The first female CIA officer in Cold War Moscow (236)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Marti Peterson was the first female CIA operative to be assigned to Moscow, probably the most challenging posting during the Cold War. Her story begins in Laos during the Vietnam War where she accompanied her husband John, a CIA officer. She describes their life in a small city in Laos, and the devastating news she received on October 19, 1972. Marti returned to the United States and one night at dinner a good friend suggested she look into working for the CIA. After making it clear to CIA recruiters that she didn’t want to be a secretary or an admin assistant they trained her to become an operative, effectively a spy. When Marti was posted to Moscow during the day, she worked as a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy. At night, on weekends and during her lunch breaks, she would report to the CIA station in the same building to do her work as an operative. UK listeners buy Marti's the book here and support the podcast US listeners buy Marti's the book here and support the podcast 0:00 Introduction and Marti Peterson's background 1:14 Marti Peterson's life in Moscow as a CIA operative 2:50 Marti's early life and college years 6:20 Marti's experience as a CIA wife and life in Laos 14:22 The path to becoming a CIA operative 36:50 Training and preparation for Moscow 40:10 Arrival and adaptation to life in Moscow 49:54 Social life and intelligence work in Moscow 53:31 Teaser for the next episode about Trigon 54:52 Store promotion and closing remarks Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Cold War history is disappearing; however, a simple monthly donation will keep this podcast on the air. You’ll get a sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Marti Peterson to our Cold War conversation… Episode notes here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode236/ Listen to episode 2 here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode237/ Follow us on Twitter here https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye. The Cold War Conversations Bookshop Help us to continue recording the stories of the Cold War by using our bookshop. Please leave a review. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a written review. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	I just took one look at him and he said, Marty, John, John has been killed. And I don't think I even heard him.
0:17.4	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:27.6	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:33.5	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so that you don't miss a single episode.
0:41.3	Marty Peterson was one of the first women's CIA operatives to be assigned to Moscow, probably the most challenging posting during the Cold War.
0:45.3	Her story begins in Laos during the Vietnam War where she accompanied her husband John, a CIA officer.
0:52.3	She describes their life in a small city in Laos and the devastating news she received on
0:57.8	October the 19th, 1972.
1:01.8	Marty returned to the United States and one night at dinner, a good friend suggested she
1:06.6	looked into working for the CIA.
1:09.7	After making it clear to CIA recruiters, she didn't want to be
1:12.8	a secretary or an admin assistant. They trained her to become an operative, effectively a spy.
1:20.3	When Marty was posted to Moscow, during the day she worked as a diplomat in the US embassy,
1:26.0	at night, on weekends and during her lunch breaks,
1:29.6	she would report to the CIA station in the same building to do her work as an operative.
1:36.2	Now, Cold War history is disappearing. However, a simple monthly donation will help keep this
1:42.7	podcast on the air. You'll get the sought after Cold War
1:47.0	Conversations drinks coaster as a thank you and you'll bask in the warm glow of knowing that you are
1:53.4	helping to preserve Cold War history. Hello, I'm Mick Packham from Worthing in the UK. I support
1:59.3	the Cold War Conversations podcast financially,
2:02.3	as it's important that these stories and experiences from the Cold War are preserved before they're lost.
	...

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