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  • The Spy Who Built His Own Trap: Alfred Redl's Fatal Slip

    The Spy Who Built His Own Trap: Alfred Redl's Fatal Slip
    2026/09/11
    The Spy Who Built His Own Trap: Alfred Redl's Fatal Slip

    A tiny leather pen-knife sheath on a Vienna taxi seat toppled an empire: the man who built Austria-Hungary’s counter-intelligence apparatus and a fingerprint database was exposed by the single scrap he dropped on 24 May 1913. How did the colonel who installed cameras, recording devices and mail surveillance become the very man ensnared by his own systems?

    In this episode, we trace Alfred Redl’s rise from a modest garrison-town childhood to the head of counter-intelligence, his secret payments from Russian, French and Italian services, and the careless moment that unpicked eleven years of betrayal. Could the surveillance network he created have prevented his fall - and what did his exposure mean for the empire’s future?

    Person: Alfred Redl
    Date: 24 May 1913
    Location: Vienna (taxi, rear seat)
    Period: 1902-1913
    Event: Exposure of a mole within Imperial Intelligence

    - Redl was born 14 March 1864 in Lemberg (now Lviv).
    - He entered military school at age 15 and was commissioned in 1883.
    - Redl began passing material to Russia in 1902 and was under Russian awareness since 1901.
    - By 1907 he was head of counter-intelligence and held the position for five years until 1912.
    - Russian intelligence paid Redl the equivalent of about £2.4 million in today's value (approximately $3.8 million).

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 分
  • He Killed for the FBI: The Rifleman's Secret Buried Bodies Revealed

    He Killed for the FBI: The Rifleman's Secret Buried Bodies Revealed
    2026/09/10
    He Killed for the FBI: The Rifleman's Secret Buried Bodies Revealed

    The FBI registered a top-echelon informant who received Silver and Bronze Stars, and for thirty years that informant allegedly killed while the bureau looked away-bodies buried, agents promoted, and a parole date set to May 4, 2218. How did a decorated Korean War veteran become both a government asset and a suspected contract killer, and who paid the price for that protection?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Stephen Joseph Flemmi from his birth in 1934 through his enlistment in 1951, his rise in Boston crime circles, and the FBI relationship that prosecutors say enabled years of violence. Was the arrangement an explicit quid pro quo that allowed murders to go unprosecuted, and what evidence surfaced when grand juries finally moved?

    Person: Stephen Joseph Flemmi
    Date: born June 9, 1934
    Location: Roxbury, Boston
    Event: indicted by a grand jury by September 1969
    Case: codename "Jack from South Boston" registered as a Top Echelon informant

    - Flemmi enlisted in 1951 and completed two tours with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, returning in 1955 with a Silver Star and a Bronze Star.
    - FBI agent H. Paul Rico identified Flemmi by the mid-1960s and registered him as a Top Echelon informant with a handler also named Dennis Condon.
    - On October 20, 1965, Donald McLaughlin was shot on a public bus in West Roxbury and did not survive; Flemmi and Frank Salemme are alleged to have been the shooters.
    - In January 1967 Flemmi and Salemme killed Walter and William "Wimpy" Bennett and buried their bodies in Hopkinton; Billy Bennett was found dead on December 22, 1967.
    - By September 1969 a grand jury had enough to indict Flemmi for the Bennett murders and the Everett car-bombing of attorney John E. Fitzgerald (January 30, 1968), who survived but lost his lower right leg.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 分
  • The Man Who Broke Cuba's Codes - Vanished Inside the Vault

    The Man Who Broke Cuba's Codes - Vanished Inside the Vault
    2026/09/09
    The Man Who Broke Cuba's Codes - Vanished Inside the Vault

    Danger hid inside the very machines that kept Cuba’s spies alive: a cryptographer at the heart of Havana’s encrypted network whose betrayal coincided with a cascade of agents disappearing in the United States. How did a first lieutenant with access to every coded message become the single most consequential mole the CIA ever ran inside Cuba, and why did his prosecution reportedly present no physical evidence?

    In this episode, we tell the story of Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, his work inside Department M-XV, the pattern of vanished Cuban agents in the early 1990s, and the unresolved questions about how his access was discovered and how long it remained exposed. What did he pass, to whom, and why was the record so thin where the answers should be?

    Person: Rolando Sarraff Trujillo
    Date of birth: August 22, 1963
    Event: Arrest in November 1995 and release December 18, 2014
    Organization: Department M-XV, Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI)
    Family: Son aged 7 at arrest and 26 at release

    - Sarraff was a first lieutenant working at the center of Cuba’s encrypted communications in Department M-XV.
    - He was arrested in November 1995 and spent 19 years in Cuban prison before release on December 18, 2014.
    - His son was seven years old at the time of the arrest and 26 years old when Sarraff walked free.
    - Reuters and ABC reported conflicting accounts of his father's background, one calling him a lieutenant colonel and retired journalist, the other a retired intelligence officer trained at a KGB academy.
    - McClatchy reported that Sarraff’s unit handled the encrypted communications of Cuban agents operating abroad, meaning every message from spies in cities like Miami, Washington, and Madrid passed through his system.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 分
  • The Countess, the Cherry Cake, and Napoleon's Secret Son

    The Countess, the Cherry Cake, and Napoleon's Secret Son
    2026/09/08
    The Countess, the Cherry Cake, and Napoleon's Secret Son

    A Saxon noblewoman called Auguste von Kielmannsegge declared devotion to Napoleon while living with a husband who was his sworn enemy, and a man claiming to be her illegitimate son renamed himself Napoleon Bonaparte before walking into the Elbe in 1864; who was the plate of cherry cake meant for, and why did she refuse to name the son she memorialized? What secrets hid behind her black collar and the cherry cake that followers still whisper about?

    In this episode, we trace Auguste Charlotte von Kielmannsegge’s life from her birth at Hermsdorf Castle through two marriages, mysterious deaths, and decades of political intrigue in Dresden, and we follow the man who spent years distributing brochures claiming to be her illegitimate son-ending his life in the river-asking whether the unanswered questions about a cake and a son can be resolved.

    Person: Auguste Charlotte von Schönberg (later von Lynar, then von Kielmannsegge)
    Date: Born May 18, 1777; husband Rochus August von Lynar died August 1, 1800; remarried October 10, 1822; alleged claimant died 1864
    Location: Hermsdorf Castle; Dresden; estates in Oberlausitz (Schmochtitz, Neusalza, Spremberg, Dürrhennersdorf)
    Event: A man claiming to be her illegitimate son renamed himself Napoleon Bonaparte and drowned in the Elbe River in spring 1864
    Status: Countess died aged 85 having created a private Napoleon memorial and leaving unresolved questions about a cherry cake and a secret son

    - Auguste inherited and administered four manors in Oberlausitz rather than acting as an absentee landlord.
    - She married Count Rochus August von Lynar on May 13, 1796, and had three children: twins Rochus Carl and Rochus Carl (born 1797) and Luise Alexandra (born November 3, 1799).
    - Rochus Carl died in September 1801 and Luise Alexandra died in January 1804; her husband died August 1, 1800 at age 27.
    - She traveled to Italy with painter Josef Grassi around 1799-1800 and by 1800 was spending part of the year in Paris and meeting figures in the French imperial court, including Joseph Fouché.
    - Saxon government dispatches described her as "politically dangerous" and reported she "often instigated intrigues to obtain information about Napoleon's opponents."

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    24 分
  • The CIA burned him. Failed three polygraphs. And they kept letting him back in

    The CIA burned him. Failed three polygraphs. And they kept letting him back in
    2026/09/07
    The CIA burned him. Failed three polygraphs. And they kept letting him back in

    A man who failed three polygraphs, was formally declared an intelligence fabricator, and still brokered a fifty-million-dollar arms shipment that never left the port - it feels like a scandal crafted for fiction. What kept senior officials on three continents calling Manucher Ghorbanifar despite admissions that he fabricated an assassination plot and ran covert channels through his phone?

    In this episode, we trace the arc of Ghorbanifar’s career from SAVAK trainee to exile broker, how his charm and detailed fabrications shaped headlines and operations, and the unanswered question at the center: why did agencies keep trusting a man who repeatedly lied?

    Person: Manucher Ghorbanifar
    Date of birth: May 9, 1945
    Event: Cosmos arms shipment - $50,000,000 cargo loaded in Eilat
    Case: Fabricated 1981 Libyan assassination story (admitted in 1986)
    Status: Declared an intelligence fabricator by the CIA; failed three polygraphs

    - The Cosmos cargo was valued at $50,000,000 and was loaded at the Israeli port of Eilat but never moved.
    - Ghorbanifar failed three separate polygraph tests administered by the CIA.
    - In 1981 Washington Post stories alleging Libyan hit squads were later admitted by Ghorbanifar in 1986 to have been fabricated.
    - By 1984 the CIA had issued a formal burn declaring him an intelligence fabricator.
    - He was born May 9, 1945, and served as an agent of SAVAK before becoming a partner in the Israeli-Iranian shipping company Starline Iran.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 分
  • He Was Burned by the CIA - Yet Briefed U.S. Spies in Rome

    He Was Burned by the CIA - Yet Briefed U.S. Spies in Rome
    2026/09/06
    He Was Burned by the CIA - Yet Briefed U.S. Spies in Rome

    He survived being labeled "an intelligence fabricator and a nuisance" in a formal Congressional record, failed three polygraphs, and yet in December 2001 he sat in a Rome hotel briefing U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officials on Iran, terrorism, and uranium-how did a man declared unreliable return to the heart of U.S. intelligence contacts? What did his briefings change, and who chose to listen anyway?

    In this episode, we follow the documented history of Manucher Ghorbanifar from his birth on May 9, 1945, through his SAVAK-era networks, post-revolution dealings, and notorious re-emergence in Rome, asking how his fabrications shaped policy and why accountability remained scarce.

    Person: Manucher Ghorbanifar
    Date of Rome meeting: December 2001
    Birth Date: May 9, 1945
    Organization: SAVAK (former affiliation)
    Event: Operation Nojeh coup attempt collapse (July 9-10, 1980)

    - The CIA polygraphed Ghorbanifar three times and recorded that he failed all three tests.
    - The CIA wrote "intelligence fabricator and a nuisance" about Ghorbanifar in a formal Congressional record.
    - In December 2001, three men who "did not officially exist" met in a Rome hotel for three days, including Ghorbanifar.
    - Operation Nojeh collapsed on July 9-10, 1980, with hundreds arrested and the coup plan thwarted before any planes flew.
    - By the mid-1970s Ghorbanifar was a partner in Starline Iran, a shipping company handling oil and commerce between Iran and Israel.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 分
  • They Lived a Stolen Life: How Two Soviet Spies Raised Canadian Sons

    They Lived a Stolen Life: How Two Soviet Spies Raised Canadian Sons
    2026/09/05
    They Lived a Stolen Life: How Two Soviet Spies Raised Canadian Sons

    A dead seven-week-old Ontario infant became the legal identity that carried a man through Harvard, corporate boardrooms, and strategy sessions with U.S. advisors - all while the FBI watched for nearly a decade. How did two Soviet Illegals sustain fabricated Canadian lives for more than twenty years without a single public crack, and what did it cost their family?

    In this episode, you will hear the recorded facts of Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova’s operation: the training they received, the civilian identities they assumed, their moves through Toronto, Paris, and Cambridge, and the quiet morning in June 2010 when federal agents arrested them. What allowed their cover to hold inside academia, business, and family life - and how were their sons kept unaware?

    Person: Andrey Bezrukov
    Person: Elena Vavilova
    Date: June 2010
    Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
    Event: Arrest of the couple after more than twenty years undercover

    - The stolen male identity, Donald Howard Howard, was originally a seven-week-old infant who died in Ontario in 1962.
    - Bezrukov was born August 30, 1960 in Kansk and Vavilova was born November 16, 1962 in Tomsk.
    - The couple moved to Toronto by 1990 where their first son, Timothy, was born in 1990 and gained Canadian citizenship by birth.
    - Bezrukov earned a bachelor’s in international economics at York University (1992-1995), completed a master’s at École nationale des ponts et chaussées (1995-1997), and later a master’s in public administration at Harvard (after 1999).
    - From May 2000, Bezrukov worked as a partner at Global Partners Inc., serving clients including Alstom, Boston Scientific, General Electric, and T-Mobile.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 分
  • When a Chain of Moles Built the Soviet H‑Bomb: Secrets That Traveled Dead Drops

    When a Chain of Moles Built the Soviet H‑Bomb: Secrets That Traveled Dead Drops
    2026/09/04
    When a Chain of Moles Built the Soviet H‑Bomb: Secrets That Traveled Dead Drops

    A single chain of moles closed a canyon between two superpowers: secrets passed through dead drops, coded meetings, and ordinary envelopes to help the Soviets detonate an H‑bomb in August 1953 just one year after America’s first hydrogen test. How did physicists, machinists, secretaries, soldiers, and couriers stitch together the intelligence that moved from Los Alamos to the Kazakh steppe?

    In this episode, we lay out who was involved, what they passed, and how a network of couriers and trusted insiders accelerated the Soviet program - ending with the unresolved question of which links were never identified and why some went to their graves undetected.

    Person: Klaus Fuchs
    Event: Soviet hydrogen bomb test, August 1953
    Date: June 23, 1959 (Fuchs released from Wakefield Prison)
    Person: Harry Gold
    Person: David Greenglass

    - Klaus Fuchs served nine years and four months before walking out of Wakefield Prison on June 23, 1959.
    - The Soviet H‑bomb detonated in August 1953, one year after America’s first hydrogen bomb test.
    - The Manhattan Project employed 24,000 workers and 500 scientists at its largest single facility and consumed $2 billion.
    - The Soviet program began with roughly 50 scientists and 2 mathematicians and lacked uranium mines and isotope‑extraction plants.
    - Harry Gold acted as courier, meeting Klaus Fuchs in Albuquerque and also collecting sketches from David Greenglass in June 1945.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 分