AFIO Podcast

Mark M. Lowenthal PhD, Former Dep Asst SecState for Intelligence, discusses his new book, "Vigilance Is Not Enough: A History of United States Intelligence" [Yale Univ Press, May 2025] with AFIO President James Hughes. The interview runs 23 minutes and includes several Q&As. Interview of Tuesday, 15 July 2025. Hosted by AFIO President James Hughes.

Sheetal Patel, Former Assistant Director for CIA’s Transnational and Technology Mission Center discusses Counterintelligence and Technology challenges facing the U.S. with AFIO board member, Fran Moore, Former CIA Senior Executive in Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence. Interview of Monday, 14 July 2025. Interviewer: Fran Moore, Former CIA Senior Executive in Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President.

David Robarge PhD, CIA Chief Historian, on "The History of U.S. Intelligence 1975-2025" with AFIO President, James Hughes. He joined CIA in 1989 and worked as an analyst in the Directorate of Intelligence. After earning a PhD in American History from Columbia, teaching at Columbia and working for banker David Rockefeller and at the Gannett Center for Media Studies at Columbia, he moved to CIA's History Staff in 1996 and was appointed chief historian in June 2005. Interview of Friday, 27 June 2025. Hosted by AFIO President, James Hughes.

Mike Mears, former CIA Chief of HR, discusses "Intelligence Community Reform" with AFIO president, James Hughes. The questions discussed are: "Why can't we ever seem to get IC reform right?" "What is the meaning of 'the culture of a work environment'?" "Why are bad bosses so important?" Types of reformers: 1) people that want procedural reform; 2) people we urge we get back to mission or change our priorities; 3) those who want to revamp hiring and recruitment; 4) the analytical reformers or oversight reformers saying we just need to strengthen oversight; 5) the policy people who say we just have clarify our authorities and change certain policies; 6) the modernization people and AI enthusiasts who say embracing technological change will shorten the tech cycles and fix the culture; and 7) the structural people who go to the org chart and shift the boxes around thinking that's going to fix things. How to engender loyalty, trust, and great performance from a team. How to identify the limitations and strengths of the human mind and create a dynamic and innovative workplace. Interview of Tuesday, 24 June 2025. Hosted by AFIO President James Hughes.

David Robarge PhD, CIA Chief Historian, on "The Soldier-Statesman in the Secret World: George C. Marshall and Intelligence in War and Peace" George C. Marshall is best known as the Allies’ “organizer of victory” during World War II and steward of the namesake economic recovery program in postwar Western Europe. Far less well-known is Marshall’s extensive engagement with the world of intelligence during those years. In his Army leadership role in World War II, his diplomatic mission to China right after the war and his service as head of the State and Defense Departments, he grappled with difficult issues concerning intelligence capabilities and authorities, security matters and political and bureaucratic conflicts that persist today in the U.S. intelligence community. How he approached them can provide insights for current intelligence leaders and practitioners as they confront those historically enduring problems. Interview of Monday, 28 April 2025. Host and Interviewer: James Hughes, AFIO President.

AFIO Now presents a special episode with Norman Roule, former National Intelligence Manager, ODNI; former Division Chief, CIA Operations Officer, Chief of Station. In this AFIO Special Edition episode Norm Roule and Jim Hughes discuss recent attacks by US and Israel on Iran. Questions covered: Imagine the Supreme Leader is meeting with his inner security circle. What are their priorities at this moment? Are they achievable? And what weapons of the regime still have at its disposal? If things were starting to come apart in Iran, what are some of the highlights that we should look for? What are some of the indicators? What does a 12 day war mean for the region? What are senior regional leaders saying both publicly and privately? Are other Gulf countries - Qatar, the Emirates, the Saudis, the Omanis, the Kuwaitis, the Gulf Cooperation Council - pleased with the attacks? They now can raise the issue that the Chinese are selling ammonium percolate to the Iranians, which the Iranians are giving to the Houthis and the Houthi. And then using against everyone in the region and the world's economy itself. Does the Iranian nuclear enrichment program still exist in any form? Will the IAEA be allowed in or does it become a bargaining chip in long, drawn out negotiations? What does a diminished Iran mean for the region? There's been a lot of talk about realignment. Is that likely to happen and what can Iran try to do to counter that? Interview of Monday, 1 July 2025. Interviewed by AFIO President, James Hughes.

Author Alexander Rose PhD discusses his book, "Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring" with AFIO President, James Hughes. "Fascinating…. tells how the work of the spies proved to be the tipping point in the summer of 1778, helping Washington begin breaking the stalemate with the British…. [and] brings to light their crucial help in winning American independence."—Dallas Morning News "After working on Washington, I knew there was a story to tell about his reliance on spies during the Revolutionary War. But I believed the story could never be told because the evidence did not exist. Well, I was wrong, and Alexander Rose tells this important story with style and wit."—Joseph Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington "Making brilliant use of documentary sources, Rose gives us intrigue, crossed signals, derring-do, and a priceless slice of 18th century life…Rose unfolds the story of a Long Island-based spy ring of idealists and misfits who kept George Washington informed of what was going on in enemy-occupied New York." —Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington Interview of Friday, 29 March 2025. Interviewer and Host: AFIO President, James Hughes.

Leon Carroll Jr, co-author (with Mark Harmon) on "Ghosts of Panama: A Strongman Out of Control, A Murdered Marine, and the Special Agents Caught in the Middle of an Invasion." The warm relationship in 1989 between US and Gen. Manuel Noriega has eroded dangerously. President George Bush declares Noriega a drug trafficker and a rigger of elections causing intimidation on streets for U.S. personnel. The nation becomes a powder keg. Naval Investigative Service (NIS) Special Agent Rick Yell has worked the job in Panama since 1986, and lives there with wife Annya and a child. Yell develops an intelligence source with access to the Noriega regime turning into spy-versus-spy with secret meetings and hidden documents. A source has info on an imprisoned CIA asset and helps track Noriega’s movements. The reports shape the decisions made in Washington D.C., CIA headquarters, and the Pentagon. The powder keg is lit on December 16, 1989, when a young U.S. Marine is gunned down at a checkpoint in Panama City. This is the rest of that story. Interview of Friday, 28 March 2025. Interviewer and Host: AFIO President James Hughes.

Mike Mears, former CIA Chief of HR, on his book Certainty: How Great Bosses Can Change Minds and Drive Innovation. Discover how great leaders draw out the best of human nature. That our Stone Age brains are hardwired for survival and programmed to fear the unknown, yet the work world demands constant innovation. The enemy of better leadership is uncertainty deeply buried in the minds of your workforce. Mears urges greater understanding of human nature. Work with it rather than push against it. He draws on neuroscience and psychology -- plus compelling stories from his Agency career -- to provide practical leadership advice, including: Science-backed explanations of how our brains think and how our primitive brains are colliding with the demands of the modern workplace; New feedback, change management, and delegation tools to build an environment of certainty rather than of fear; Fresh insights to overcome innate change resistance in yourself and others; and Time-saving ideas to empower yourself while empowering your employees. These steps engender loyalty, trust, and great performance from a team. You learn to identify the limitations and strengths of the human mind and create a dynamic and innovative workplace. Interview of Thursday, 20 March 2025. Interviewed by: AFIO President, James Hughes.

Joseph Finder, author and Russian Studies expert discusses his novel, "The Oligarch's Daughter." It is a breakneck thriller that marries the dynastic opulence of Succession with the tense and disorienting spycraft of The Americans. Interview of Tuesday, 13 March 2025. Interviewer and Host: AFIO President James Hughes.

Nicholas Reynolds PhD discussing his 2022 book "Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence" with AFIO President, James Hughes. Interview of Tuesday, 4 March 2025. Interviewer and Host: AFIO President James Hughes.

Douglas Waller, Historian, Author, and Foreign Correspondent, discusses his new book "The Determined Spy: The Turbulent Life and Times of CIA Pioneer Frank Wisner" with AFIO President, James Hughes. Frank Wisner was one of the most powerful men in 1950s Washington, though few knew it. Reporting directly to senior U.S. officials--his work largely hidden from Congress and the public--Wisner masterminded some of the CIA’s most controversial operations in the early years of the Cold War, commanding thousands of clandestine agents around the world. Interview of Monday, 31 March 2025. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President.

Leon Carroll Jr, co-author (with Mark Harmon) on "Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor" A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on the American fleet. On December 7, 1941, their hidden stories are exposed by a morning of bloodshed that would change the world forever. Scrutinizing long-buried historical documents, NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll, a former NCIS Special Agent, have brought forth a true-life NCIS story of deception, discovery, and danger. Interview of Thursday, 6 February 2025. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President

Author, Joby Warrick discusses his 2020 book "RED LINE on The Unraveling of Syria and America's Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World" with AFIO President, James Hughes. Interview of Monday, 27 January 2025. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President

James M. Scott, co-author with Jack Carr, of "Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Story of the War on Terror." A behind-the-scenes account of a mission and a fight that changed America. It was the event that ushered in the War on Terror. And it shows the pitfalls of American hubris, overreach, and irresponsible military intervention. Paints the entire picture of mind-boggling events before, during, and after the Beirut Bombing, from ancient history to present day. The authors tell the story through voices of Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers who endured the two-year “peacekeeping” operation. We also experience the tragedy through the president, generals, and policymakers back in Washington. Another sad chapter in the Middle East's centuries old internecine struggle among its inhabitants and the price America pays for problematic policies despite history and seemingly dismissed lessons owing as much to hubris and breathtaking naivete. Interview of Thursday, 12 December 2024. Host: James Hughes, AFIO President.

Michael "Mickey" Bergman, the CEO of Global Reach and the Vice President and Executive Director of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. He is also the author (with Ellis Henican) of "In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad." Bergman is responsible for the negotiations that brought many high-profile prisoners home, including Brittney Griner, Danny Fenster, Otto Warmbier, and Trevor Reed. In the Shadows details his never-before-told stories inside the secret negotiations to free Americans from some of the world’s most repressive countries, including North Korea, Russia, Hamas, and more. Interview of Thursday, 26 November 2024. Host: AFIO President James Hughes, a former senior CIA Operations Officer.

Author, Jesse Fink talks with AFIO President, James Hughes about his new book, "The Eagle in the Mirror: The Greatest Spy Story Never Told" on Charles Howard "Dick" Ellis, MI6's Top Agent in America During World War II. In search of war hero, master spy, and alleged traitor Charles Howard "Dick" Ellis. Interview of Tuesday, 1 Oct 2024. Host: AFIO President James Hughes, a former senior CIA Operations Officer.

Patrick K. O'Donnell, military historian and author, on his new book "The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations" released 7 May 2024. Interview of Tuesday, 3 September 2024. Host: James Hughes.

Joseph Keogh PhD, former CIA Science & Technology Executive and Disguise Expert, discusses his new book "Creating Mission Impact: Essential Tradecraft for Innovators at CIA and Beyond" co-authored with Joe Ball and Greg Moore. Interviewed: Thursday, 24 October 2024. Host: James Hughes. Interviewer: Christopher J. Parker.

Author Barry Werth discusses his book, Prisoner of Lies: Jack Downey's Cold War with AFIO President, Jim Hughes. They discuss the remarkable true story of the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, John Downey, Jr., a CIA officer captured in China during the Korean War and imprisoned for twenty-one years. The interview runs 28 minutes with several Q&As. Interview of Thursday, 1 Aug 2024. Host and Interviewer: AFIO President James Hughes.