Spybrary Spy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

40: Vote in the Spybrary Shelf of Fame! Apr 17, 2018

Show notes

What are your favorite Spy Books? Spybrary is holding a vote for the Spybrary Shelf of Fame, choose from over 100 spy books suggested by our listeners

Spybrary needs you to vote for your favorite Spy novels. What Spy Books would make your shelf of fame?

Spybrarian in Chief – Jeff Quest of SpyWrite canvassed Spybrary listeners for their 5 favorite spy books. He has channeled his inner 'Connie Sachs' to index the hundreds of spy book suggestions and categorize them as follows:

– Pre-Cold War set novels – Cold War set novels – Post-Cold War novels.

The top Pre-Cold War spy book, top five Cold War spy books, and top spy Post-ColdWar book will be inducted into the Spybrary Shelf of Fame.

39: Spybrary at Spy Con 2018 Apr 07, 2018

Show notes

On Episode 39, Spybrary Spy Podcast host Shane Whaley brings you interviews from the inaugural Spy Con. Shane caught up with former Spybrary Podcast guests Lt Col Michael Brady (author of Into the Shadows) and Matthew Kresal. He also got to chat Ian Fleming books with RC Layton who owns over 400 Ian Fleming related 007 books and James Strickland the owner of several James Bond tribute cars. Shane talks about his experience on various Spy Con panels including defending John le Carre on the Ian Fleming versus John le Carre 'debate.' Listen in as Shane reveals who he thinks the match up on the debate should have been between.

Episode 40 of Spybrary will be a full recording of the Spy Con Spybrary Panel with authors CG Faulkner and Michael Brady.

38: Soviet Spies in...Canada with Joyce Wayne Mar 25, 2018

Show notes

And now for something completely different. A spy story that is not set in Berlin, DC, London or Moscow but in Ottawa, Canada of all places. On Episode 38 of the Spybrary Spy Podcast author Joyce Wayne reveals more about her novel 'Last Night of the World'.

'On a hot Ottawa night in August 1945, Soviet agent Freda Linton's world is about to fall apart. She's spent the war infiltrating the highest levels of the Canadian government as an undercover operative for the fledging Canadian Communist Party and for Moscow's military police. As the global conflict nears its conclusion, her Soviet embassy handler and darling of the diplomatic scene Nikolai Zabotin sends her to retrieve atomic secrets from the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. When Freda discovers that Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko plans to turn over top secret files to the RCMP that will expose Freda and the others in her spy ring, she is faced with an impossible decision and must determine who is on her side. Should she risk everything to smuggle out nuclear secrets that will kick off the Cold War? Joyce Wayne's Last Night of the World brings a high-energy creativeness and emotional tension to a story that is rooted in a generation's defining incident."

37: Restless by William Boyd Review Mar 19, 2018

Show notes

On Episode 31, Professor Penny Fielding of Edinburgh University (and organiser of Edinburgh spy week) told Spybrary listeners that she felt the spy novel with the most convincing female characters is Restless by William Boyd.

Spybrary podcast listener Clarissa Aykroyd has some well documented issues on the portrayal females in spy books. She loves the work of John le Carre and admits that even his female characters are pretty thin. So she sought out Restless and very kindly brush pass reviewed the novel for us. We have extracted the transmission from the disk that came in the Spybrary diplomatic bag and decoded for you. Just click the play button or listen on these various platforms.

What did Clarissa think of Restless? What did Clarissa think of the female characters? Was Professor Fielding right to claim William Boyd's novel is the best spy book when it comes to female characters? Listen in and find out.

36 Michael Smith - No Man Dies Twice Mar 11, 2018

Show notes

Former Intelligence Expert and Journalist Michael Smith talks to Spybrary about his debut fiction novel No Man Dies Twice.

English journalist Michael Smith (Killer Elite and Foley the Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews) has penned his first ever fiction novel. On this our 36th episode of the Spybrary Spy Podcast, host Shane Whaley talks to Smith about his new book, what jobs he carried out working for British Intelligence, what he did at the BBC Monitoring Service and what spy fiction he enjoys reading today. Plus Much More!

One spy has been sent to assassinate Hitler. One spy has been sent to stop him. A single policeman is all that stands in the way of changing history.

Set in Nazi Germany during World War 2, No Man Dies Twice follows a hard working detective (Ritter) who investigates a murder in the small Bavarian town of Rosenheim. The death is no ordinary killing and Ritter is determined to get to the bottom of it despite the local Gestapo efforts to stop him.

With evidence showing the body belong belonged to a member of the White Rose resistance movement this is no ordinary murder. Ritter is no supporter of the Nazi regime and risks his life to investigate the case.

"Riveting…Smith takes us into an area of wartime Germany we have rarely read about before." —Joseph Heywood, New York Times bestselling author of The Berkut and The Domino Conspiracy

So has Spybrary started interviewing crime authors now?

Not at all, No Man Dies Twice is inspired by records Michael Smith unearthed at the National Archives back in the 90s. The files concerned Operation Foxley - a British SOE (special forces) to assassinate the Fuhrer. Detailed preparations were made but the audacious plan was not carried out. But what if the British had sent someone to kill Hitler? Read No Man Dies Twice to find out what Smith thinks might have happened. Not all Brits want to see Hitler dead...Intrigued. You should be.

Smith who once listened in to East German Military Officers and Socialist Party officials, not to mention deliver intelligence to the British SAS as part of his day job has mixed together a heady cocktail of spies, detectives, mystery, crime, Gestapo, British Intelligence. No Man Dies Twice is Spybrary approved and recommended!

On Episode 36 of the Spybrary Spy Podcast Michael Smith reveals:

How declassified National Archive files gave him the inspiration to write No Man Dies Twice
More about his main character - hard working detective Peter Ritter
More about the White Rose Resistance movement
Why he chose Rosenheim for the main location of his book
Despite being kicked out of school at 15, he went on to served in the Intelligence Corps learning several languages (is he really Bernard Samson?) and became a journalist for national British newspapers.
Which spy thriller writer he reckons gets it close to the real thing, surprise, its not John le Carre!
Advice for new writers. Michael Smith shares with us why he thinks creative writing courses can be good for new writers and should not be dismissed!

And Much Much More!

35: The Wende Museum Review Mar 03, 2018

Show notes

Its time to party like its 1989 on this edition of the Spybrary Spy Podcast. Spybrarian Gary Dexter recently visited the Wende Museum and has transmitted his brush pass review of the Wende Museum for fellow Spy and Cold War Fans.

Gary reveals why the Wende Museum is a must visit for Spybrarians.

The Mission of the Wende Museum: Preserve, Inspire, Explore

The mission of the Wende Museum is to preserve Cold War art, culture, and history from the Soviet Bloc countries, inspire a broad understanding of the period, and explore its enduring legacy.

Named for the Wende (pronounced "venda"), a German word meaning "turning point" or "change" that has come to describe the transformative period leading up to and following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Wende Museum:

collects and preserves artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from Cold War–era Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union relating to the period 1945–1991;
challenges and engages the public through experimental exhibitions and interdisciplinary programming inspired by the collection;
illuminates the past and informs the present through creative collaborations with contemporary artists and designers; and
promotes rigorous scholarship, educates students, and stimulates general interest through lectures, symposia, and publications.

34: Mick Herron interview - London Rules and Slough House Feb 23, 2018

Show notes

Spybrary Podcast: Episode 34

With Author MICK HERRON!

In this very special episode of the Spybrary Podcast, Shane turns the mic over to special agent David Craggs (from Episode 23) who interviews award-winning British author Mick Herron about his Slough House spy series. Often called 'the heir to John le Carré,' Herron's popularity and critical acclaim has been (rightly) gathering momentum over the past several years. Spybrary is thrilled to bring you this special one-on-one interview of an author who is sure to be at the top of the best-seller lists for decades to come! No spoilers here, so listen away – even if you haven't read the series. We're sure you will want to after hearing this!

Press play and hear Mick Herron reveal…

…how and why he shifted from writing crime novels to spy novels.
…why 'failure' was his inspiration for the series.
…why he likes writing from the point of view of flawed, even unlikable, characters.
…how real-life events influence his writing.
…what is next for the Slough House series.
...how Spybrary contributor Jeff Quest tracked down the actual Slough House (check out the photo of Slough House here!)

Plus:

Hear Mick read from his latest novel in the Slough House series, London Rules. (Bonus points if you catch the reference to Homer's Odyssey).
A Slough House TV adaptation is in the works: David and Mick discuss potential casting.
Shane returns to interrogate Mick in the Quick Fire round – find out the author's favorite spy novel!

33: Yesterday's Spy by Len Deighton Feb 16, 2018

Show notes

Yesterday's Spy by Len Deighton is the subject of our Brush Pass Review. Listen in to this bite size review from Spybrary contributor Agent Palmer.

32: John Le Carre and the Cold War with Toby Manning Feb 05, 2018

Show notes

About John Le Carre and the Cold War Toby Manning recently published his work which critically examines John Le Carre and the Cold War. Toby joins Shane Whaley on the Spybrary Spy Podcast to tell us more.

31: Edinburgh Spy Week 2018 with Penny Fielding Jan 28, 2018

Show notes

On Episode 32 of the Spybrary Spy Podcast, host Shane Whaley discovers more about Edinburgh Spy Week 2018 with one of the organisers, Professor Penny Fielding.

Penny reveals a stellar line up of speakers who will be starring at the fifth Edinburgh Spy Week. Can't make Edinburgh? This interview is still worth listening to you as Shane finds out more about Prof Fielding's love for spy literature and movies.

It's fun being a podcaster. I just got to chat for over an hour with an English Literature Professor all about spy books. Not my usual Saturday afternoon company

Edinburgh Spy Week is a unique public event that focuses on espionage fiction and film and the ways in which secrecy and spying run through our history and culture. They bring together creative practitioners and academic researchers to talk about books and ideas in public and accessible ways.

These are some of the topics we cover on Episode 32:

What exactly is Edinburgh Spy Week 2018?- When is it? - Where is it? - What's in the programme? - Who is speaking? - what's the cost? - how can people register?
Penny shares with us the origins of Edinburgh Spy Week and how it got started.
What is Penny's favourite session since the inaugural Edinbrugh Spy Week
How Professor Fielding become interested in espionage books and movies.
Why is spy fiction so male-dominated (both in authors, and in readership) as opposed to a genre such as mystery?
What does Professor Fielding think of the female characters in John Le Carre's spy novels?
Which spy authors does she think portrays female characters credibly? Which spy book does she think has the best written female characters?
If Spybrary could arrange for Prof. Fielding to meet John Le Carre over a cup of tea in Cornwall what would she ask him?
As an English Literature Professor and the organiser of Edinburgh Spy Week 2018 what does she feel is the gold standard of spy fiction writing?
As a fan of Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy what is her take on the tv adaptation of the novel and the movie version.
If she could be a character in a spy book or movie, who would she choose?

And Much Much More! (Including, as you would expect from an English Lit Professor tons of book recommendations!)

Edinburgh Spy Week 2018 Line Up

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