min

262. France's Secret Weapon Against the Nazis with Nicholas Reynolds

Today, Justin talks woth Nicholas Reynolds. Nick has had a very enviable career. After graduating from Oxford University in the 1970s, he served in the US Marine Corps as

Aug 24
53 min

261. Inside the Minds of Soviet Defectors with Kevin Riehle

Today Justin sits down with Kevin Riehle. Kevin earned his Bachelor's degree in Russian and Political Science at Brigham Young University, his Master's degree in Strategi

Aug 17
1 h 10 min

260. Al Qaeda's Second Wave Plot: A Deep Dive into Post-9/11 Investigations with Michael Lebowitz

Today, Justin is joined by Michael Lebowitz. Michael served as a paratrooper in the Army's 101st Airborne Division and later as a judge advocate in the US Army Reserve,

Aug 10
1 h 26 min

259. Superbills: The Secret Service's Global Counterfeiting Odyssey with William Gage

Today Justin sits down with William Gage. Bill graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor's Degree in History and received his Master's Degree in Crim

Aug 3
1 h 03 min

258. Lawless Agent Running: Britains Biggest Informants in Northern Ireland with John Ware

This week's guest is John Ware. John is an award-winning investigative journalist with over four decades experience reporting on security, intelligence, and public accoun

Jul 27
56 min

257. [ARCHIVE] Solving the Murder of a CIA Case Officer with Michael Pullara

This week, Justin revisits episode 61 with trial lawyer Michael Pullara. Michael is a practicing trial lawyer from Texas who has spent more than 40 years representing an

Jul 20
1 h 37 min

256. The Operational Life of a SEAL from Vietnam to Central America with Michael Walsh

Today, Justin sits down with Michael Walsh. Mike served in the US Navy for more than twenty-six years, most of it spent as a SEAL. He completed five tours of duty in Viet

Jul 13
1 h 29 min

255. CIA Case Officer to Tesla's Security Innovator with Charles Finfrock

Today's guest is Charles Finfrock. Charles served in the Navy for four years as a military policeman and investigator. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency in t

Jul 6
1 h 10 min

254. Code Name Puritan: The Legacy of Norman Holmes Pearson with Dr. Greg Barnhisel

Today's guest is today is Dr. Greg Barnhisel. Greg is a graduate of Reed College, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. He is now a professor of En

Jun 29
1 h 23 min

253. The Plot Against Trotsky with Josh Ireland

Today Justin talks with Josh Ireland. Josh has a master's degree in history from the University of York. After graduating, he worked as an editor at Headline and Quercus,

Jun 22
1 h 10 min

252. Unearthing War Crimes and Mass Graves Through Geospatial Intelligence with Sam McKnight

Today Justin sits down with Sam McKnight. Sam is a graduate student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He's also the founder and director of Khthon, a non-gove

Jun 15
41 min

251. Unveiling Gladio: Cold War Secrets and Italian Intelligence with Niccolò Petrelli

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Niccolò Petrelli. Niccolò is a research scholar at the Center for International and Strategic Studies at LUISS in Rome, Italy. He earned h

Jun 8
1 h 11 min

250. CIA and MI6 in Post-War Albania with Dr. Stephen Long

Today’s guest is Dr. Stephen Long. Stephen earned a PhD in US foreign policy and intelligence from the University of Birmingham and is an assistant professor of internati

Jun 1
1 h 25 min

249. From the Brazilian Navy to Strategic Intelligence with Luis Fernando Baptistella

Today Justin speaks with Luis Baptistella. Luis is a specialist in intelligence and counterintelligence, and a retired officer of the Brazilian Navy, where he attained t

May 25
1 h 12 min

248. The Secrets of British Black Propaganda with Rory Cormac

This week Justin talks with Rory Cormac. Rory is a professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, specializing in covert acti

May 18
55 min

247. Captured by Russians in Ukraine with Kirillo Alexandrov

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

May 11
51 min

246. The Ottoman Empire’s Cloak and Dagger with Dr. Emrah Safa Gürkan

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 Georget

May 4
59 min

245. Tales of A Cuban Exile: The Story of Angel Benitez with Eduardo Barreto

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 Colleg

Apr 27
1 h 07 min

244. Fighting Russian Intelligence with Sean Wiswesser

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

Apr 20
52 min

Chart positions

Where SPYCRAFT 101 ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 2, 2026).

#145 ▲ 1 History US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Superb. Good interviewing and open questions by a host who isn't trying to push his own agenda. Fascinating guests. And production values (e.g. sound mixing) is perfect. Thank you! Keep up the good work.

MarschalR · Aug 2024

So many wild and unbelievable stories of Cold War era shenanigans! While Justin mostly focuses on WW2 thru the end of the Cold War, he has also made several historical episodes that trace the art of spycraft back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and even to such diverse locations as Northern Ireland, Laos and the Congo. Guests are knowledgeable and informative and offer tremendous insight into the topic at hand. Keep up the excellent job!

T Starke · Aug 2024

Spyctaft 101 with Justin Black is absolutely fantastic. His straight forward interview style lets his guests tell their stories in great depth and detail. Each episode is entertaining, informative, and always engaging. I’ve been a spy enthusiast since I was a kid and this show is by far the best of its kind. I highly recommend this series. I have enjoyed every single episode and I know you will too.

Steven V · Jul 2024

I recently found this podcast and was really hopeful because it sounded really really interesting. So far, I have had to stop about half of the episodes in the middle because I just couldn’t listen anymore. The guy who hosts it has a very flat, robotic tone. One episode I terminated this morning was just him reading. I could tell he was reading, and trying to annunciate, but it was halting. It’s hard to listen to somebody just obviously read for 45 minutes. One episode I listened to the other day had a guest on who went into inordinate detail about things that didn’t matter. I don’t generally have attention problems, but at some point, the major plot is lost. again, I think it was that the host just let the guest go on and on, and didn’t try to subtly redirect back to the main storyline. There have been a few episodes that have been really interesting, so I’m going to keep trying.

Old biker lady · Jun 2024

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