A Special Spywisesecretdossier Briefing on Today’s Remember When Podcasts

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one question I’ve been hearing repeatedly is-what sort of intelligence does Ukraine and Nato have to keep their eyes on the Russian military and policymakers in Moscow? A key question that also needs asking is: what sort of use is given what intelligence we glean?

The West has been spying on the Russians for over 70 years now. A case in point: From February 1954 to April 1956, “Operation Gold” was a joint operation of the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Together, they dug a tunnel below the border between the Western sector of Berlin and the Soviet section to tap into the landline communications between Soviet Forces Germany and their masters in Moscow.

Voices Under Berlin, a novel by T.H.E. Hill, focuses on those linguists and analysts sifting through intercepted intelligence from the tunnel. Does the image of code-breakers sitting in dusty rooms wearing headphones while scribbling on notepads sound a bit on the dry side? On one hand, we get to look into how the military deals with intercepted intelligence and what horrible mistakes could happen in the wrong hands. As it happens, Hill has been often compared to Joseph Heller (Catch 22) and Richard Hooker (M.A.S.H.) which should tell you how entertaining this look into this secret world can be.

If you think the technology of the 1970s might be outdated, that’s not the point. The intellectual uses and misuses of intelligence and training in the military hierarchy are, simply stated, timeless. In short, we can learn a lot about the present and future by looking into unexpected places in the past.

Here’s one text interview with Hill at Spywisesecretdossier.com:

http://spywisesecretdossier.com/vubInterview.html

Now, here’s an exclusive audio interview to take you even deeper into parts of espionage you’ve probably not thought about before:

Wes chats with Dr Fish and Jen Chapin

Remember When podcast from the radio show FlashBackBy Wes BrittonDec 22, 2022