Entering the world of a Former KGB Spy (with Jack Barsky)
SNAFU with Ed Helms
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to another Bonus Episode of SNAFU! Today, sit back and enjoy Ed's conversation with a real, genuine former KGB Spy! Jack Barsky was a Soviet operative who defected, risking his life, and family, to remain in the United States. His story is full of twists and turns, and is truly a unique perspective behind the Cold War curtain. Enjoy Ed's conversation with Jack Barsky and we'll be back with new episodes next Wednesday.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.9 | Hey there, Snap-Foo fans. |
| 0:06.9 | It's Ed again. |
| 0:08.3 | I mean, honestly, who else would it be, right? |
| 0:10.9 | This is my podcast. |
| 0:12.0 | Okay, I'm excited that today we're sharing another episode from way back when. |
| 0:17.2 | In fact, this was one of the bonus episodes for the very first season of Snafu, |
| 0:22.6 | all about Abel Archer 83, the NATO military exercise that nearly started an actual nuclear war. |
| 0:30.8 | If you missed it back then, go back and check it out. You're in for a treat. And in this |
| 0:36.3 | particular episode, I get to talk to a real |
| 0:40.7 | spy. Yeah, a real freaking spy. It was one of the highlights of my career to have this conversation. |
| 0:48.4 | So here it is. My special episode talking to Jack Barski, former KGB spy. |
| 0:55.8 | We get into all the Soviet era paranoia and KGB chaos during the Cold War from someone who saw all of it right from the inside. |
| 1:06.0 | This guy is quite a character. |
| 1:08.3 | We had an incredible chat. |
| 1:09.9 | You're not going to want to miss this one. |
| 1:11.7 | Also, just be aware next week. We'll be back as usual. All right, enjoy. |
| 1:19.7 | Hey, Snap-oo listeners, this is your host, Ed Helms, back in your feed for another bonus episode. |
| 1:25.7 | This one is really, really cool. If you told me a year ago that I would be |
| 1:30.5 | having a conversation with a former KGB agent, I would just tell you that you're cuckoo bananas. |
| 1:36.0 | But it actually happened. Now, over the course of our show, we got a healthy dose of espionage |
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