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Listen Now: The Spy Who

Listen Now: The Spy Who

TrailerReleased Tuesday, 27th February 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Listen Now: The Spy Who

Listen Now: The Spy Who

Listen Now: The Spy Who

Listen Now: The Spy Who

TrailerTuesday, 27th February 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hello, my name's Indra Varma, and I'm

0:02

quickly dropping in to tell you about

0:04

a new weekly series from Wondery that

0:06

I think you'll like. It's

0:09

called The Spy Who, and

0:12

it explores true spy stories you were

0:14

never meant to hear. The

0:16

Spy Who reveals the invisible work

0:19

of the world's intelligence services, unearthing

0:21

daring missions packed with

0:24

danger, deceit and double-crosses.

0:28

Each season, my co-host Raza Jaffrey

0:30

and I introduce you to shadowy

0:32

figures who risked everything to achieve

0:34

their mission, like Oleg Lelin, the

0:36

spy who sabotaged the KGB, or

0:40

Dushko Popov, the spy who inspired

0:42

007. In

0:44

fact, I'm about to play you a clip from this

0:47

very season. If you'd like

0:49

to hear more, follow The Spy Who

0:51

wherever you listen to podcasts. Or

0:54

you can binge full seasons early

0:56

and ad-free with Wondery Plus on

0:58

Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. Dushko

1:10

Popov wakes from his alcohol-drenched

1:12

slumber. It's 1937, and Popov

1:14

studying law in Freiburg, Nazi Germany.

1:24

Popov drags himself out of bed. He's

1:27

in his mid-twenties with short black hair. Yawning,

1:30

he unlocks the door. Four

1:33

Gestapo officers barge past. One

1:36

confronts Popov as the others ransack his

1:38

flat. Dushko Popov, you are

1:40

under arrest. On what charge? The

1:43

Gestapo officer punches Popov in the stomach.

1:46

Popov crumples under the blow. Before

1:49

he can recover, two officers grab him. They

1:51

drag him outside to a waiting car, throw

1:53

him into the vehicle's boot, and slam the

1:55

door shut. Popov

2:05

snaps awake as cold water hits his

2:07

face. He's tied to a

2:09

chair in a Gestapo interrogation room and he's

2:11

been there for days. Popov's

2:13

interrogator tosses the metal bucket aside

2:16

and leans in close. Admit it,

2:19

you're a communist. It's ridiculous. You

2:21

can't think. Listen, my

2:24

father, he owns coal

2:26

mines and factories. Why

2:29

would I support communism? But

2:32

I'm a Yugoslav citizen and I want a lawyer.

2:35

The interrogator takes a step back. If you're

2:37

not a communist, why are you dating one?

2:40

Popov smirks. Because she's pretty.

2:42

The interrogator's face flashes with anger.

2:45

A split second later, Popov sees

2:47

his fist hurtling towards his face. A

3:05

train blasts its whistle as it thunders through

3:07

the Swiss Alps. On the

3:09

road running alongside the tracks, a Mercedes

3:11

burns rubber. The man at the wheel

3:14

checks he's keeping it with the train. He's

3:16

Johnny Yebesen, Popov's best friend.

3:19

He's a wealthy German with a pencil

3:22

moustache and he's on a rescue mission.

3:28

Then screeches to a halt outside

3:30

Basel train station just as Popov

3:32

exits the station. Dushko!

3:35

Popov runs over. Johnny,

3:38

what are you doing here? We can't have you

3:40

taking a taxi after all you've been through. But

3:44

how did you know I'd be here?

3:46

Yebesen smiles. Who do you think got

3:48

you out? I got wind

3:50

that you'd been arrested and called your father. He

3:52

got the Yugoslav government to step in. Popov

3:55

climbs into the passenger seat. They

3:57

Were going to ship me out to a concentration camp. While.

4:01

You're here now. No. Seriously.

4:05

I. Think in. Dundee,

4:08

Silly. Haley's. Good.

4:13

Even. Better dinner on. Been

4:15

seeing. A.

4:20

Lot from smile. He

4:22

won't forget that promise and when

4:24

he called it in Pop of

4:26

will be transformed into one of

4:28

the greatest secret agents of World

4:30

War Two. From

4:41

one Juri I'm indra vomit.

4:43

I'm this is the sky

4:45

is. Beneath

4:48

a veneer of the every day lox.

4:50

The realm of this. Pizza

4:54

Dark, dangerous world. Full

4:57

of shadowy corners, sinister motives.

5:00

And corrupted tomorrow. A

5:03

place of paranoia and

5:05

infiltration. sabotage. And manipulate.

5:09

Every week the Spy who

5:11

will take you inside twilight.

5:13

well, You.

5:16

Will hear true stories about the

5:18

work of the world's intelligence services

5:21

and follow spies on during missions

5:23

packed with dangerous deceit. And

5:25

double crosses. And

5:29

we begin by retrieving the

5:31

files on do scope of

5:33

off either Serbian playboy who

5:35

outfox Nazi Germany while living

5:37

a life full of cocktails.

5:39

Women: And casino. And

5:42

he also helped inspire. The most famous

5:44

fictional spy of all time and

5:46

James Bond. What?

5:50

You're about to, here are

5:52

dramatized reconstructions. Based on real events

5:54

and the information that's been made public.

5:58

But remember in. The

6:00

Shadow Realm of the Sky The

6:02

Full Story. Is rarely clear.

6:06

This. Is a spy who

6:08

inspires Double O Seven. Episode

6:11

One. Friend among.

6:19

Follow the spy who now. Whereas

6:22

a you listen to podcasts.

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