"CIA Reports Officer, Russian Yacht Watcher, Satirist” – with Alex Finley - SpyCast

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Conseillé par :

Bertrand

Summary

Alex Finley (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss life as a CIA Reports Officer turned author. She lives in Barcelona.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

Her take on CIA analysts vs. case officers

Information and disinformation in fact and fiction

Ukraine, the 2016 election and the Russian historical playbook

The regularity even mundanity of much of daily intelligence life

Reflections

Being an American in Barcelona

Viewing your own country from outside the goldfish bowl

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Alex Finley spent 6 years in the CIA as a Reports Officer - whom she describes as a bridge between the case officers and analysts. She is author of a trilogy of novels on the exploits of fictional CIA officer Victor Caro. Her most recent book, Victor in Trouble, completes the series (…or does it?) by looking at Russian influence operations and the contemporary intelligence landscape through a satirical lens.

She now lives in Barcelona, Spain - and yes, apparently it’s as awesome as it sounds! – and she is the voice behind #YachtWatch, which tracks and exposes the activities of Russian oligarchs and their superyachts.

And…

Satire is often described as fitting into three categories: Horatian, which offers light comedy and social commentary (e.g., Pride & Prejudice, Parks & Rec, The Colbert Report); Juvenalian, a darker and more abrasive take that can often take the form of speaking truth to power (e.g., Animal Farm, American Psycho, South Park) and Menippean, which casts moral judgement on beliefs or generic character flaws (e.g., Alice in Wonderland, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Saturday Night Live). Which one does Alex use?

Quote of the Week

"There, there were points where I found myself in the middle of nowhere, West Africa. And there are these moments where…how did I end up here? This makes zero sense. And then there were the bureaucratic Catch-22s." – Alex Finley.