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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