{"podcast":{"title":"Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs","slug":"secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504","podcast_index_feed_id":609504,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/cLTfHjFw","website_url":"https://bleav.com/shows/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/6215cda8-011d-4ccd-9fe8-c389912a62af/0249cd23-9e06-4e63-ad91-5f7b62f372de/3000x3000/secrets_and_spies_1.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs","episode_count":340,"summary":"Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode unpacks global events through the lens of intelligence and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and analysts. Tune in for balanced, critical perspectives that will expand your understanding of our uncertain world, deciphering the most enigmatic professions, ideologies, and organizations that shape the global landscape. Subscribe to Secrets and Spies today on all major podcast streaming platforms. Our Hosts Host Chris Carr, driven by a teenage encounter with former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky, brings a unique authenticity to the podcast. His deep-seated fascination with espionage is evident in his highly acclaimed short spy film The Dry Cleaner, available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Currently developing feature film and television scripts inspired by the podcast's themes, Chris aims to create realistic and compelling spy dramas. Joining him is Matt Fulton, a novelist and screenwriter who draws inspiration from masters of the…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T06:21:27.681791+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504"},"episode":{"title":"S10 Ep22: John le Carré and the Russian Mafia with Federico Varese","slug":"s10-ep22-john-le-carr-and-the-russian-mafia-with-federico-varese","published_at":"2025-12-24T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504/s10-ep22-john-le-carr-and-the-russian-mafia-with-federico-varese","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504","url":"https://audioboom.com/posts/8819064","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audioboom.com/posts/8819064.mp3?modified=1766736176&sid=5038215&source=rss","summary":"Criminologist Federico Varese joins Chris to talk John le Carré—David Cornwell—and what his fiction got right about power, corruption, and the criminal underside of the modern Russian state. Varese, a co-curator of Oxford’s Tradecraft exhibition at the Bodleian, shares how he first met Cornwell in the early 1990s and later advised him on Our Game and Our Kind of Traitor , drawing directly on his research into Russian organized crime. From there, Varese unpacks the post-Soviet trajectory he traces in Russia in Four Criminals —how “free markets” without a strong rule-of-law state produced predation, oligarchic capture, and ultimately what he calls a “mafia state,” where independent organized crime is squeezed out by a system that fuses political and economic power. The conversation also gets into how Russian security services use criminals for deniable operations abroad and how cybercrime functions as a tolerated ecosystem—until the state needs it—turning hackers into a ready-made tool of hybrid warfare. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs. Learn more about Federico and his work: https://federicovarese.com Order Russia in Four Criminals : https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=russia-in-four-criminals--9781509563609 Visit the Bodleian Libaries’ John le Carré: Tradecraft exhibition: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lecarre Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/36c963 YouTube: https://youtu.be/VfxAE8trReA Support Secrets and Spies Become a “Friend of the Podcast” on Patreon for £3/$4: https://www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies Buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secretsandspies Subscribe to our Yo…","meta_description":"Criminologist Federico Varese joins Chris to talk John le Carré—David Cornwell—and what his fiction got right about power, corruption, and the criminal un…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4150,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504/episodes/s10-ep22-john-le-carr-and-the-russian-mafia-with-federico-varese/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/secrets-and-spies-podcast-espionage-global-issues-current-affairs-609504/s10-ep22-john-le-carr-and-the-russian-mafia-with-federico-varese.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}