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The Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) is a non-profit, non-political, educational association for current and former intelligence professionals and supporters of the US Intelligence Community. Part of our mission is to foster an understanding of the important role of intelligence in national security and to nurture student interest in careers across the many US intelligence agencies. To this end, the channel features podcast versions of our AFIO Now episodes - a series of recorded interviews and presentations that features experts, historians, and officers from across the US Intelligence Community who have fascinating stories to tell.
Episodes
Monday Mar 28, 2022
Monday Mar 28, 2022
In this episode, James Lawler discusses his book "Living Lies: A Novel of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program." Lawler, a former CIA operations officer who spent most of his career focused on counterproliferation, weaves a story about espionage, human frailty, and loyalty within the backdrop of Iran's nuclear weapons program. Recorded 26 Jan 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
In this episode, Doug Ollivant, Senior National Security Studies Fellow at New America, discusses the war in Iraq from his perspective first as an Army officer serving in-country and then as Director for Iraq on the National Security Council under the Bush and Obama administrations. Recorded 13 Jan 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Bryan Denson, author of the 2015 book "The Spy's Son: The True Story of the Highest-Ranking CIA Officer Ever Convicted of Espionage and the Son He Trained to Spy for Russia" tells the riveting story of the Nicholsons—father and son co-conspirators who deceived their country by selling national secrets to Russia. Recorded 10 Jan 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Feb 07, 2022
Monday Feb 07, 2022
In this episode, journalist and author Toby Harnden discusses his book "First Casualty," the true story of the secret mission of CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. Recorded 6 Dec 2021. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Monday Jan 24, 2022
John Lenczowski PhD, former NSC Staff Expert and current Chancellor of the Institute of World Politics, discusses Chinese influence operations in the US and how the Chinese expertly use the media, academic institutions, think tanks, businesses, politicians, and Hollywood to steal intellectual property and advance their propaganda operations. Recorded 12 Nov 2021. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Steve Vogel, a veteran journalist who reported for The Washington Post for more than two decades, offers a deep-dive into the double agent George Blake, featured in his 2019 book, "Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation." Recorded 10 Nov 2021. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Dec 13, 2021
Monday Dec 13, 2021
In this episode, former Senior CIA Operations Officer Douglas London discusses his latest book, "The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence." Mr. London reflects on the changes he has seen in the operations side of the Agency -- good and bad -- and provides frank assessments of the missteps and successes of the intelligence community. Recorded 20 Sept 2021. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
In this episode, Mark E. Mitchell - Former Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council and Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict - discusses the first ground battle after 9/11 which occurred in Mazār-i-Sharīf, the fourth largest city in Afghanistan. An uprising during the battle of Qala-i-Jangi -- to overthrow the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had been harboring al-Qaeda operatives -- resulted in the death of Johnny Micheal Spann, an American paramilitary operations officer in the CIA's Special Activities Division. Spann was the first American killed in combat during this late 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Recorded 29 Jun 2021. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
In this episode, Dr. Nicholas Dujmovic - Professor, Author, and former CIA Analyst - discusses his experiences developing an intelligence program at Catholic University and explains his journey to academia and teaching intelligence at the college level in retirement. Recorded 9 Oct 2020. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.
Monday Nov 08, 2021
Monday Nov 08, 2021
In this episode, former Director of CIA's Clandestine Information Technology Office and one of the nation's foremost experts on cybersecurity, James Gosler, discusses the pervasive and existentially disruptive cyber threats the U.S. faces from adversaries. He describes what is required to warn, educate, prepare for, and possibly mitigate these growing threats. Recorded 16 Jun 2021. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.