The Illegals: A Secret History of Soviet Espionage, with Shaun Walker

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode: the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme. Shaun Walker is an international correspondent for The Guardian. He reported from Moscow for more than a decade, and his coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine was shortlisted for the Foreign Reporter of the Year category at the British 2023 Press Awards. In his new book, The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West, Walker explores the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme, following its evolution from the talented “great Illegals” of the 1920s and ’30s up to the 21st century, when agents maintained their fake identities and loyalties even after the fall of the Soviet Union. These deep-cover missions - some remarkable feats of espionage, others high-profile failures - could last for decades. Walker shines new light on the long arc of the Soviet experiment and its messy aftermath - and how that hidden history shaped Russia and the West. Joining him to discuss the book is Carl Miller, the journalist, co-founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, and host of crime podcast Kill List. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet. I'm producer Mia Serenti. On today's
0:09.2	episode, the untold history of Russia's deep cover spy program. Sean Walker is an international
0:17.2	correspondent for The Guardian. He reported from Moscow for more than a decade,
0:21.6	and his coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine was shortlisted for the foreign reporter of the year category at the British
0:27.6	2023 Press Awards. In his new book, The Illegals, Russia's most audacious spies and the plot to infiltrate the West,
0:35.6	Walker explores the untold history of Russia's
0:39.0	deep cover spy program, following its evolution from the talented great illegals of the 1920s
0:45.4	and 30s, up to the 21st century, when agents maintained their fake identities and loyalties,
0:52.2	even after the fall of the Soviet Union. These deep cover
0:56.0	missions, some remarkable feats of espionage, others high-profile failures, could last for decades.
1:03.8	Walker shines new light on the long arc of the Soviet experiment and its messy aftermath,
1:10.3	and how that hidden history shaped Russia and the
1:13.3	West. Joining him to discuss the book is Carl Miller, the journalist, co-founder of the
1:18.9	Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, and host of Crime Podcast Kill List. Let's join
1:25.7	Carl now with more. All right, well, welcome to Intelligence Squared,
1:30.8	everyone. I'm Carmiller. And I guest today is Sean Walker. He is international correspondent for
1:36.9	the Guardian. He's reported from Moscow for more than a decade and is the author of The Long
1:41.5	Hangover, Putin's New Russia and The Ghosts of the Past.
1:46.1	His coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine was shortlisted for the foreign reporter of the year category
1:50.6	at the British 23 Press Awards, and he has appeared as a commentator on Russia and Ukraine
1:55.8	for various television and radio programs, and today we'll be discussing his latest book,
2:00.6	The Illegals,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 15 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Intelligence Squared, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Intelligence Squared and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.