Notorious KGB – What Moscow's spies teach us about Russia

The Bunker

Podmasters

News, Politics, Society & Culture, Government

4.6 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if your neighbour was a Russian spy? In 2010, the FBI arrested ten deep-cover agents living quiet suburban lives across North America, their true identities hidden even from their own children. Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Shaun Walker, author of The Illegals, to take a closer look at one of the most shocking espionage operations in modern history and what it reveals about Putin’s spy games. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Buy The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. https://bookshop.org/’s fees help support independent bookshops too. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Amazon offers term time working to their employees, like Anton,
0:05.0	who's home to look after his daughters during their holidays.
0:10.0	Hello!
0:11.0	To him, this is the best sound in the world.
0:13.0	Daddy!
0:14.0	Actually, maybe that's the best sound of all now that's term time working offered at amazon
0:24.6	10 weeks off guaranteed per year mix of paid holiday and unpaid time off conditions apply Hello and welcome to The Bunker, your need to know on news and politics five days a week.
0:43.9	I'm Alex von Tanzelman.
0:45.5	Now, we often hear in the news stories about Russian spies, and sometimes these seem to have dropped straight out for James Bond movie.
0:53.1	Incidents like the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006
0:57.5	or of Sergei and Julius Cripparle in Salisbury in 2018
1:01.2	are shocking examples of illegal operations spilling over borders.
1:06.4	There have been allegations of Russian cyber interference in elections in the USA
1:10.5	and recently Romania, among other places. They've even been allegations of Russian cyber interference in elections in the USA and recently Romania,
1:12.0	among other places. There have even been allegations that the president of the United States,
1:16.9	Donald Trump, may be a Russian asset. Now, some of these stories may sound rather far-fetched,
1:22.8	but the president of Russia of Vladimir Putin cut his teeth as a KGB agent in the 1980s, and there's
1:28.4	no denying that Russia does get up to some pretty shady stuff. To delve into this murky world
1:34.5	of Russian spies and spycraft, and to hear more about the history of it, and to help me work out
1:39.7	if the truth really is stranger than fiction, I'm joined by Sean Walker. Sean is the Guardian's central
1:45.7	and Eastern Europe correspondent. He spent over a decade in Moscow and his new book is The Illegals,
1:51.6	Russia's most audacious spies and the plot to infiltrate the West. It's absolutely terrific.
	...

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