SPYCRAFT 101 - Justin Black

Latest Episodes:

197. The Hidden History of Nazi POW Camps on US Soil with William Geroux May 19, 2025

Show notes

Today's guest is William Geroux. Bill graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia before becoming an author. He spent more than 25 years as a newspaper reporter and editor in Virginia and Northern Idaho, winning numerous awards for breaking news coverage, feature writing, and investigative reporting. He also worked as a writer for Maersk, the global shipping conglomerate. I invited Bill onto the podcast to discuss the hundreds of Nazi POW camps that sprung up all over the United States during World War II, the inevitable escape attempts, and the conflicts between prisoners that led to multiple murders within the camps.

Connect with Bill:

penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2109520/william-geroux/

Facebook: William Geroux

Check out the book, The Fifteen, here.

https://a.co/d/6wkcyy7

Connect with Spycraft 101:
Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
spycraft101.com
IG: @spycraft101
Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
Patreon: Spycraft 101
Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

OC Strategic Academy
Learn spy skills to hack your own reality. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to get 10% off any course!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

196. Housewife Assassin: The Sara Jane Moore Story with Geri Spieler May 12, 2025

Show notes

Today Justin sits down with Geri Spieler. Geri is a graduate of the University of California in Los Angeles and is a journalist and investigative reporter whose work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, and other publications. Geri is also a former president of the California Writers Association and has worked as the research director at Gartner Group advising major corporations on emerging technology. Today she's here to tell the story of Sara Jane Moore, a suburban housewife who fired a shot at President Gerald Ford in 1975. Geri's work uncovered the many twists and turns of Sara Jane's life from housewife to mother to political activist to FBI informant to would-be assassin.

Connect with Geri:

gerispieler.com

Facebook: facebook.com/LiveSanFranciscoValues/

Check out the book, Housewife Assassin, here.

https://a.co/d/7T2rdA2

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

195. Nuclear Physicist or Soviet Spy? The Enigma of Bruno Pontecorvo with Dr. Frank Close May 05, 2025

Show notes

Today Justin talks with Dr. Frank Close. Frank is Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics and Fellow Emeritus at Exeter College at the University of Oxford. He was formerly the head of the Theoretical Physics Division at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Vice President of the British Science Association, and Head of Communications and Public Understanding at CERN. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and won their Michael Faraday Medal for Excellence in Science Communication in 2013. He received the order of the British Empire for Services to Research and the public understanding of science in 2000. He's also the author of 22 books about science. This week here's here discuss the story of Dr. Bruno Pontecorvo, a pioneer in the field of nuclear physics who worked on atomic research before, during and after World War II, and who was also a devoted communist ideologue. Bruno and his family disappeared behind the Iron Curtain in 1950, setting up a decades long mystery as to whether or not he'd been a Soviet spy all along.

Connect with Frank:

Twitter/X: @CloseFrank

Check out the book, Half Life, here.

https://a.co/d/3u0VPsP

History by Mail
Who knew? Not me! Learn something new every month. Use code JUSTIN10 for 10% off your subscription.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

194. The Secret War: A Medic in Laos with Steven Schofield Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

This episode contains particularly graphic descriptions of violence and gore. Know your own limits and proceed accordingly.

Today Justin sits down with Steven Schofield. Steve enlisted into the US Army and completed training as an 18 Delta Special Forces Medic in 1967. He then deployed to Okinawa and later to Vietnam, where he served with Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group. Afterwards, he left the US Army to join the US Agency for International Development and spent nearly six years working in Laos, providing medical services to the local population, and supporting the Secret War effort in the region. He's here to discuss his years in Southeast Asia and his lifelong support of the Hmong population, both in Laos and now in the United States, all of which he detailed in his book.

Check out the book, Secret War in Laos, here.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-War-Laos-Green-Berets/dp/1694374114

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

193. Cairo Cold Case: Solving the Murder of David Holden with Emanuele Midolo Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

This week Justin talks with Emanuele Midolo. Manu is a journalist based in London and writing for The Times and The Sunday Times. His work has appeared in Forbes, Wired UK, and publications across the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. Today he's here to discuss his new book, which he co-authored with Peter Gillman. It was just published last month and is the story of the previously unsolved murder of British journalist David Holden, who was killed just hours after arriving in Cairo to pursue a story in December, 1977. Emanuele and Peter pursued this story relentlessly and found not only several different possible motives and murderers, but also that David had been keeping many secrets of his own.

Connect with Emanuele:

Twitter/X: @manumidolo

BlueSky: @manumidolo.bksy.social

Check out the book, Murder in Cairo, here.

https://timesbookshop.co.uk/murder-in-cairo-9781785907029/

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

192. Inside the Bulgarian Spy Ring with Trevor Barnes Apr 14, 2025

Show notes

Today just sits down with Trevor Barnes, a former senior reporter and producer for the British Broadcasting Corporation and retired attorney you're a longtime listener. You may remember Trevor from his first appearance here on the podcast for episode number 33. Today he's here to discuss another spy ring operating in the UK and throughout Europe that was only just uncovered. Very recently, six Bulgarians were arrested as members of a ring operating at the behest of the Russian FSB and GRU. And unlike many similar cases in the past, three of these spies were tried publicly, which offered some amazing insights into modern espionage, operations, and techniques, as well as the pitfalls that led to their discovery and subsequent arrests.

Check out Trevor's first appearance on episode 33: The True Story of the Portland Spy Ring here.

Connect with Trevor:
Twitter/X: @trevorwbarnes
LinkedIn: Trevor Barnes

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

191. Espionage in the NFL with Kevin Bryant Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

Today Justin interviews Kevin Bryant. Kevin graduated from the University of California - Santa Cruz with a B.A. in History and graduated with top honors from American Military University with an M.A. in Intelligence Studies and an M.S. in Sports Management. He served more than 20 years with the United States Army both as a soldier and civilian, during which he conducted national security investigations and trained federal agents. He's here to discuss the story of how NFL teams have used intelligence collection techniques for decades to give themselves the edge over their opponents, and how sometimes those techniques have backfired spectacularly.

Connect with Kevin:

kevinbryantauthor@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @kevinbryantauthor

IG: @kevinbryantauthor

LinkedIn: Kevin Bryant Author

Check out the book, Spies on the Sidelines, here.

https://a.co/d/hE9JFEK

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

190. Churchill's Spy Ring in Rockefeller Center with Thomas Maier Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

Today Justin speaks with Thomas Maier, an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked at Newsday since 1984. Thomas has written several books over the years, including When Lions Roar about the Churchills and the Kennedys and Masters of Sex, which was produced as a series on Showtime for four years. This is Thomas's second time here on the podcast. You may remember him from episode number 65 when we discussed his book, Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, gangsters, JFK, and Castro, which has been since then been made into a documentary series on the Paramount Network. Today he's back to tell us about his newest book, the story of Ernest Cuneo, a member of the Roosevelt administration before and during World War II, who became the liaison officer to the British Security Coordination Office located in New York City. The BSC was running intelligence operations inside the United States, and Cuneo was directly involved almost from the start.

Check out Thomas' first appearance in episode 65: Killing Castro: The Unlikely Alliance between the CIA and the Mob with Thomas Maier.

Connect with Thomas:

thomasmaierbooks.com

Check out the book, The Invisible Spy, here.

https://a.co/d/00uBwEv

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

189. Marguerite Harrison: Socialite, Reporter, and Military Intelligence Operative with Janet Wallach Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

Today Justin sits down with Janet Wallach. Janet attended New York University and her work has been published in The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and other periodicals. She's the author of 10 books and has written extensively about notable women in history, including Queen Noor of Jordan, Coco Chanel, and Gertrude Bell, among others. Janet is here today to discuss Marguerite Harrison, dubbed the socialite spy, and the story of her double life as a reporter and a spy for U.S. Army intelligence in Berlin and Moscow shortly after the Russian Revolution, and what happened to her when she was caught in the act by Soviet intelligence.

Connect with Janet:

janetwallach.com

Facebook: Janet Wallach

LinkedIn: Janet Wallach

IG: @flirtingwdanger

Check out the book, Flirting with Danger, here.

https://a.co/d/cJlz2A5

Support the show

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

188. Cuban Exiles vs. Guevara's Forces in the Congo with Frank Villafana Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

This week's guest is Frank Villafana. Frank was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to the United States after graduating high school to attend the University of Alabama, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering. He spent the next three decades working in various positions in the field of engineering before retiring in 1998. Afterwards, he devoted himself to writing and is now the author of 10 books, primarily dealing with Cuban history and themes. Today he's here discuss the story of the little known Makassi operation, which saw Cuban exiles and veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion fighting for their freedom in an unconventional war against Simba rebels in the Congo, where they eventually crossed paths with deployed Cuban soldiers led by Che Guevara himself.

Connect with Frank:

Check out the book, Cold War in the Congo, here.

https://a.co/d/hNQeVty