{"podcast":{"title":"The Bunker – News without the nonsense","slug":"the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382","podcast_index_feed_id":1209382,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6a2ad2e9440b9d7bbf6bde6b","website_url":"https://linktr.ee/bunker_pod","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/6a2ad2e9440b9d7bbf6bde6b/show-cover.jpg","author":"Podmasters","episode_count":1875,"summary":"News without the nonsense, every weekday morning. In episodes that fit your commute, The Bunker cuts through the noise to make sense of what’s really going on in news, current affairs, politics, economics and culture. We bring you smart explainers, interviews, fresh perspectives and under-reported stories to as a refreshing alternative to repetitive Punch and Judy news coverage. It’s the only way to start the day. From the producers of Oh God, What Now? Our regulars include: Gavin Esler • Ros Taylor • Alex von Tunzelmann • Andrew Harrison • Zing Tsjeng • Jacob Jarvis • Emma Kennedy • Rafael Behr • Seth Thévoz. • Sign up to support the podcast and get episodes ad-free and early: patreon.com/bunkercast • Apple users: Get all of our core shows ad-free and early with the Podmasters Originals super-subscription. The Bunker is a Podmasters production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T12:22:19.814531+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382"},"episode":{"title":"Empire of Spies – An ex-CIA officer exposes Putin’s intelligence state","slug":"empire-of-spies-an-ex-cia-officer-exposes-putin-s-intelligence-state","published_at":"2026-06-16T03:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382/empire-of-spies-an-ex-cia-officer-exposes-putin-s-intelligence-state","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382","url":"https://shows.acast.com/the-bunker/episodes/empire-of-spies-an-ex-cia-officer-exposes-putins-intelligenc","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6a2ad2e9440b9d7bbf6bde6b/e/6a30006a6edea1d9abd6aaad/media.mp3","summary":"The West’s naivete towards Putin in the 2000s cost us dearly. Now Russia’s tyrant – a creature of the KGB/FSB who has returned his country to its roots as a repressive intelligence state – is attacking us with unprecedented ferocity and deviousness. Sean Wiswesser , ex-CIA station chief in the former Soviet Union, says the “reckless” activity of FSB and GRU agents has reached new heights. But can they be stopped – and can we win the intelligence war? He tells Andrew Harrison how intelligence and dirty tricks are inextricable from Putin’s power; how the old skills of “tradecraft” persist alongside new digital tactics; and what really makes Russian intelligence tick.   • Buy Sean’s book Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.  • Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast   Written and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.   www.podmasters.co.uk   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"The West’s naivete towards Putin in the 2000s cost us dearly. Now Russia’s tyrant – a creature of the KGB/FSB who has returned his country to its roots as…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1913,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382/episodes/empire-of-spies-an-ex-cia-officer-exposes-putin-s-intelligence-state/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bunker-news-without-the-nonsense-1209382/empire-of-spies-an-ex-cia-officer-exposes-putin-s-intelligence-state.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}