AFIO Podcast

In her third AFIO Now episode, Shelby Pierson - now the NGA Deputy Director for Source Operations & Management Directorate - reveals how the processing and availability of commercial imagery has grown and fundamentally changed the landscape for satellite imagery. She describes the newest (unclassified) imagery capabilities and how they have impacted the GEOINT Team, including how they help uncover war crimes and assist in responding to natural disasters worldwide.  Recorded 11 Oct 2022. Host: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. Interviewer: Jennifer Daniel, former Senior NGA Officer and current AFIO Board member.

In this episode, Col. Itai Shapira, a former Deputy Head of Analysis for the Israeli Defense Intelligence Service, discusses the Israeli national intelligence culture - including the system of beliefs, values, and approaches which are unique to Israeli intelligence and the themes that are shared with other intelligence services across the world. Recorded 26 August 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this episode, Chris Rasmussen, Founder and Program Manager of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's "Tearline Project," discusses the  unique NGA program which delivers unclassified, original GEOINT content to a customer’s mobile device. The remarkable program also engages universities, nonprofit agencies, think tanks, and other entities -- public and private -- with unique public-facing collaborative efforts to maximize external information sharing. Recorded 16 Aug 2022. Host: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. Interviewer: Jennifer Daniel, former Senior NGA Officer and current AFIO Board member.

In his second episode, senior National Security Reporter for The Washington Post Shane Harris gives an update on the dangerously fluctuating situation in Ukraine - from Putin's sudden conscription of 300,000 unwilling troops, to nuclear weapons threats, and the mysterious sabotage of the Nordstream Pipeline. Recorded 4 Oct 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this episode, author Nathalia Holt discusses her newest release, "Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage" which illuminates the lives and careers of four trailblazing women who served in the early days of OSS and CIA. Recorded 05 Aug 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

AFIO Now presents Eliot Jardines, former Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Open Source (ADDNI/OS).  In this episode, Jardines discusses Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and how publicly available information can provide actionable intelligence and directly impact current events. Recorded 29 June 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

AFIO Now presents Alex Finley, former CIA operations officer, author, and the owner of the wildly popular Twitter feed #YachtWatch.  In this episode, Finley discusses her career, her three satirical novels about the CIA, and her her expertise in Russian intelligence and influence which informs her Twitter account that tracks the international movements of the mega-yachts owned by Russian oligarchs. Recorded 23 May 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this episode, Ron Estes - a former senior CIA Operations Officer - reflects on his career and remembers his friend and colleague, Dick Welch, the CIA Chief of Station in Athens, Greece who was assassinated in 1975 by the Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N). Recorded 10 May 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this episode, Enrique 'Ric' Prado - a former senior CIA operations and paramilitary officer - discusses his memoir, "Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior," which reveals the covert wars that America has fought since the Vietnam era and sheds light on the elite officers who are often the tip of the spear. Recorded 19 April 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this episode, Carol "Rollie" Flynn - former Senior CIA operations officer and current President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute - discusses her ground-breaking 30-year career as one of the first women operating abroad as a Clandestine Services Officer and later as Chief of Station. Also covered are the wide variety of career opportunities available at CIA and the traits, interests, languages, lifestyle, experiences, and skills potential intelligence officers should consider before applying. Recorded 22 Mar 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer.