Iron Butterfly

Latest Episodes:

Tish Long: Mimi on Creating an Intel Agency, as the First Female Director & Being a Step-Mom, pt 2 Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

On this very special season of Iron Butterfly Podcast, we’re going inside our first documentary feature film, titled The Power We Hold: Stories from Women Spies. This film features 10 of the most powerful women you’ve never heard of, and this season, we’ll get up close and personal with each of them. Each month, we’ll highlight a different woman, with each episode presented in two parts.

On this episode we’re joined by the incredible Tish Long, whose career reshaped what leadership looks like across the U.S. intelligence community. Tish served as the fifth Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), becoming the first woman ever to lead a major U.S. intelligence agency. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on a career that spanned global operations, organizational leadership, the evolving role of intelligence and contributing to the re-shaping of the institutions that collect and distribute intelligence . The episode offers a thoughtful look at the challenges and opportunities of breaking barriers, building institutions, and leading with vision in one of the most demanding fields of public service.

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Tish Long: Mimi on Becoming an Engineer, Being the Only Woman, & Conquering Public Speaking (pt 1) Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Sue Gordon: Humble Servant on Sally Ride, Cancer Treatment, and Grief as a Doorway (pt 2) Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

This thoughtful and deeply human episode features an intimate, wide-ranging conversation with Sue Gordon. Drawing from her more than three decades of service at the CIA and NGA, Sue shares profound insights and personal anecdotes, including a life-changing "meet-cute" moment and her passion for Duke basketball. We explore her collaboration with Sally Ride, her journey through cancer treatment, and how experiencing grief unexpectedly opened a doorway to deeper purpose and leadership. The episode beautifully illustrates how both joyful and painful life experiences shape the leaders we become.

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Sue Gordon: Humble Servant on Duke Basketball, a Meet Cute, and Early Career at CIA (pt 1) Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Carmen Medina: Kind Rebel at Work on MI6, the Dawn of the Internet, and Male-Ordered Systems, Part 2 Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

For part two, we continue our episode with Carmen Medina—a retired Senior Federal Executive with 32 years in the intelligence community and former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. Carmen shares powerful stories from her groundbreaking career, reflects on leadership and innovation inside the intelligence world, and offers an inside look at the experiences that shaped her journey. This two-part conversation sets the stage for the season, exploring the power, resilience, and quiet influence of women who helped shape history from behind the scenes.

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Carmen Medina: Kind Rebel at Work on Curiosity, Her Puerto Rican Roots, and Being a Bad Bureaucrat Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

For episode one, part one, we’re joined by Carmen Medina—a retired Senior Federal Executive with 32 years in the intelligence community and former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. Carmen shares powerful stories from her groundbreaking career, reflects on leadership and innovation inside the intelligence world, and offers an inside look at the experiences that shaped her journey. This two-part conversation sets the stage for the season, exploring the power, resilience, and quiet influence of women who helped shape history from behind the scenes.

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

Instagram: @ironbutterflypodcast
YouTube: @IronButterflyMedia
Spotify: Iron Butterfly Podcast

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Inside The Power We Hold: Stories from Women Spies, Iron Butterfly's First Feature Documentary, Part 2 Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

Welcome back for Part 2 of our Season 9 premiere of the Iron Butterfly Podcast that goes inside our first feature documentary film, The Power We Hold: Stories from Women Spies.

For five years, this podcast has been our way of amplifying stories from the most powerful women the world has never heard of. More than 100 episodes later, this community has grown into something much larger than we ever imagined.

You’ve seen our documentary trailer. You’ve heard our calls for support. And now, as we prepare to release our film to the world in 2026, we want to bring you inside our creative process and closer to the women at the center of this film. This project has always been shaped by the people who believe in it. It feels right to offer this season as a companion to the film, and to invite you along as we take this next step.

This season is our way of bringing you along for the ride.

In these two part episodes, we’re inviting you into deeper conversations with each woman from the film, covering her life, family, career, and the unseen moments that shaped who she is today. These are the parts of the story that don’t all fit into a 70-minute film, but deserve a home.

Thank you for walking with us. We’re proud to share this new chapter with you!

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Inside The Power We Hold: Stories from Women Spies, Iron Butterfly's First Feature Documentary, Part 1 Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

Today, we’re launching a special Iron Butterfly Podcast season that goes inside our first feature documentary film, The Power We Hold: Stories from Women Spies.

This season is our way of bringing you along for the ride.

Thank you for walking with us. We’re proud to share this new chapter with you!

Follow us on social media to catch us on the road this year as we travel to film festivals across the world. We might be coming to a city near you!

To support The Iron Butterfly Podcast, visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IronButterflyPodcast

To learn more about Iron Butterfly Media, check out our website: https://www.ironbutterflymedia.com/

Andrea Wallis Aven: A Historical Special Episode on her aunt, an OSS veteran, Jane Wallis Burrell Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

In this special historical episode of the Iron Butterfly Podcast, we’re joined by researcher and storyteller Andrea Wallis Aven, whose lifelong passion for genealogy and history has illuminated generations of her family’s extraordinary service. Through meticulous research, Andrea has traced the lives of her Wallis and Stewart ancestors, uncovering a remarkable lineage of veterans who served their country across centuries.

Among these stories is that of her aunt, Jane Wallis Burrell—a trailblazing intelligence officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, later joining the Strategic Services Unit (SSU) and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), all predecessors to the CIA. Jane’s groundbreaking career was tragically cut short on January 6, 1948, when she died in a plane crash—just months after the CIA’s official formation.

Join us as Andrea shares incredible pictures and artifacts from Jane’s time in service, the discoveries, the human stories behind the records, and how uncovering her family’s past deepened her understanding of history, service, and legacy.

You can also learn more about Jane through the following article: https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/the-mystery-of-jane-wallis-burrell-the-first-cia-officer-to-die-in-the-agencys-service/

CC Durall: Wave Rider on Language, Translation, Human Capital, and the power of Self-Reinvention Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

In the powerful Season 8 finale, we sit down with Celia "CC" Durall—CEO of CD Possibilities, leadership coach, and a former force within the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. With a career rooted in human capital and workforce strategy, CC brings a wealth of experience and insight to this closing chapter.

She shares her story of growing up as a third culture kid, the daughter of diplomats, navigating multiple languages and cultures from a young age. This upbringing shaped her ability to become a natural translator—not just of language, but of people and systems.

We dive into her journey through the world of workforce development, her collaborations with academia, and the critical shifts in strategic workforce planning following 9/11. Through it all, CC speaks candidly about the art of self-reinvention, and how embracing uncertainty led her to a series of fulfilling and impactful roles.

Don’t miss this inspiring close to Season 8—packed with lessons on leadership, identity, and following the wave where it takes you.

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