They operated in the shadows. They changed the course of wars, toppled governments, and shifted the balance of global power – often without firing a shot. From Francis Walsingham, who created England's first intelligence network in Elizabethan times, to Josephine Baker, who traded the spotlight of Paris stages for the dangerous world of wartime espionage. These are the true stories of history's most remarkable spies.

Beginning this June, Spy Story takes you into the hidden world of intelligence operations that shaped our past and continue to influence our present. Each episode reveals the extraordinary individuals behind history's most consequential covert missions – their methods, their motivations, and the high stakes of their shadow war.

We'll explore the ingenious techniques developed over centuries: invisible ink and dead drops, cryptography and deception, psychological operations and counterintelligence. We'll discover how authors like Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene drew on their own experiences as spies to create enduring literature. And we'll examine how the fictional world of espionage often reflects – and sometimes influences – the reality of intelligence work.

Spy Story is produced by Jim Stovall in conjunction with First Inning Press. New episodes arrive in mid-June. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.

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