Rephonic
Artwork for SpyCast

SpyCast

SpyCast
CIA
Espionage
Russia
China
FBI
Ukraine
National Security
Counterintelligence
Cybersecurity
World War II
Cold War
NATO
United States
Iran
Afghanistan
Artificial Intelligence
Intelligence Community
James Bond
Egypt
President's Daily Brief

SpyCast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum, is a journey into the shadows of international espionage. Each week, host Sasha Ingber brings you the latest insights and intriguing tales from spies, secret agents, and covert communicators, with a focus on how this secret world reaches us all in our everyday lives. Tune in to discover the critical role intelligence has played through... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes770Founded20 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
HistoryNews

Listen to this Podcast

Artwork for SpyCast

Latest Episodes

It’s not every day that we get a pitch for a book with a foreword by Pope Francis and an introduction by former CIA Director David Petraeus. In fact, our producer didn’t believe it at first. But this is a story about a scholar who became a spy withou... more

YouTube

In the 1950s, Lyman Kirkpatrick had just been promoted to Chief of Operations in the CIA’s clandestine service. He was 36, with a bright future ahead. Then what he thought was a cold turned out to be polio. Suddenly, he saw his career trajectory dera... more

YouTube

Winter is coming, and that means Ukraine has to gear up for another brutal season of strikes on its energy infrastructure - Russia’s bid to cut off power and heat, making life harder for all Ukrainians. Earlier this year, Ukrainian forces reversed th... more

YouTube

The Kremlin is not a fan of Alex Goldfarb. He left the Soviet Union as a scientist, becoming a prominent author and human rights activist. In 2006, he was in the room with ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, reading his dying words, which accused Vl... more

YouTube

Key Facts

Accepts Guests
Accepts Sponsors
Contact Information
Podcast Host
Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

Recent Guests

Omar Mohammed
Historian, creator of Mosul Eye and author of Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War Against ISIS
Mosul Eye
Episode: The One-Man Intelligence Operation Against ISIS
David Taylor
Author and researcher of Lyman Kirkpatrick's life and CIA career
Episode: How a CIA Rising Star Fought His Own Agency After Polio
David Petraeus
Retired four-star general and former CIA director
Episode: General Petraeus on Ukraine and the Shadow War
Alex Goldfarb
Author, human rights activist, and former Soviet scientist
Episode: Unraveling a Secret KGB Investigation That Separated a Father and Son
Bojan Pancevski
The Wall Street Journal's chief European political correspondent and author of The Nord Stream Conspiracy.
The Wall Street Journal
Episode: Ukraine’s Nord Stream Attack: Underwater Sabotage and Its Fallout
Jason Bell
Author of Operation Sparrow
Author, Operation Sparrow
Episode: A Plan to Be Captured: How Three American Commandos Deceived Their Nazi Captors Before D-Day
Johan Wennström
Author of The Stay Behinds, Sweden's Cold War Guardians
Author, Swedish Stay Behind research
Episode: Inside Sweden's Cold War Stay-Behind Operation
Joby Warrick
Author of The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World's First Super Terrorist
Author, Journalist
Episode: How the CIA Captured Carlos the Jackal
Jack Cheevers
Author of Kennedy's Coup, expert on the Diem era and the 1963 coup
Author
Episode: A House Divided: The CIA, State, and a Coup in South Vietnam

Host

Sasha Ingber
Journalist covering intelligence, espionage, and covert operations.

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 2.5k ratings
  • Brilliant

    There are any one of a number of podcasts devoted to espionage and intelligence and spying. This is the best and Sasha Ingber continues the tradition.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Ziusudra
    United States3 months ago
  • The new host is more polished but I miss Andrew.

    The new host is more polished but I miss Andrew.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    DWLNO60
    Canada5 months ago
  • Interesting But Not Brilliant

    Interesting topics but Sasha Ingber should learn to properly pronounce some names. Richard Sorge’s name is pronounced with a hard g. Also, does Palmer Luckey really think the past tense of drag is drug? Home schooling, eh?

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    VampireDugout
    Canada6 months ago
  • Embarrassing how far it has fallen

    This was the real deal under previous hosts, especially Dr. Hammond - now it’s kinda embarrassing for the Spy Museum. Clearly no one really knows what they are doing.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    JoeFalcon11
    United States8 months ago
  • Mike

    I enjoy all of your stories! Thank you !

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    fred436798
    United States10 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Some longtime listeners miss earlier hosts and prefer deeper, more probing interviews.
A few listeners request longer conversations and raise concerns about interview depth, perceived bias, or production changes.
Many value the engaging stories and the way covert operations connect to larger historical events.
Opinions on Sasha Ingber are divided: some welcome her accessible style, while others criticize the questioning and format changes.
Listeners praise the range of intelligence and history topics, along with the quality and variety of guests.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#138
United States/History
Apple Podcasts
#143
United Kingdom/History
Apple Podcasts
#189
Canada/History
Apple Podcasts
#114
Australia/History
Apple Podcasts
#90
Finland/History
Apple Podcasts
#99
South Africa/History

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The One-Man Intelligence Operation Against ISIS
Q: And you also found a document that suggested that ISIS had an embassy?
Mohammed says the document referred to an embassy established to run ISIS operations. He could not establish where it was located, but it suggested the group had ambitions for international missions.
The One-Man Intelligence Operation Against ISIS
Q: So, June 6th, 2014, ISIS has rolled into Mosul. And then Mosul Eye starts June 17th. What happens in between?
Mohammed recounts the curfew and ISIS's takeover of Mosul, then explains that he initially wrote under his own name before creating Mosul Eye after realizing ISIS intended to stay and rule the city.
How a CIA Rising Star Fought His Own Agency After Polio
Q: What did he find in what went wrong?
Kirkpatrick's report criticized CIA leadership for failing to be clear with the White House and for not committing sufficient resources, including requested Spanish-language capability.
How a CIA Rising Star Fought His Own Agency After Polio
Q: How does he get polio?
Taylor says Kirkpatrick had endured nearly two years of intense work and travel, and that exhaustion may have made him more susceptible to polio during the 1952 epidemic.
General Petraeus on Ukraine and the Shadow War
Q: What concerns you most?
Petraeus is most concerned that Russian gray-zone activity, including sabotage and proxy operations, could trigger a larger conflict. He says Russia is also trying to undermine European support for Ukraine and divide allies.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About SpyCast

What is SpyCast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Weekly interviews connect the history and practice of espionage with the political and military events shaped by intelligence. Journalist Sasha Ingber speaks with historians, authors, former intelligence and military officials, journalists, and people with firsthand experience of covert operations. Conversations range from Cold War networks, wartime deception, and intelligence agency history to contemporary conflicts, sabotage, counterintelligence, and the human consequences of secret work.

The format pairs expert knowledge or personal testimony with narrative accounts of particular operations, people, and decisions. Its distinctive focus is the role intelligence has played in major historical events and how its methods and institutions af... more

Where can I find podcast stats for SpyCast?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for SpyCast. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to SpyCast and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does SpyCast get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for four million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for SpyCast, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for SpyCast?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for SpyCast, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does SpyCast have?

To see how many followers or subscribers SpyCast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

How many episodes of SpyCast are there?

SpyCast launched 20 years ago and published 770 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact SpyCast?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for SpyCast?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for SpyCast from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for SpyCast?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of SpyCast. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on SpyCast?

Recent guests on SpyCast include:

1. Omar Mohammed
2. David Taylor
3. David Petraeus
4. Alex Goldfarb
5. Bojan Pancevski
6. Jason Bell
7. Johan Wennström
8. Joby Warrick

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

Find and pitch the right podcasts

We help savvy brands, marketers and PR professionals to find the right podcasts for any topic or niche. Get the data and contacts you need to pitch podcasts at scale and turn listeners into customers.
Try it free for 7 days