214: Scott was an undercover FBI agent

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey, this is Scott and you’re listening to What Was That Like. And the name of the podcast, What Was That Like, was chosen very specifically – because that’s what I ask people who are guests on the show. They’ve just been through something really unusual, like being attacked by a monkey, or saving the life of a stranger, or some other crazy situation. And I ask them to tell all of us – what was that like. All the details. So that’s what we do here, every other Friday. But sometimes I like to find someone who has a really unusual job, and ask them the same question. Today I’m talking to Scott Payne. For many years, he worked for the FBI as an undercover agent. He would pretend to be a criminal, in order to join white supremacist groups or biker gangs – including the notorious Outlaws group. As you can imagine, this guy has some stories. I asked him lots of questions about this job, and then he answered a few questions from What Was That Like listeners. He’s an open book, and I learned some things, and I hope you do too. Please enjoy this conversation with undercover FBI agent, Scott Payne. Scott socials: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/scottpaynebigcountry/ X – https://x.com/Scott_D_Payne Scott’s book – Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668032902 Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/214 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: Head to http://Lumen.me/WWTL for 20% off your purchase. Sign up today at https://www.butcherbox.com/whatwas and use code whatwas to get chicken breast, salmon or ground beef FREE in every order for a year, plus $20 off your first order. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/WHAT Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Scott, and you're listening to What Was That Like?
0:06.4	And the name of the podcast, What Was That Like, was chosen very specifically, because that's what I ask people who are guests on the show.
0:14.3	They've just been through something really unusual, like being attacked by a monkey, or saving the life of a stranger or some other crazy situation.
0:22.6	And I asked them to tell all of us what was that like? All the details. So that's what we do
0:28.4	here every other Friday. But sometimes I like to find someone who has a really unusual job
0:35.1	and ask them the same question. Today I'm talking to Scott Payne.
0:41.3	For many years he worked for the FBI as an undercover agent.
0:46.3	He would pretend to be a criminal in order to join white supremacist groups or biker gangs,
0:52.3	including the notorious outlaws group.
0:55.6	As you can imagine, this guy has some stories.
0:59.2	I asked him lots of questions about this job, and then he answered a few questions from
1:04.0	what was that like listeners.
1:06.1	He's an open book, and I learned some things, and I hope you do too.
1:10.8	Please enjoy this conversation with undercover FBI agent, Scott. open book and I learned some things and I hope you do too.
1:15.4	Please enjoy this conversation with undercover FBI agent Scott Payne.
1:24.4	Real people in unreal situations.
1:30.7	The eerie silence when I walked in, and he's just staring at me.
1:33.0	I was like, hello, like, are you okay?
1:36.8	And then I had to tell him, it was me.
1:39.5	There was just blood everywhere.
1:43.8	They're shouting, they're screaming, they're being hit by bullets, they're hitting the ground.
1:46.9	And in that moment, I literally thought, this is how I die.
	...

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