# Julie Cohn on The Redefector

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-stories-7449947/julie-cohn-on-the-redefector
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-stories-7449947/julie-cohn-on-the-redefector.md
Podcast: [Origin Stories](https://stenobird.com/podcast/origin-stories-7449947)
Published: 2026-04-09T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/724f1e02-a462-444a-9f17-fcc9e85108d7.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/724f1e02-a462-444a-9f17-fcc9e85108d7.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/origin-stories-7449947/episodes/julie-cohn-on-the-redefector
Duration seconds: 1950

## Resource

Julie Cohn is a journalist, screenwriter, and Tony Award–winning theater producer whose work spans film, stage, and audio. Her reporting has appeared in outlets like The New York Times and The Daily, and on Broadway she and her sister Marion co-founded The Cohn Sisters , a Tony-winning production company behind shows including Stereophonic, Suffs, Cabaret, John Proctor Is the Villain, and Just For Us. Her latest project is The Redefector , a ten-part investigative podcast about the strange Cold War case of KGB officer Vitaly Yurchenko, who defected to the United States in 1985 before unexpectedly returning to the Soviet Union. In this episode, she talks with Matthew about how she first stumbled onto the story while researching another spy project, the unusual challenges of reporting inside the secretive world of intelligence, and why trust becomes the central currency when you're trying to report on spies. “If your source trusts you, they’ll recommend you to another source who trusts you. It’s like a very slow-motion domino. Your flashlight gets a little bit wider every time you meet someone new in the story.” To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at ⁠joincampside.com⁠ . You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠ , ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠ . Have a question, guest recommendation or just want to say hi? Email us at Originstories@campsidemedia.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

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## Transcript

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