John Kiriakou's Dead Drop

IN THIS EPISODE We draw the curtain on season 2 with a preview of season 3 wherein we'll ask "What Makes A Whistleblower Tick?" To get us kicked off, John roundtables with whistleblower Tom Drake. A longtime member of America's intelligence community, Tom had just become an official at NSA when 9-11 happened - literally on Tom's first day. But, as America's "War On Terror" ramped up, Tom noticed NSA was gathering intelligence that it shouldn't - information pertaining to American citizens. NSA doing that was both outside its charter and flat out illegal. Tom chose to go through authorized channels to report what he saw. When, a decade later, the problem was still a problem, Tom finally took what he knew to the news media. What makes a whistleblower tick? Judging by Tom Drake - the right stuff.

SHOW NOTES
If you're enjoying Dead Drop, please sample our other podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next great podcast obsession is just a click away!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IN THIS EPISODE We join with another podcast in the Costard & Touchstone Family - The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast - to explore how NOT to make a SPY movie. John and Alan Katz (he's both the host of The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast and the co-writer/executive producer of this the Dead Drop podcast) talk about the spy TV series and movies that inspired them both when they were kids, in John's case, to become a spy, and in Alan's case, to want to write about them. And, they'll discuss the process of turning real life spy stories - like John's - into a movie or TV series.

SHOW NOTES
You can find The How NOT To Make a Movie Podcast everywhere you find your favorite podcasts or here. If you enjoy Dead Drop - and The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, please check out the rest of our podcasts at Costard & Touchstone. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IN THIS EPISODE John's time at Loretto finally comes to an end - but not without a near hiccup. Though he's free of Loretto, he's not free from the federal Bureau of Prisons; John must report every day to "Hope Village", a halfway house - a situation loaded with ways to trip up and land back at Loretto. John begins the process of shaking off the prison persona he had to adopt in order to survive and relocating his true self.

SHOW NOTES
If you are enjoying this project, please check out the rest of our podcast offerings at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IN THIS EPISODE When John first entered the gates of Loretto Federal Prison, his goal was to use all his training as a spy to survive prison. But, just as with spying, prison can be very unpredictable. In fact, John found that he'd been fooled by one of his roommates - who'd been betraying him from the jump. As he enters the home stretch of his sentence, John doubles down on his mission to use everything he learned as a spy to survive prison to the bitter end.

SHOW NOTES
If you enjoy this podcast, please check out our whole exciting range of podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IN THIS EPISODE At Loretto Federal Prison, John can almost see the light of his release date in the not-too-distant future. Returning to the Outside World will mean having to shed the prison persona John worked so hard to create - if only for survival purposes. Meanwhile in the outside world, the suibject of John's whistleblowing - the CIA's torture program - is finally getting its day in the court of public opinion as the Senate finally gets up the nerve to release its damning report on torture. Things are coming to a head.

SHOW NOTES
If you're enjoying this podcast, please check out the rest of our podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next great podcast obsession is just a click away!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.