World War Two Spycraft: Stealing Nuclear Secrets, Blowing Up Nazi Factories, and Infiltrating Japanese High Command

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2018

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Spies have been a feature of state security and military intelligence since the beginning of warfare. Entire wars have been won or lost according to these secret activities. Today we will look at spycraft during World War Two, a golden age of espionage.

Spycraft was an essential element to the war effort as ships, planes, or weapons. At no time were military secrets so valuable. Nuclear technology was vital for both sides if they did not want to fall behind the other. Learning the troop movements of the enemy could make it possible to launch an attack on the level of D-Day, permanently crippling their war machine.

In this episode I will discuss the careers of...Richard Sorge, the German playboy based in Tokyo who stole nearly all of Japan's World War 2 plan, sent it to the Kremlin, and prevented Nazi Germany's attempt to invade and capture Moscow.Nancy Wake, a socialite in France-turned- Resistance Fighter who saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives of Allied airmen by smuggling them to the Spanish border.George Koval, the Iowa-born Soviet spy who worked on the Manhattan Project and fed all the scientific breakthroughs to Russia, accelerating their nuclear program by years

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What was it like to watch the Twin Towers collapse on 9-11?
0:03.8	How about to be sent to Auschwitz during the Holocaust?
0:06.7	Our past is a collection of stories that bring us to where we are and shape our perspectives.
0:11.2	Hi, I'm Josh Cohen, host of the Eyewitness History Podcast.
0:14.9	On my show, I interviewed guests who watched the events that shaped our world.
0:18.8	From heartbreaking war stories to hilarious memories from the SNL writers room,
0:23.0	no recollection is off limits.
0:25.2	To start listening now for free, go to pathnanpodcast.com
0:28.6	or search Eyewitness History on the podcast player of your choice.
0:55.2	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast.
1:02.2	The unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes, myth busts historical lies,
1:07.2	and rediscoveres the forgotten stories that changed our world.
1:11.2	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:15.2	The German reporter came to Tokyo with commissions from respectable newspapers to report on developments happening before the war.
1:20.2	This was the 1930s and everybody knew that World War II was going to rock the globe.
1:25.2	But that didn't stop him from leaping into a debauch lifestyle.
1:29.2	He drank on an innocent, and he was a great man.
1:34.2	He was a great man.
1:37.2	He was a great man.
1:40.2	He was a great man.
1:43.2	He drank on an industrial scale and kept dozens of girlfriends.
1:48.2	His exploits soon became legendary among Japan's expatriates.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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