The Spies Who Built the CIA

Warfare

History Hit

History

4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

The CIA is one of the most well-known and powerful government organisations across the globe. But who's responsible for its creation, and why have they been overlooked by the history books?

In the wake of the Second World War, four agents played key roles in the organisations formation - dubbed the 'Wise Gals' by their colleagues, Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier are the unsung heroes of the CIAs history. They played dangerous roles behind enemy lines, recruited double agents, and helped track down stolen Nazi art - their contributions to world history are unrivalled. So why aren't they household names?

In this second episode of our mini-series on the CIA, James Rogers talks to New York Times bestselling author Nathalia Holt about this exceptional history. Together they discuss the unheard story of these remarkable spies who built the CIA and shaped the future of espionage.

You can find Nathalia Holt's book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/wise-gals-the-spies-who-built-the-cia-and-changed-the-future-of-espionage/9781785789588

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In the wake of the Second World War, four agents were critical in helping to build a new organization that we now know as the CIA.
0:11.0	Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchinson, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth
0:15.5	Sudmayer were called the wise girls by their male colleagues because of their
0:19.4	sharp sense of humor and their even quicker intelligence, but they were not your
0:23.2	stereotypical fem-fatal of the spy novels. They were smart, courageous, daring,
0:28.4	brave, and groundbreaking agents at the top of their class. I'm your host James Rogers, and as part of our special month-long mini-series on the CIA,
0:37.0	I've invited the New York Times best-selling author Nuthalia Holt onto the podcast.
0:42.0	Now, Nuthalia is the author of a new book,
0:44.5	Wise Gals, the spies who built the CIA and changed the future of espionage.
0:49.3	And by using her first-hand interviews with past and present CIA officials and declassified government
0:56.5	documents, she helps us to uncover the stories of these four remarkable agents.
1:02.4	Enjoy.
1:03.0	Hi, Natalia, welcome to the Warfare Podcast. How you doing today?
1:09.0	I'm doing well, thank you. That is good to hear and great to have you on the podcast.
1:14.0	Now I should let you know that this month is our special CIA month and we've got a real mix of
1:19.4	old controversies like the numerous CIA coups and assassinations and a bunch of new cutting edge
1:25.2	histories as well, like the rise of the CIA drone program during the Reagan years.
1:30.6	And I would say that what we're going to talk about today is a little bit of both.
1:34.9	It's a familiar period of history.
1:36.2	We're talking about the Cold War, but it's a fascinating new layer that has been previously
1:42.2	neglected and this is of course the new. new layer that has been previously neglected.
1:43.0	And this is, of course, the never before told story of the wise girls, the influential
	...

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