Inside Trump’s CIA (ft. Tim Weiner) | China’s UK Spy Nest, US to Squeeze Cuba, Russia Tests NATO
08/13/26
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tim Weiner covered the CIA for The New York Times for decades, and his new book The Mission offers a detailed account of the agency in the post-9/11 era. In a conversation with former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove the two find common ground on the human cost of intelligence work, the failure of imagination that preceded 9/11, and the damage that flows from the politicization of intelligence services. Weiner describes an agency gutted by ideological purges and its operators asked to carry out missions of dubious legality. His conclusion: the cumulative damage leaves the United States at a level of danger not seen since the months before 9/11.
Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood also dive into some recent geopolitical news stories: how a secret CIA task force on Cuba may be laying the groundwork for a more US-friendly government, why the construction of a giant new Chinese embassy in London is raising concerns, and a warning from US intelligence about Putin’s interest in testing NATO’s resolve.
