The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | The Stranger In Red Square | 1

The Spy Who

Wondery

History

4.6 • 669 Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s 1960. The world hangs on the brink of nuclear war. But in Moscow, a man’s about to emerge from the shadows with an offer for the CIA. His name is Oleg Penkovsky and he wants to supply the US with the Soviet Union’s greatest nuclear secrets. But is he for real or part of an elaborate trap?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge full seasons of the Spy Who early and add free on Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. August 1960, Moscow.
0:21.6	It's late at night.
0:23.6	Brain splashes off the cobblestones of Red Square as American student, Elton Cox,
0:29.6	huddles under an umbrella.
0:31.6	He's on his way back to his hotel with one of the other students
0:34.6	who's also visiting the Soviet Union as part of an exchange trip.
0:40.7	As they pass the painted onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral, a Russian man steps out of the shadows
0:47.1	with an unlit cigarette in his hand. Excuse me. Do you have a light? The man's in his early 40s with auburn hair that's starting to grey.
0:57.0	He's wearing a suit and tie, but Cox served in the Air Force and recognises the straight back of a military man.
1:04.0	No, sorry, we don't smoke.
1:07.0	Cox and his friend walk on, but the man follows.
1:11.6	The students exchange a worried glance.
1:14.6	Before coming to Moscow, they were warned that the KGB tries to entrap and blackmail American visitors.
1:22.6	The man says nothing as they walk past the soldiers guarding Moskvoretsky Bridge.
1:28.3	But when they reach a darkened area in the middle of the bridge, the man breaks his silence.
1:33.3	I saw you both on the train yesterday.
1:35.3	I could not speak to you because the KGB were there.
1:38.3	But please, I need you to deliver this letter to your embassy.
1:41.3	Cox recoils as the man tries to press a letter into his hands. Hey, what are you doing?
1:47.4	Please. I want to help the West. I know secrets. Cox's friend picks up the pace.
1:55.0	Oh, Jesus. Elder, let's get out of here. The man steps forward, eyes intent. I have information about your pilot who was
2:03.3	shot down. The truth about how his plane was shot down. It took many attempts, not one. Cox stops.
	...

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