Episodes

  • Episode 9 - Francesca Lessa

    Episode 9 - Francesca Lessa
    Nov 7 2024
    In today’s episode we welcome Dr Francesca Lessa. Dr Lessa is associate professor in International Relations of the Americas at University College London. Previously, she was a researcher and lecturer at the University of Oxford, where, among other achievements, she secured a prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship. Her research focuses on transnational repression, human rights and transitional justice. Her latest book, The Condor Trials, is at the centre of our episode. The book won two major boook awards. The Juan Méndez Human Rights Award in Latin America in 2023 and the Ibero-American Book Award from the Latin American Studies Association in 2024. The episode covers the orgins and historical precedents of Operation CONDOR. We discuss its various components including transnational repression and international assassination squads. We assess the role of the United States and we cover some of the trials that have followed the end of CONDOR and of the military dictatorships in latin America. Listeners of our podcast can secure a special discount price of £35. To secure the discounted price, follow this direct link: https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300254099/the-condor-trials/ Use code: Y2443 at the online check-out. Dr Lessa’s Book recommendations: - Fernando Butazzoni, Las Cenizas del Condor (in Spanish) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712211/las-cenizas-del-condor--the-ashes-of-the-condor-by-fernando-butazzoni/ - John Dinges, The Condor Years (particularly recommended here is the new edition of the book including archival material from 2019), https://amzn.eu/d/7LsNkng - Dana Moss and Saipira Furstenberg (Eds.), Transnational Repression in the Age of Globalisation, https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-transnational-repression-in-the-age-of-globalisation.html
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    56 mins
  • Episode 8 - Michela Wrong

    Episode 8 - Michela Wrong
    Oct 11 2023
    In this episode we welcome investigative journalist Michela Wrong. Micheal is a leading expert on Africa, particularly the great lakes region. She has written 5 books: a novel set in the horn of Africa and 4 non-fiction books. Her non-fiction and investigative work has focused on the history and politics of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, and, more recently Rwanda. In 2021 she published Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad, The book explores the repressive nature of the current Rwandan regime with a particularly focus on its extraterritorial repression, including the use of assassination. Building on Michela's book and on a report by Human Rights Watch, the episode covers the Rwandan regime, its intelligence services, and its practices. The core of the episode is a discussion of the use of extraterritorial assassinations. We cover the targets selected for assassination, the rationale behind assassination, and the methods used. We also cover plausible and implausible deniability, the signalling functions of these assassinations at home and abroad. Finally, we discuss the extent to which impunity and the absence of repercussions influences human rights, international norms, and other states' practice. Michela's book recommendations are: - The work of Gerard Prunier on Rwanda and the region, for example, The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide, - The work of Rene Lemarchand, including his Remembering genocides in Central Africa, - David van Reybrouck, Congo: the epic history of a people.
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    57 mins
  • Out of the Shadows Episode 7 - Dafydd Townley

    Out of the Shadows Episode 7 - Dafydd Townley
    Jul 20 2021
    In this episode we welcome Dr Dafith Townley. Dr Towley is a lecturer in the Department of history at the University of Reading. He is an expert in intelligence and cyber security. In the episode, we discuss his latest book: The Year of Intelligence in the United States: public opinion, national security, and the 1975 Church Committee (https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030676452) The episode covers the origins of the 1975 investigations into the conduct of the intelligence community, the relationship between the Ford Presidency, Congress, and the CIA, and the results and long-term effects of the investigations. We also discuss a common are of interest that is the Church Committee's investigation of the US government's involvement in assassination. As usual, we conclude with some reading recommendations. I hope you enjoy the show.
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    58 mins
  • Out of the Shadows Episode 6 - Martin D. Brown

    Out of the Shadows Episode 6 - Martin D. Brown
    Feb 26 2021
    In this episode, we welcome Dr Martin D. Brown. Dr Brown is Associate Professor of International History at Richmond University in London. He previously worked as the Lead Researcher, Centre of Excellence in Intercultural Studies, School of Humanities, Tallinn University, Estonia. As you will soon learn, this episode is all about James Bond. While Dr Brown’s main area of research is the Cold War and Diplomatic History, he as has a strong interest in Bond and the world around one of fiction’s most famous characters. In the episode we explore Bon novels (Ian Fleming’s ones and beyond), the field of 'bondology' and the cultural turn in intelligence studies, the symbiotic relationship between fiction and international politics, and, of course, the popularity of Bond and its consequences. As usual the episode concludes with some book recommendations. I hope you enjoy the show.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Out of the Shadows Episode 5 - Sarah-Jane Corke

    Out of the Shadows Episode 5 - Sarah-Jane Corke
    Jan 28 2021
    In this episode, we welcome Dr Sarah-Jane Corke. Sarah-Jane is Associate Professor of History at the University of New Brunswick. The episode builds on her 2008 book published by Routledge, US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy. Sarah-Jane is also the President of the North American Society for Intelligence History. Enjoy the episode and check the Society's website for more information (www.intelligencehistory.org).
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    35 mins
  • Out of the Shadows Episode 4 - Dov H. Levin

    Out of the Shadows Episode 4 - Dov H. Levin
    Jan 14 2021
    In this episode we welcome Dov Levin. Dov is Assistant professor of International Relations at the University of Hong Kong. He has written an excellent book on electoral interference call Meddling in the Ballot Box: the causes and effects of partisan electoral interventions, published by Oxford University Press. In the episode, we talk about the causes of electoral interferences, how they are carried out, the consequences, and we conclude with a discussion of the 2016 US elections and Russia's interference. Enjoy the episode.
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    34 mins
  • Out of the Shadows Podcast Episode 3 - Michael Poznansky

    Out of the Shadows Podcast Episode 3 - Michael Poznansky
    Dec 20 2017
    In our third episode, we have a chat with Michael Poznansky, Assistant Professor of International Affairs and Intelligence Studies at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Pittsburgh. Michael's research looks at democracies and covert action, with a specific focus on US foreign policy. In the episode with discuss 'democratic peace theory,' democracies' use of covert action, historical cases of covert action conducted by the United States, the relations between domestic and international law and covert action, and recent US practice.
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    43 mins
  • Episode 2 - Rory Cormac

    Episode 2 - Rory Cormac
    Aug 2 2017
    This is the second episode of our British Academy 'Out of the Shadows' project. This episode feature Dr Rory Cormac, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham. The episode discusses British intelligence and Rory's book The Black Door a history of the relation between British Prime Ministers and Intelligence.
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    59 mins