The Sunday Edition: ‘I gave my life to the CIA. They betrayed me.’

The Story

[email protected]

Politics, Daily News, News

4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode was originally published last November.

On Sept 12, 2001, Blerim Skoro was approached by a man and a woman while he was in prison. They turned out to be CIA agents. That one meeting would change the course of his life and lead him on a journey across countries, inside terrorist groups, as he tried to make it home to his family.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Josie Ensor, US Correspondent, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Luke Jones.

Producer: Taryn Siegel.

Clips: Video filmed by Blerim Skoro, provided by ‘The Accidental Spy’, directed by Anthony Wonke.

Photo: John Beck for The Times.

Further reading: I gave my life to the CIA. They betrayed me

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Lucy Andrews from The Times and Sunday Times Feel Better About Money podcast and this week we're sponsored by Halifax, in partnership with the Sunday Times best places to live.
0:10.4	Each week myself and Holly Mead talk about a single subject such as mortgages and home buying to give you the insights and information you can use to make your money work better for you.
0:20.4	Listen to feel better about money
0:22.1	wherever you get your podcasts. For just one pound a month for six months, you can enjoy
0:27.1	unlimited digital access to the Times and Sunday Times when you subscribe with Google.
0:32.2	Stay well informed on news, politics, business, culture and sport wherever you are, with the latest
0:37.4	stories and live updates on the Times app and website.
0:41.0	Don't miss out.
0:42.2	Visit the Times.com forward slash subscribe with Google to claim your offer today.
0:47.2	18 plus new customers only.
0:48.9	Offer ends midnight April the 14th.
0:50.9	Season C's Apply.
1:08.0	Hi there, this is Terrence Siegel, a producer on the story.
1:11.3	So every weekend, we raid the story archive for an episode you might have missed
1:13.3	that we think you'd love.
1:18.2	Last autumn, in a noisy cafe in Brooklyn,
1:21.5	speaking softly so he wouldn't be overheard,
1:24.5	a man named Baleram Scoro told our U.S. correspondent
1:27.3	the amazing tale of
1:29.1	traveling the globe as a CIA spy.
1:33.6	He actually filmed his whole
1:35.3	experience in the CIA, and you'll
	...

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