2: 1. The OSS Origins and the "Get the Food, Mary" Moment Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA Liza Mundy's book explores the history of women in US intelligence, beginning with Mary Bancroft during World War II, a time whe
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 19 October 2025
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Liza Mundy's book explores the history of women in US intelligence, beginning with Mary Bancroft during World War II, a time when the US needed to rapidly build intelligence capabilities (in 1941, the US had no spy agencies). Bancroft, a college-educated woman who spoke German and French, was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). She began by writing vital open-source reports from neutral Switzerland. She was later recruited by Allen Dulles to be his right-hand woman, assisting with intelligence analysis and collection. Bancroft also handled a key German double agent plotting Hitler's assassination. Despite her critical role, she often faced dismissive treatment; in one meeting, Dulles famously ordered her, "get the food, Mary." This exemplified the common experience where OSS women—who were often highly educated and high-earning—were relegated to secretarial work and denied credit for their substantial contributions.
1894
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| 0:31.4 | This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor. Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:38.6 | And I welcome Liza Mundy, the author of a new book that is both revelatory of the history of the CIA and a comment on the culture of the United States over the last 70 years, especially with |
| 0:44.5 | regard more than half the population, that would be women. The book is the sisterhood, the secret |
| 0:51.2 | history of women at the CIA. Liza, congratulations and good evening. |
| 0:56.3 | And like most melodramas, we begin in the Second World War. |
| 1:00.2 | And we begin with a young woman named Mary Bancroft, Smith College, |
| 1:05.7 | and someone who is extremely well positioned to tell us about the beginnings of what becomes the CIA in the |
| 1:14.8 | Cold War following the Second War. Who is Mary Bancroft? What do we need to know about her? |
| 1:19.8 | Good evening to you, Liza. Good evening, and thank you so much for having me. And I love talking |
| 1:25.6 | about Mary Bancroft. She's a great example of the women who played an |
| 1:30.7 | enormous role as to building our intelligence capabilities during World War II. |
| 1:36.3 | It's, you know, it's hard to believe I live much of the time in Washington, D.C., where we now |
| 1:40.7 | have 18 intelligence agencies. We have intelligence agencies that exist to oversee other |
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