The Great Illegals, Part 2: The Ambassador | NKVD

True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics

SPYSCAPE

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this two-part True Spies story, author and journalist Shaun Walker unmasks the greatest generation of Russian spies - the Great Illegals. In Part Two, Shaun tells the story of Iosif Grigulevich - the Lithuanian Illegal who rose to the upper echelons of Italy's diplomatic community. From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Frank Palmer. Shaun Walker is the Central and Eastern Europe correspondent for The Guardian newspaper. He is the author of The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Life's full of big money decisions. Dividend versus growth stocks, tapping home equity, even navigating tariffs.
0:06.9	And for every smart tip out there, there's another one that sounds smart but isn't.
0:11.1	That's where NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast comes in. I'm Sean Piles, a certified financial planner professional.
0:16.6	And I'm Elizabeth Ayola. On NerdWallet Smart Money podcast, our finance journalists do the homework so you can make confident wealth building moves.
0:24.2	Whether you're building your portfolio or protecting it, we've got the facts and a little fun along the way.
0:29.1	Follow NerdWallet Smart Money Podcasts on your favorite podcast app.
0:32.9	This is True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
0:42.2	Week by week, you'll hear the true stories behind the operations that have shaped the world we live in.
0:49.2	You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
0:53.3	What do they know?
0:55.0	What are their skills?
0:56.0	And what would you do in their position?
0:59.0	I'm Rihanna Needs, and this is True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
1:06.0	The Great Illegals Part 2, The Ambassador.
1:14.2	It's the morning of April the 27th, 1953,
1:20.0	and the communist leader of Yugoslavia, Yossit,
1:24.4	is receiving a diplomat at his white palace in Belgrade.
1:29.6	In a simply furnished room, in the depths of a grand palace, two politicians greet one
1:36.1	another with firm handshakes before sitting down. Though the room may be humble, our host is
1:42.7	anything but. Tito is Yugoslavia's president,
1:48.0	prime minister, army marshal, and godfather to every ninth child born in the country.
1:54.7	And he has grand ambitions for his country. That's what today is about.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SPYSCAPE, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of SPYSCAPE and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.