True Spies Classic: Exit Strategy | CIA

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

SPYSCAPE

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this classic episode of True Spies, CIA analyst Sarah Carlson drops Vanessa Kirby into the pressure-cooker of post-revolutionary Libya. In 2011, the Arab Spring swept Colonel Gaddafi from office, leaving a deadly power vacuum. Three years later, civil war engulfed the nation. Under a hail of rocket fire, Sarah had to figure out a way to extract 150 American personnel from the carnage. From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Gemma Newby. Produced by Claire Crofton. Music by Nick Ryan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:34.5	Hello, true spies listeners. Welcome back.
0:38.8	You're joining us as we venture into the vaults to revisit some of your favorite episodes from our collection.
0:45.5	We hope you enjoy this classic True Spies rendezvous.
0:49.6	We think it's well worth catching up with.
0:52.3	This is True Spies, The Classics, from Spyscape Studios.
1:01.5	Incoming transmission.
1:04.0	Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to True Spies.
1:10.7	Week by week, mission by mission, you'll hear the Trimals. Welcome. Welcome to true spies.
1:19.5	Week by week, mission by mission, you'll hear the true stories behind the world's greatest espionage operations.
1:24.1	You'll meet the people who navigate this secret world.
1:31.7	What do they know? What are their skills and what would you do in their position?
1:40.1	This is true spies. That was sort of one of the most intense moments of my life where we ended up having to walk out into this bombing campaign. You could see rockets hitting the airport.
1:47.2	We also knew that if a rocket hit our facility directly,
1:51.4	that we didn't really have a defense against it.
1:54.1	There really wasn't a lot we could do to defend ourselves.
1:57.5	This is True Spies.
2:00.4	Episode 20, exit strategy.
2:06.6	There's nothing like a barrage of rockets to put your language skills to the test, as Sarah M. Carlson found out the hard way.
2:16.7	I'm a former CIA officer.
2:19.5	And this story is quite extraordinary.
	...

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