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Ex-MI6 Boss Says he Wouldn’t Have Allowed Skyfall to Blow Up MI6 HQ

Former head of MI6 and Iraq War criminal Sir Richard Dearlove continued his recent speight of complaining about everything by...

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https://www.spyculture.com/ex-mi6-boss-says-he-wouldnt-have-allowed-skyfall-to-blow-up-mi6-hq/

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Ex-MI6 Boss Says he Wouldn’t Have Allowed Skyfall to Blow Up MI6 HQ

Former head of MI6 and Iraq War criminal Sir Richard Dearlove continued his recent speight of complaining about everything by...

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https://www.spyculture.com/ex-mi6-boss-says-he-wouldnt-have-allowed-skyfall-to-blow-up-mi6-hq/

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ClandesTime 191 – The ‘Disguised’ Political Film in Hollywood

Why isn’t the ‘political film’ a genre of cinema? Hollywood puts out a consistent stream of politically-themed films, but rarely if ever promotes them as such.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-191-the-disguised-political-film-in-hollywood/

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ClandesTime 191 – The ‘Disguised’ Political Film in Hollywood

Why isn’t the ‘political film’ a genre of cinema? Hollywood puts out a consistent stream of politically-themed films, but rarely...

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-191-the-disguised-political-film-in-hollywood/

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ClandesTime 191 – The ‘Disguised’ Political Film in Hollywood

Why isn’t the ‘political film’ a genre of cinema? Hollywood puts out a consistent stream of politically-themed films, but rarely...

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-191-the-disguised-political-film-in-hollywood/

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Documents: CIA Successfully Pressured Michael Bay To Change Benghazi Movie

I recently obtained 50 pages of documents from the CIA on the support they provided to Michael Bay's Benghazi movie 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. In this investigation for Shadowproof I outline how the relationship between Bay and the Agency started well, how they leaned on Bay to remove 'unauthorized information' from the script and where it all went wrong, resulting in the CIA

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https://www.spyculture.com/documents-cia-successfully-pressured-michael-bay-to-change-benghazi-movie/

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Documents: CIA Successfully Pressured Michael Bay To Change Benghazi Movie

I recently obtained 50 pages of documents from the CIA on the support they provided to Michael Bay’s Benghazi movie...

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https://www.spyculture.com/documents-cia-successfully-pressured-michael-bay-to-change-benghazi-movie/

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‘I Can Get the Pentagon to Vouch for Me’ – Michael Bay letter to the CIA

Michael Bay is well known for working closely with government agencies when making his films, mostly the Pentagon but also NASA. Less well known is how he worked with the CIA to vet his script for the Benghazi movie 13 Hours, and how his request to film the CIA's Memorial Wall was turned down by the Agency.

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https://www.spyculture.com/i-can-get-the-pentagon-to-vouch-for-me-michael-bay-letter-to-the-cia/

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‘I Can Get the Pentagon to Vouch for Me’ – Michael Bay letter to the CIA

Michael Bay is well known for working closely with government agencies when making his films, mostly the Pentagon but also...

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https://www.spyculture.com/i-can-get-the-pentagon-to-vouch-for-me-michael-bay-letter-to-the-cia/

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How the DOD’s Entertainment Liaison Office Protects the Entire US Government

The DOD's directive on working with Hollywood says that they can provide production assistance if it is deemed 'in the best interest of the Nation', but as with all their criteria for deciding whether to give support the Pentagon interpret this very broadly. They use the considerable influence that DOD support (or a refusal) entails in order to protect the cinemat

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-the-dods-entertainment-liaison-office-protects-the-entire-us-government/

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How the DOD’s Entertainment Liaison Office Protects the Entire US Government

The DOD’s directive on working with Hollywood says that they can provide production assistance if it is deemed ‘in the...

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-the-dods-entertainment-liaison-office-protects-the-entire-us-government/

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Black Hawk Down, the LA Riots and Clear and Present Danger

When the producers of Clear and Present Danger approached the Pentagon to ask for military support they probably weren't expecting 6 months of script negotiations to get their film into a shape deemed acceptable by the entertainment liaison offices. Documents from the DOD show how their concerns ranged from the depiction of the Colombian government to comparisons to the military's

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https://www.spyculture.com/black-hawk-down-the-la-riots-and-clear-and-present-danger/

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Black Hawk Down, the LA Riots and Clear and Present Danger

When the producers of Clear and Present Danger approached the Pentagon to ask for military support they probably weren’t expecting...

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https://www.spyculture.com/black-hawk-down-the-la-riots-and-clear-and-present-danger/

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ClandesTime 182 – Clear and Present Danger

1994’s Clear and Present Danger is one of the most important movies in the cinema of the war on drugs, depicting black operations by the CIA and US military against a Colombian drug cartel. In this episode I do a deep dive on Clear and Present Danger, and how it set the standards for much of the war on drugs-themed entertainment since then.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-182-clear-and-present-danger/

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The FBI and DEA Spy on Hollywood Producers

The relationship between intelligence agencies and the entertainment industry is complex and multi-faceted. Angles include the influence of the agencies on their own public image, the influence of entertainment on the agencies, and intelligence-gathering by those agencies on the culture industry. Documents released by the FBI and the DEA show that before agreeing to work with Hollywood producers, both agenci

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https://www.spyculture.com/the-fbi-and-dea-spy-on-hollywood-producers/

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Documents

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DEA

The DEA and the Entertainment Industry: Spying, Censorship and Control

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released nearly 200 pages of contracts between themselves and entertainment producers, which for the first time shed light on how they interact with Hollywood.

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https://www.spyculture.com/the-dea-and-the-entertainment-industry-spying-censorship-and-control/

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Documents

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DEA

ClandesTime 181 – The Cinema of Iran-Contra

Iran-Contra is in many ways the definitive government conspiracy – involving guns, drugs, anti-communism and black operations, it went all the way to the White House. This week I examine several films that implicitly or explicitly incorporate the Iran-Contra conspiracy into their plots, as well as movies about Iran-Contra that were never made due to government interference.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-181-the-cinema-of-iran-contra/

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Watergate, the Mark Felt Biopic and the FBI

In my latest article for Shadowproof I examine the FBI's role in the Mark Felt biopic Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House. Using documents obtained under FOIA and an interview with Ed Gray, the son of FBI acting director Pat Gray (who is depicted in Mark Felt) I reveal the film's production history, the FBI's influence on the script, and how it came to be so inaccurate when the Bu

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https://www.spyculture.com/watergate-the-mark-felt-biopic-and-the-fbi/

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How the FBI Spied on and Rewrote the Torture Thriller Unthinkable

The 2010 thriller Unthinkable courted controversy by depicting the torture of a suspected terrorist who claims to have planted nuclear bombs in three US cities. Despite a strong cast including Samuel L Jackson, Carrie-Ann Moss and Stephen Root it was released direct-to-video and lost money.

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-the-fbi-spied-on-and-rewrote-the-torture-thriller-unthinkable/

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ClandesTime 177 – Ice Station Zebra

While it is now considered a Cold War classic Ice Station Zebra was a flop when it was first released. This week, I review Ice Station Zebra and analyse the development of the film, how it differs quite radically from the book, and why the DOD rejected an early version of the script, leading to a total rewrite.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-177-ice-station-zebra/

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‘Film contains Russian Mob content and it was confirmed okay’ – FBI emails on Little Mizz Innocent

Little Mizz Innocent has been languishing in development hell for several years as the 'female Jason Bourne movie' has struggled to get into production. It tells the story of a UN interpreter 'caught in a power struggle between the FBI and a criminal dynasty'.

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https://www.spyculture.com/film-contains-russian-mob-content-and-it-was-confirmed-okay-fbi-emails-on-little-mizz-innocent/

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‘Without any assistance from the military, then naturally, anything can happen’ – DOD File on Ice Station Zebra

The production of Ice Station Zebra is a great case study in just how much influence the Pentagon can have over a movie script. The initial script - by multi-Oscar winning writer Paddy Chayefsky - was rejected by the DOD for being too politically critical and culturally subversive. In the midst of the negotiations MGM's military liaison wr

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https://www.spyculture.com/without-any-assistance-from-the-military-then-naturally-anything-can-happen-dod-file-on-ice-station-zebra/

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ClandesTime 175 – An Alternative History of Al Qaeda: The Death of Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden’s death is the perfect postmodern event, in that most of the reports detailing how, where and when he died contradict all the other reports. This week I take an in-depth look at the Abbottabad raid of 2011 and the official story of Bin Laden’s death, analyzing some of the myriad contradictions and contrasting claims about what happened.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-175-an-alternative-history-of-al-qaeda-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden/

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The CIA, the National Reconnaissance Office and Ice Station Zebra

The 1968 spy and counterspy classic Ice Station Zebra was inspired by a real life event during the CIA/Air Force Corona spy satellite program. In April 1959 the satellite Discoverer 2 became the first to send a recovery capsule containing satellite surveillance imagery back to earth, but there was a problem. The capsule landed somewhere near Svalbard, Norway, but was never found. I

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https://www.spyculture.com/the-cia-the-national-reconnaissance-office-and-ice-station-zebra/

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ClandesTime 173 – Public Enemies

Public Enemies is a 2009 historical drama/thriller film that tells the story of the Bureau of Investigation’s manhunt for Public Enemy Number One John Dillinger. In this episode I examine the film, the politics of crime and the romanticising of criminals.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-173-public-enemies/

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How and Why the FBI Rewrite Hollywood Movies

Just like other government agencies the FBI are deeply involved in the entertainment industry, collaborating with film andTV producers to polish the Bureau’s public imageand project their messaging into the minds of moviegoers.

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-and-why-the-fbi-rewrite-hollywood-movies/

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FBI Apparently Had No Problem with ‘Deep State’ Storyline in Shooter

Compared to the DOD, the US intelligence agencies support a more politically diverse range of movies, from the hi-tech surveillance thriller Enemy of the State to torture porn like Zero Dark Thirty and Unthinkable. One such controversial movie was Shooter, which depicts a deep state element framing a Vietnam veteran for a political assassination. He […]

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https://www.spyculture.com/fbi-apparently-had-no-problem-with-deep-state-storyline-in-shooter/

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Subscriber Podcast #27 – The Suid Archive

In this month's subscriber-only podcast I explore several DOD-supported films and the files on them from the Lawrence Suid archive.

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https://www.spyculture.com/subscriber-podcast-27-the-suid-archive/

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identity politics

spy films

war films

DOD Accidentally Release Social Security Numbers for Executive Decision Stars

The Department of Defense's entertainment liaison office file on the 1996 thriller Executive Decision was, for many years, secreted in a private archive in a library in Georgetown. Now liberated by Matt Alford, one page of the file details the stars who needed to be filmed on-board military aircraft, including their social security numbers.

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https://www.spyculture.com/dod-accidentally-release-social-security-numbers-for-executive-decision-stars/

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How Many Movies has the Pentagon Prevented from Being Made?

The Pentagon's censorship of movie scripts is fairly well established - I have documented numerous instances on this site. But their ultimate power is the ability to kill a production, to prevent a film being made.

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-many-movies-has-the-pentagon-prevented-from-being-made/

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Why a Transgender James Bond Completely Misses the Point

After actor Dominic West suggested that the next James Bond be transgender the commentariat have gone batshit arguing over whether this is a key moment in the struggle for trans rights or another sign that the entertainment industry is dominated by damn commie liberals with their Jewish gay-loving agenda. As per usual, it is neither.

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https://www.spyculture.com/why-a-transgender-james-bond-completely-misses-the-point/

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ClandesTime 162 – The Spook Who Sat by the Door

The Spook Who Sat by the Door tells the story of the first African-American to be recruited by the CIA. After becoming disillusioned with the Agency he quits and sets up a black power guerilla army that wages urban war across the United States. According to its writer Sam Greenlee the film was banned from theaters as a result of pressure from the FBI.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-162-the-spook-who-sat-by-the-door/

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After Claiming They Couldn’t Find It, FBI Release Sam Greenlee File That’s More Redacted than National Archives Version

The FBI got back to me recently with a response to my request on The Spook Who Sat by the Door, including a few pages from Sam Greenlee's FBI file, which they'd previously claimed they could not find.

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https://www.spyculture.com/after-claiming-they-couldnt-find-it-fbi-release-sam-greenlee-file-thats-more-redacted-than-national-archives-version/

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Does the CIA use Hollywood Movies as Training Films?

In September 1977 the renowned Hollywood gossip columnist Rona Barrett appeared on Good Morning America to talk about spy films. Sat alongside her was CIA director Stansfield Turner, who commented that Hollywood movies would make poor training films for CIA spies.

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https://www.spyculture.com/does-the-cia-use-hollywood-movies-as-training-films/

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War Machine vs Charlie Wilson’s War – Tom Secker on Around the Empire (Part 2)

Joanne invited me on the Around the Empire podcast to do a ‘high level compare and contrast’ of two war comedy films set in different wars in Afghanistan: Charlie Wilson’s War and War Machine.

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https://www.spyculture.com/war-machine-vs-charlie-wilsons-war-tom-secker-on-around-the-empire-part-2/

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War Machine vs Charlie Wilson’s War – Tom Secker on Around the Empire

Joanne invited me on the Around the Empire podcast to do a 'high level compare and contrast' of two war comedy films set in different wars in Afghanistan: Charlie Wilson's War and War Machine. The films are similar in many respects - both comedies, both have A-list lead actors, both set in wars in Afghanistan, both based on books - but politically they are diametric opposites.

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https://www.spyculture.com/war-machine-vs-charlie-wilsons-war-tom-secker-on-around-the-empire/

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Jack Ryan is the Latest TV Show to Film at CIA Headquarters

Amazon's new headline streaming series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan is the first TV show to film at CIA headquarters for several years, after a fairly disastrous run that saw two awful movies along with an awful TV programme film there circa 2014.

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https://www.spyculture.com/jack-ryan-is-the-latest-tv-show-to-film-at-cia-headquarters/

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ClandesTime 157 – Two Years Inside the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs

The CIA’s Office of Public Affairs (OPA) was established in the late 1970s and contains their entertainment liaison office. This week I go through an 8-page summary of the CIA’s Entertainment Liaison and Media Outreach activities covering 2014-16.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-157-two-years-inside-the-cias-office-of-public-affairs/

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What does the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs Actually Do?

The CIA's Office of Public Affairs is - ironically - very tight-lipped about what they actually do, so I was pleased that they recently responded to a 3 year old FOIA request and provided me with a document summarising their activities from 2014 to 2016.

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https://www.spyculture.com/what-does-the-cias-office-of-public-affairs-actually-do/

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ClandesTime 153 – Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House - Spy Culture

Mark Felt is a 2017 biopic starring Liam Neeson as FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt, telling the story of his role in becoming a source for the Washington Post's reporting on Watergate.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-153-mark-felt-the-man-who-brought-down-the-white-house/

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The FBI and the film Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House - Spy Culture

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House is a 2017 biopic of former deputy director Mark Felt a.k.a. Deep Throat. The FBI were involved with the film early on in its development, which is odd because in many ways the film portrays the Bureau very badly.

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https://www.spyculture.com/the-fbi-and-the-film-mark-felt-the-man-who-brought-down-the-white-house/

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Zombies, Drugs, Torture and Wiretaps: Why the FBI Refuses to Support Hollywood Movies - Spy Culture

The FBI’s entertainment liaison office has supported a wide range of Hollywood productions, from conspiracy thrillers like Shooter to comedy adventures like So Undercover to action dramas including Captain Phillips. But they also rejected a large proportion of the requests they receive for production assistance, with reasons ranging from the film depi

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https://www.spyculture.com/zombies-drugs-torture-and-wiretaps-why-the-fbi-refuses-to-support-hollywood-movies/

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ClandesTime 150 – The Weather Underground - Spy Culture

The Weather Underground were the most active and successful militant left-wing group in US history. As part of their anti-Vietnam war operations they bombed the Pentagon, the State Department, corporate headquarters and other high-profile targets. In this episode I examine whether they were a lethal terrorist organisation, or a non-lethal militant anti-war gang.

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-150-the-weather-underground/

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How the FBI Rewrote Weather Underground Movie The Company You Keep - Spy Culture

The Weather Underground were the most successful Leftist militant group in history, a radical offshoot of the SDS and the anti-Vietnam War movement. As a result, Hollywood has almost no interest in telling stories about them and the only recent film on the Weathermen was Robert Redford’s low budget thriller The Company You Keep. The […]

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https://www.spyculture.com/how-the-fbi-rewrote-weather-underground-movie-the-company-you-keep/

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ClandesTime 149 – Rear Window - Spy Culture

Rear Window is one of my all-time favourite films so in this episode I discuss its unique production, the ethics of spying and voyeurism explored in the story, and feminist critiques of both Hitchcock and his movies. Transcript Rear Window is one of my favourite films of all time, which is why I’ve decided […]

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https://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-149-rear-window/

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Subscriber Podcast #21 – Satirising the Security State - Spy Culture

While most entertainment supports or promote the military, police and intelligence agencies there is a smaller but important sub-genre that critiques and satirises the security state. On this month’s subscriber-only podcast I look at four examples – two TV series and two films – that mock and criticise the security and intelligence agencies. From Snake […]

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https://www.spyculture.com/subscriber-podcast-21-satirising-the-security-state/

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The New Cultural Cold War – Weaponised Liberalism and the World Cup - Spy Culture

As the Russian football team stands on the brink of qualification for the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time since the Soviet era, Western media begrudgingly grants them some credit.

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https://www.spyculture.com/the-new-cultural-cold-war-weaponised-liberalism-and-the-world-cup/

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ClandesTime 138 – The Reflecting Pool - Spy Culture

I am joined today by Robbie Martin and Pearse Redmond to talk about the 2008 9/11 conspiracy thriller The Reflecting Pool.

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-138-the-reflecting-pool/

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SHOCKING Proof: Government Control in Hollywood – Tom Secker on the WideShut Webcast - Spy Culture

Keelan Balderson invited me back onto the WideShut Webcast to chat about the research that went into National Security Cinema, as well as the response and reception the book has enjoyed. We get quite deeply into the notion that the CIA are cultivating a ‘bad boy image’ through Hollywood, and how this is likely aimed […]

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http://www.spyculture.com/shocking-proof-government-control-hollywood-tom-secker-wideshut-webcast/

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National Security Cinema

ClandesTime 132 – The Secret World of Tom Clancy Part III: US Intelligence - Spy Culture

Aside from Ian Fleming, there is no more influential spy author than Tom Clancy. Clancy’s books (and the films and computer games based on them) benefited from his close contact with the US government.

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-132-secret-world-tom-clancy-part-iii-us-intelligence/

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ClandesTime 129 – History by Hollywood - Spy Culture

This week I welcome Martin Darlington, co-host of the History by Hollywood podcast, which reviews and analyses films claiming to be based on real events. We talk about Martin’s adopted homeland of Qatar, his views on history and politics, how he and his co-host Andrew prepare and produce the podcast, the power of music in […]

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-129-history-hollywood/

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The Man With One Red Shoe - Spy Culture

One of the first films to be made with the help of former CIA officers was 1985's The Man With One Red Shoe. This badly-written, weakly-executed action-comedy depict the Agency running surveillance on a musician played by Tom Hanks, who they believe is a CIA agent who is going to testify in a congressional hearing about Agency drug smuggling.

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http://www.spyculture.com/man-one-red-shoe/

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ClandesTime 128 – The FBI in Hollywood - Spy Culture

Of all the US intelligence agencies, the FBI has the longest-running relationship with Hollywood. From spying on A-listers as to helping blacklist screenwriters, through to manipulating scripts for PR and propaganda purposes, the Bureau’s influence on Tinseltown is very broad.

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-128-fbi-hollywood/

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The FBI’s Entertainment Liaison Office - Spy Culture

Newly released documents shed light on the FBI's entertainment liaison office - officially titled the Investigative Publicity and Public Affairs Unit (IPPAU), including how they work on dozens of popular films and TV shows, and reject requests for support for PR reasons, just like the Pentagon.

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http://www.spyculture.com/fbis-entertainment-liaison-office/

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ClandesTime 127 – Arthur Ransome (and Swallows and Amazons) - Spy Culture

Arthur Ransome was a well-known children’s author, best known for his series of adventure books beginning with Swallows and Amazons. He was also close friends with the Bolshevik leadership and married Trotsky’s secretary. Meanwhile, he was spying for British intelligence, and being spied on by British intelligence as a suspected Communist.

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-127-arthur-ransome-swallows-amazons/

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Have the CIA relaxed their rules about filming Langley? - Spy Culture

In last weekend's ClandesTime I discussed how the CIA no longer allow film-makers to shoot footage of the CIA headquarters, leading the producers of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation to re-use old footage of Langley, but it appears they may have relaxed this rule and are now allowing filming, or at least providing newer footage to entertainment producers.

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http://www.spyculture.com/cia-relaxed-rules-filming-langley/

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ClandesTime 125 – Why Can’t You Film at Langley Any More? - Spy Culture

The first movie to film at CIA Headquarters at Langley was Scorpio in the early 1970s. The last major film was Argo in 2012. Sometime in 2014 the CIA stopped letting film-makers shoot footage on the CIA campus. This week I examine this decision by analysing the last two films that were granted access to […]

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-125-cant-film-langley/

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Alfred Hitchcock and the CIA’s First Big Mistake in Hollywood - Spy Culture

Following their on-screen debut in the James Bond movies, and their quiet support for Thunderball, the CIA under Richards Helms adopted a more pro-active approach to Hollywood. They began spying on movie scripts depicting the CIA and considering requests from film-makers for official support.

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http://www.spyculture.com/alfred-hitchcock-cias-first-big-mistake-hollywood/

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ClandesTime 123 – Buster Crabb - Spy Culture

Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb, OBE, was a Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver who disappeared while on an underwater spying mission in April 1956. For three quarters of a century the story around Crabb has remained a mystery – was he killed by the Soviets, whose ship he was spying on? Did he defect and assume a new identity? Did he die in an absurd, politically-charged accident?

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http://www.spyculture.com/clandestime-123-buster-crabb/