Covert Contact Podcast

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Covert Contact 104: Alon Pinkas on Israeli-American Relations

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Covert Contact 19: Encryption as the New Norm: Discussing A Changing Internet with ProtonMail Co-Founder Andy Yen

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Covert Contact 108: Preparing for A Career in Intelligence: Thoughts on Personal Security and Behavior

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Covert Contact 118: Shortwave Numbers Stations ↗

Oct 1, 2020

Covert Contact 117: Alleged Chinese Espionage Activity in the News ↗

Sep 25, 2020

Covert Contact 116: The Threat of Fake Spies ↗

Sep 17, 2020

Covert Contact 115: Election Threats and Disrupting Chinese Espionage ↗

Sep 10, 2020

Covert Contact 114: French Officer Busted Spying on NATO for GRU & Other Espionage Cases ↗

Sep 3, 2020

Covert Contact 113: Russians Targeted Tesla Gigafactory in Ransomware Plot ↗

Sep 1, 2020

Covert Contact 112: Texas A&M, NASA, and Chinese Espionage ↗

Aug 27, 2020

Covert Contact 111: Careers in Intelligence: Beyond the Three Letter Agencies ↗

Aug 23, 2020

Covert Contact 110: Spying for Russia: The Peter Debbins Case ↗

Aug 22, 2020

Covert Contact 109: Counterintelligence Chat: Alexei Navalny & Alexander Ma ↗

Aug 20, 2020

Covert Contact 108: Preparing for A Career in Intelligence: Thoughts on Personal Security and Behavior ↗

Aug 16, 2020

Covert Contact 107: Understanding the Israel-UAE Deal ↗

Aug 15, 2020

Covert Contact 106: A Pardon for Edward Snowden? ↗

Aug 14, 2020

Covert Contact 105: Washington Takes Aim at the Confucius Institute ↗

Aug 13, 2020

Covert Contact 104: Alon Pinkas on Israeli-American Relations ↗

Aug 12, 2020

Covert Contact 103: Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy ↗

Aug 7, 2020

Covert Contact 102: Chinese Spies and Russian Honey Traps ↗

Aug 6, 2020

Covert Contact 101: Quick Take: An Explosion in Beirut ↗

Aug 4, 2020

Covert Contact 100: Online Security: Avoiding a Personal October Surprise ↗

Aug 1, 2020

Covert Contact 99: Chinese Espionage in the United States ↗

Jul 30, 2020

Covert Contact 98: Shaping Intelligence Products for Maximum Impact ↗

Jul 26, 2020

Covert Contact 97: When You Can’t Obey ↗

Jul 23, 2020

Covert Contact 96: What's Happening at the Chinese Consulate in Houston? ↗

Jul 22, 2020

Covert Contact 95: Covert Contact is Back ↗

Jul 18, 2020

Covert Contact 94: The Poisoning of Sergei Skripal ↗

Mar 22, 2018

Covert Contact 93: Team Leadership & Ethics ↗

Feb 5, 2018

Covert Contact 92: The Jerry Chun Shing Lee Case ↗

Jan 22, 2018

Covert Contact 91: North Korean Cryptocurrency Ops ↗

Jan 9, 2018

Covert Contact 90: Combatting Misinformation ↗

Jan 1, 2018

Covert Contact 89: Evaluating the North Korean Threat ↗

Dec 18, 2017

Covert Contact 88: Protecting the British Royal Family ↗

Dec 11, 2017

Covert Contact 87: Beyond Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency Investing ↗

Dec 4, 2017

Covert Contact 86: Bullets of Palestine ↗

Nov 28, 2017

Covert Contact 85: Terrorists and Technology ↗

Nov 20, 2017

Covert Contact 84: Economic Espionage: No One Is Immune ↗

Nov 13, 2017

Covert Contact 83: Iraq’s Consolidation and the Kurds ↗

Nov 6, 2017

Covert Contact 82: The Crypto Wars: Update from the Australian Front ↗

Oct 30, 2017

Covert Contact 81: From CIA Case Officer to Rookie Cop ↗

Oct 23, 2017

Covert Contact 80: The Kurdish Problem ↗

Oct 17, 2017

Covert Contact 79: Propaganda, Influence, and Disruption ↗

Oct 16, 2017

Covert Contact 78: Australian Cyber Policy ↗

Oct 9, 2017

Covert Contact 77: Australian Approaches to Counterterrorism ↗

Oct 2, 2017

Covert Contact 76: Australian Special Operations Forces ↗

Sep 25, 2017

Covert Contact 75: Understanding and Developing Resilience To Information Warfare ↗

Sep 18, 2017

Covert Contact 74: Deep State Conspiracies ↗

Sep 11, 2017

Covert Contact 73: Data, AI, and Ethics ↗

Sep 4, 2017

Covert Contact 72: Beyond Russia: Overlooked Counterintelligence Threats ↗

Aug 28, 2017

Covert Contact 71: System Failure: It Only Gets More Difficult from Here ↗

Aug 20, 2017

Covert Contact 70: Iran in the Age of Trump ↗

Jun 18, 2017

Covert Contact 69: Securing Data, Communications, and Identity with Keybase ↗

Jun 8, 2017

Covert Contact 68: Egyptian, Muslim, American ↗

Jun 5, 2017

Covert Contact 67: The Manchester Attack ↗

May 29, 2017

Covert Contact 66: Intelligence Analysis: Feedback, Bias, and Other Challenges ↗

Mar 10, 2017

Covert Contact 65: Counterintelligence in the Trump Era ↗

Feb 24, 2017

Covert Contact 64: Exploring Divergent Options with Phil Walter ↗

Feb 20, 2017

Covert Contact 63: Understanding the Pace and Scope of Technology Driven Change with Andrew Trabulsi ↗

Feb 6, 2017

Covert Contact Returns - And Other News ↗

Feb 6, 2017

Covert Contact 62: Russia, Trump, and Hillary: What a Debate ↗

Oct 10, 2016

Covert Contact 61: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump: The First Debate ↗

Sep 27, 2016

Covert Contact 60: Putin’s Struggle for Relevancy and Power with William J. Tucker ↗

Sep 20, 2016

Covert Contact 59: Citizen Soldiers: Service and Sacrifice with Wendy R. Anderson ↗

Sep 11, 2016

Covert Contact 58: Inside the President’s Daily Brief with David Priess ↗

Aug 19, 2016

Covert Contact 57: Fragmented Realities with Robert Rath ↗

Aug 12, 2016

Covert Contact 56: Talking Russia, Trump, and the 2016 Election with William J. Tucker ↗

Aug 2, 2016

Covert Contact 55: Amanda Sperber Joins Me on Covert Contact to Discuss Journalism and Conflict in East Africa ↗

Jul 29, 2016

Covert Contact 54: The Nice, France Attack: How Can Counterterrorism Evolve with the Threat ↗

Jul 15, 2016

Covert Contact 53: Building an Intel Shop from the Ground Up ↗

Jul 4, 2016

Covert Contact 52: Russian Hackers Run Wild on the DNC ↗

Jun 20, 2016

Covert Contact 51: The Orlando Shooting and Our Struggle to Make Sense of the Senseless ↗

Jun 12, 2016

Covert Contact 50: Victor in The Rubble: Tackling Intelligence Community Bureaucracy Through Satire ↗

Jun 11, 2016

Covert Contact 49: Developing and Leveraging Strategic Foresight ↗

Jun 10, 2016

Covert Contact 48: Intelligence at the State and Local Level ↗

Jun 5, 2016

Covert Contact 47: Lockpicking 101: Why Your Locks Are Useless ↗

May 31, 2016

Covert Contact 46: Cutting Through the Hybrid Warfare Hype ↗

May 29, 2016

Covert Contact 45: How Will ISIS Evolve and How Will Our Response Evolve with Them? ↗

Apr 23, 2016

Covert Contact 44: Navigating Massive Technological Change ↗

Apr 18, 2016

Covert Contact 42: A Look at Transnational Crime from a National Security Perspective ↗

Apr 14, 2016

Covert Contact 43: Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin: Identity, Espionage, and Counterintelligence ↗

Apr 12, 2016

Covert Contact 41: What Has Russia Gained in Syria? ↗

Apr 4, 2016

Covert Contact 39: Russian Weakness with William J. Tucker ↗

Feb 16, 2016

Covert Contact 40: Are Ungoverned Spaces Inherently Dangerous? ↗

Feb 15, 2016

Covert Contact 38: Iran’s Quest for Regional Domination ↗

Jan 24, 2016

Covert Contact 37: LZ Grace: A Place for Warriors to Heal ↗

Jan 12, 2016

Covert Contact 36: Saudi Arabia vs. Iran, The Burns Oregon Militia Standoff, and a New Segment on Russia ↗

Jan 4, 2016

Covert Contact 35: Covert Contact Wraps up 2015 with William J. Tucker ↗

Jan 1, 2016

Covert Contact 34: Art in Diplomacy and Conflict ↗

Dec 25, 2015

Covert Contact 33: Understanding and Influencing Enemy Behavior ↗

Dec 22, 2015

Covert Contact 32: Video Games, Virtual Reality, and Conflict with Robert Rath ↗

Dec 18, 2015

Covert Contact 31: Understanding the Limits of Intelligence and Counterterrorism ↗

Dec 14, 2015

Covert Contact 30: The San Bernardino Attack, Small Scale Terrorism, and ISIS ↗

Dec 7, 2015

Covert Contact 29: Islamism and Democracy: Finding Models for the Middle East and Preserving Our Own ↗

Nov 30, 2015

Covert Contact 28: A Special Thanksgiving Podcast ↗

Nov 26, 2015

Covert Contact 27: Turkey Shot Down a Russian Jet - Where Do We Go From Here? ↗

Nov 24, 2015

Covert Contact 26: What You Are Getting Wrong About ISIS ↗

Nov 22, 2015

Covert Contact 25: Discussing Espionage with Former Double Agent Naveed Jamali ↗

Nov 20, 2015

Covert Contact 24: Discussing The Paris Attacks and Europe’s Security Challenges with William J. Tucker ↗

Nov 16, 2015

Covert Contact 23: Phil Walter on Life After War ↗

Nov 12, 2015

Preview: The Impact of War ↗

Nov 10, 2015

Covert Contact Podcast Update ↗

Nov 9, 2015

Covert Contact 22: Supporting Independent Art in Afghanistan: Francesca Recchia Updates from Kabul ↗

Nov 9, 2015

Covert Contact 21: The Damascus Cover and the Psychology of Spies with Howard Kaplan ↗

Nov 8, 2015

Covert Contact 20: Government Email Problems, Wikileaks, Russia, Drone Leaks, NASA Security and Other Counterintelligence Nightmares ↗

Oct 27, 2015

Covert Contact 19: Encryption as the New Norm: Discussing A Changing Internet with ProtonMail Co-Founder Andy Yen ↗

Mar 26, 2015

Covert Contact 18: Encryption vs. Mass Surveillance with Former FBI Agent David Gomez ↗

Mar 22, 2015

Covert Contact 17: Life, and Art, in Afghanistan with Francesca Recchia ↗

Mar 18, 2015

Covert Contact 16: Why Terrorism Fails: A Discussion with Max Abrahms ↗

Mar 16, 2015

Covert Contact 15: Hillary Clinton's Email Server: Dissecting the Risks with William J. Tucker ↗

Mar 10, 2015

Covert Contact 14: Andy Priest on the Importance of Developing New International Crisis Policing Models ↗

Mar 9, 2015

Covert Contact 13: Scriven L. King on Balancing Security, Values, and Public Perception in Modern Policing ↗

Mar 5, 2015

Covert Contact 12: Counterintelligence: William J. Tucker Breaks Down the Challenges ↗

Jan 30, 2015

Covert Contact 11: Counterterrorism Challenges: Pondering Seemingly Unsolvable Problems with Phillip Smyth ↗

Dec 22, 2014

Covert Contact 10: The Senate Torture Report ↗

Dec 10, 2014

Covert Contact 9: Art in Afghanistan: Francesca Recchia Updates from Kabul ↗

Nov 28, 2014

Covert Contact 8: The Navy SEAL Who Killed Osama bin Laden and the Anonymous Heroes You'll Never Know ↗

Nov 14, 2014

Covert Contact 7: Why Daesh's Social Media Campaign is a Massive Failure ↗

Nov 5, 2014

Covert Contact 6: Robots and the Future of Warfare ↗

Oct 30, 2014

Covert Contact 5: Lone Wolf Terrorism and the Importance of Perspective ↗

Oct 25, 2014

Covert Contact 4: What the Attack in Ottawa Teaches Us About Terrorists - And Ourselves ↗

Oct 22, 2014

Covert Contact 3: Crypto Wars: Winners, Losers, and the Case for Compromise ↗

Oct 21, 2014

Covert Contact 2: Terrorism, Trolls, Tech - and Our Struggle to Understand ↗

Oct 15, 2014

Covert Contact 1: Intelligence Failures, eDiplomacy, and Agent Storm ↗

Oct 13, 2014

Podcast overview

Covert Contact takes you inside the worlds of intelligence, national security, diplomacy, and technology.

Join John W. Little for conversations with diplomats, intelligence practitioners, journalists, authors, and researchers about espionage, global conflict, AI, cybersecurity, and the human stories behind the headlines.

Drawing on firsthand experience, guests explore how power operates, how secrets are kept and uncovered, and how decisions made far from public view shape everyday life.

Podcast guests

From 2014 to 2020, I spoke with people working in intelligence, diplomacy, journalism, technology, and security about the issues they knew firsthand.

William J. Tucker

Francesca Recchia

All guests & contributors

Podcast platforms

Podcast starters

Episode 104

A conversation on diplomacy and the relationship between Israel and the United States.

Episode 19

Andy Yen on encryption and a changing internet.

Episode 108

Maggie Gwynne on personal security and behavior.