The Spy Who
Audible
These are stories you were never meant to hear. The invisible but vital work of the world’s intelligence services: secret operatives playing to very different rules. The Spy Who, hosted by Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey, takes you deep inside that shadow world to meet spies who risked everything in the national interest – or, sometimes, their own.Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of The Spy Who ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
Episodes
Mentioned books
11 snips
Apr 7, 2026 • 36min
The Spy Who Inspired the First Bond Girl | Don’t stop running | 2
A wartime chase across Europe with narrow escapes, daring mountain crossings, and a close Luftwaffe encounter. Dramatic arrests, clever tricks to avoid detection, and a bloody ruse to win freedom. Secret microfilm exposes a German build-up and sparks mistrust among allies. Bureaucracy and suspicion later trap a fearless operative into clerical roles.
9 snips
Mar 31, 2026 • 39min
The Spy Who Inspired the First Bond Girl | Evening Star | 1
A daring Polish countess volunteers to return behind enemy lines as a British undercover courier. She braves blizzards, treacherous border crossings, and Nazi-ruled Warsaw while navigating tense resistance politics. Romantic tensions and close escapes raise the stakes as her fame makes her a target and her legend inspires a famous literary character.
4 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 37min
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | The Rise of China’s Intelligence Machine | 4
Bethany Allen, an investigative reporter on China and intelligence, walks through Larry Chin’s Cold War mole story and the growth of China’s global spy apparatus. Short takes cover visa crackdowns, diaspora reach, United Front influence, tradecraft beyond hacking, and how 1989 reshaped priorities. The conversation traces historical pivots and modern espionage methods in brisk, revealing scenes.
Mar 17, 2026 • 37min
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | The Gamble | 3
In Washington, D.C., Larry Chin grapples with retirement, but back in Beijing, a new CIA agent is about to set the FBI’s spy hunters on China’s super-spook.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
13 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 38min
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | A gift for Mr. Lee | 2
A tense Cold War spy story about a double life inside US intelligence. A mole photographs a top-secret memo that shapes Nixon’s groundbreaking China visit. Beijing uses the leak to gain leverage in high-stakes diplomacy. Secret meetings, gambling-fueled finances, and risky recruitment plots reveal how tradecraft and betrayal reshaped global politics.
10 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 41min
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | Forked Tongue | 1
A Cold War spy who infiltrated U.S. intelligence while posing as a translator. His long game spans Shanghai, Korea, and a transfer to America. Tensions rise as political upheaval in China threatens secret contacts. The story intersects with Nixon and Kissinger’s move toward China.
9 snips
Feb 24, 2026 • 40min
The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine | How to Free the FBI's Most Wanted | 4
Kate (Cait) Mills Boyce, a lawyer and author who fought for the Falcon and the Snowman defendants, tells a gripping legal and personal story. She recounts winning parole fights, unraveling sentencing records, and navigating blurred professional and romantic lines. The conversation covers the courtroom strategies, secret foreign inquiries, and the surprising return to ordinary life after decades in the shadows.
16 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 39min
The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine | Prison Break | 3
A tense true-crime tale of spies selling classified codes and dangerous drugs in 1970s Mexico City. Abrupt arrests, brutal interrogations, and high-stakes betrayals change loyalties. Daring prison escapes, a long wilderness manhunt, and life rebuilt after decades behind bars.
15 snips
Feb 10, 2026 • 40min
The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine | The Party Line | 2
A covert scheme to sell spy-satellite secrets to the Soviets spirals into theft, mistrust, and danger. Drug-fueled parties and a courier skimming payments raise the stakes. Training, secret codes, and tense KGB meetings push partners toward betrayal and desperate choices.
16 snips
Feb 3, 2026 • 46min
The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine | The Black Vault | 1
A 1970s thriller about two middle-class Americans who trade classified satellite encryption secrets for cash. Tension builds from heroin withdrawal, undercover stings, and a clandestine embassy drop. The story follows stolen cipher cards, moral outrage over intelligence secrecy, and a risky plan that turns both men into spies.
