Myths Hollywood Taught You About Espionage

[@Negativecreep42]

"We no longer use that spy tactic." Exactly what a spy agency would want us to believe....

[@wheeze_sanchez]

"We don't use any spy tactics. No secrets here. No, sir."

[@tripsaplenty1227]

Or so the Germans would have us believe. RIP Norm

[@KingcoleIIV]

exactly, I always believe paid liars.

[@mikeguilmette776]

Right . . . because the spy game _must_ be like a Hollyweird movie.

[@liamspence6993]

I'm studying strategy, intelligence and security at the moment and i can confirm that both the CIA and MI's have updated what is essentially their handbook for covert practices in the last ten or so years, honey pots are a big no no

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

My late Father had a neighbour who was a retired spook. He was an intelligence analyst and was one of the most forgettable men I've ever met. I can't remember a single feature that stood out about him. I asked his wife, a charming woman, about his work and she explained that she made the mistake of asking once and was bored to tears.

[@noth606]

Hehe sounds about right, I know some people who did or still do things of that nature and pretty much the one thing they all share is being very nerdy types who are quite low on ehm 'charisma' so to say. I know them because I have at times been a sort of more action oriented 'layer' to what they did, but by action oriented I by no means intend anything like the movies but rather that my immediate employer was not the government and I did at times do something other than just discuss things, even if I did what I did sitting in front of a computer. It's hard to explain without going into layers of detail that are not for public consumption and at the same time incomprehensible mumbojumbo without a huge amount of background that would fill pages upon pages with stuff that it would take specific understanding to make anything out of. The one thing that might be mildly interesting of it is that I did in a microscopical way once do stuff related to 9/11, in terms of intel things. Thousands upon thousands of others did too, no doubt, but it did land me into 1 on 1 conversation with one person who has been in some media coverage relating to the investigation side of that stuff, which was more than I expected but proof that behind the scenes things were handled in a far more thorough way than I think anyone not 'in the loop' have any idea of. That was many years ago obviously. I'm divorced now but I'm sure that when I was married everyone who asked my then wife what I did would have gotten some form of "something with computers, software I think" or some variant of it as a reply, which is entirely correct, if not particularly informative. I could go on, but I thought it would be pointless, my intent is in a way as a sample of the "bored to tears" bit 😊

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

@@Nick-v7b3l I don't know if he did or not. But he said he was an analyst, not an operative. Dad had been to his office some years earlier. Besides, New Zealand isn't exactly known for it's espionage.

[@debbylou5729]

And you believed her

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

@@debbylou5729 This is New Zealand, we're a very laid back bunch. It's not like we're known for super spies.

[@debbylou5729]

@@thehangmansdaughter1120 so?

[@bandit6272]

Regarding the, "a spy's life isn't as exciting as you think", this reminds me of when I came back from deployment to Iraq: -Friend: "Hey man, how bad was it over there?" -Me: Flashes back to dumping sand spiders out of my boots in the morning, MRE after MRE, giant flakes of salt chipping off my uniform from all the sweating, coughing up mud-phlegm from eating dust while in the turret on convoys...."It was hell on earth, bro" *takes sip of beer, gazes off into the distance dramatically* -Friend: "you must have seen some terrible s*** in combat" -Me: *blinks* "Combat?" 😆yeah, reality is much less exciting than seen on film.

[@marc21256]

Most police never fire their firearm over a 20+ year career. Yet on TV, it looks like the average cop shoots one person a week.

[@katyg3873]

Generation kill was accurate.

[@ticijevish]

The USSR tried to honeytrap the leader of Indonesia to keep him from joining the Non-aligned movement. They taped him having a menage a trois with a pair of hot, Russian flight attendants. When they confronted him with the proof, he laughed, thanked them for a good time and asked for a copy of the film for himself. Epic fail for the Ruskies, or epic win for Sukharto? Discuss!

[@MichaelScheele]

As the meme goes, "The joke's on you; I'm into that ****." LOL

[@joelellis7035]

​@@MichaelScheelewas probably more like, "my wife already knows, and she's down with it, too! Can we get a copy for ourselves?"

[@TheKulu42]

@@joelellis7035 It would be a great scene for a spy movie.

[@charlesgantz5865]

That scheme only works against Americans.

[@nelsondawson9706]

Probably both

[@evilwelshman]

On the subject of a fancy party full of millionaires where people show up in fancy cars, I'd argue that a spy wouldn't show up like that. Rather, they'd be undercover as one of the wait staff. After all, the aim of the spy is to be invisible and servants at such events are often just that - invisible or at best pretty much indistinguishable from one another in the eyes of the rich folk!

[@jsbrads1]

Great minds think alike. I wrote a similar comment.

[@philliberatore4265]

Sterling Archer has just entered the chat!

[@jesseberg3271]

I came here to say basically the same thing. Rich people at fancy parties tend to know each other, and a mysterious stranger who isn't famous and isn't part of someone's entourage is attention grabbing enough, before he starts beating the host at blackjack or dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room.

[@dkroll92]

well, no, not if the idea is to make contact with important people who know the stuff that the govt wants to know.

[@katyg3873]

The fancy parties often take place at the homes of diplomats or at embassies. So then the spy is definitely one of the embassy staff/rich people

[@blankseventydrei]

In defense of „Bourne“, he is more an assassin than a spy.

[@joelellis7035]

He is an assassin, not a spy.

[@chaddog313]

Same goes for John wick

[@BabyMakR]

@@chaddog313 Wasn't John Wick a hitman for some shady global organized crime family?

[@PUARockstar]

So is Bond

[@MrPleers]

@@PUARockstar Not in the books. In the books he is mostly an undercover agent.

[@tsbrownie]

I'm so deep under cover that even my handlers don't know who I am.

[@joelellis7035]

I'm so deep undercover that even I don't know who I am! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@odeleon24]

@@joelellis7035ah I was just about to ask that. Haha

[@wyskass861]

A sleeper.. so asleep you don't even know yourself you're a spy

[@keithwalmsley1830]

I always thought that the film "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" was a far better and accurate depiction of the world of MI6 and espionage than any James Bond movie, though I admit they are more entertaining!

[@Jokaanan]

And both stories written by former spies! One aimed for realism, the other for fantasy.

[@davidtatro7457]

Le Carre's works in general tend to be much slower paced and more realistic than the typical action-oriented spy stories and films.

[@timbuktu8069]

Check out The Good Sheppard It's a film version (sort of) of James Jesus Angleton

[@tessiepinkman]

The best movie (and book) about spooks is definitely "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". I just love John LeCarré's writing, and the movie from 2011 captures the feeling of his books perfectly.

[@geodkyt]

Given that Bond was based on an amalgamation of Ian Fleming's wartime experiences working *with* SF/intel operatives (James Bond being a ladies' man being likely based on Roald Dahl seducing, say, the Swedish Ambassador to the US's wife for intel, whilst Bond's "License to Kill" based more on the SOE direct action missions where they literally were sent out to kill people), I would argue that *as and when* originally written, it isn't horrible characterization... as long as one accepts that what Bond does is literally several entirely different jobs that woukd have been carried out by entirely different people in different parts of the organization, and represents a very narrow slice of time (Fleming stated the stories basically only cover 1951 through 1962 or so - the real Wild West of covert operations). Bond's portrayal was an idealized, exaggerated, and composite example of how intel and covert ops really did work in WWII and the *very* early Cold War. And Bind was originally portrayed in the early stories as a literal assassin (often doing counterintelligence assassinations) as much as he was an intelligence gatherer. Somewhat similar to the way fictional police detectives tend to work a wide range of crimes (but only the "interesting" ones) rather than often being specialists in one particular field of crime. By the time the Bond movies took off, the "James Bond" style of covert action had pretty much passed, in favor of more clearly separating covert direct action by paramilitary or purely military teams from actual spy work. And, the period involved is also where a lot of the wackiest intel operations and most open assassinations of agents really did occur. The crazy CIA assassination plans for Castro were the very tail end of this period, and would fit nicely into a "spy thriller" novel.

[@paladro]

yeah, it's dated.

[@RandomDeforge]

Cope, Boomer.

[@gavkavOnUtube]

But James Bond wasn't a spy. He was a secret agent "with a license to kill". He was more assassin than spy. As Fleming put it (Casino Royale): "The business of espionage could be left to the white-collar boys. They could spy and catch the spies. He would go after the threat behind the spies, the threat that made them spy."

[@Wustenfuchs109]

Agreed on all points. People tend to forget that the spy films took off from that "golden age of spies" from the WWII/Early Cold War period where spies actually did all of those things. Depending on the agency and the time, it wasn't that rare to have agent(s) infiltrate the enemy bases/units, gather intel and/or kill someone in the process. Basically, information age changed how intelligence agencies operate - once you could store and analyze large amounts of data and when it became possible to pull out useful data out of seemingly useless data (what we call today Big Data Analysis), it became much better for intelligence agencies to focus just on that. But back in a day, 40's, 50's - spy infiltrating the enemy, even being quite flamboyant, or killing someone - completely normal. Everyone knows the story about the umbrella stab with ricin tablet. I guess also many people know the story of Cohen in Syria, a spy who climbed to the very top of Syrian government while pretending to be extravagant trader... and God only knows how many stories about infiltration and assassination you know from World Wars period, interwar period and early Cold War. And that, Golden Age of Spies, is what gave birth to spy genre and films about them. Are they acting that way today? Nope, no need, expensive, risky, pointless. But back in a day when there was no other way and when risks were very different... yeah, they pretty much acted that way. There were many different sorts of spies, and many of them were in the military in some capacity. And all the way back throughout history - spies were acting like that. Famous shinobi (ninjas) were indeed not wrapped in black, jumping from rooftops... but were invisible because they looked like everyone else, they gathered info, and yes... killed people when needed. All of those spy tropes were pretty much correct up until fairly recently when tech advancements made it pointless for spies to act that way and mostly just focus on data gathering, data protection and analysis. I mean, if you can, through data, find out where your target is... why would you send a lone agent to kill it if you can just put a hellfire missile through their window, no risk for you whatsoever, your agent being caught or worse?

[@llywyllngryffyn8053]

Technically Bond isn't a Spy, he's an assassin. To become a 00 agent, you have to have two confirmed kills. Espionage is secondary to his purposes.

[@hermask815]

It’s a license to kill, not a license to spy.

[@katyg3873]

Sis/mi6 agents are OO agents. It stands for operations officer.

[@thfpt]

That's almost exactly what i told my kids when they were old enough to ask. They asked if i was like James Bond, and i told them that he's an assassin playboy, and that I've never killed anyone, although I've certainly wanted to... That, and i never leave the country.

[@michaelhurley3171]

The best spy isn't the handsome, debonair James Bond type. The best spy is someone you'd ignore. Think Paul Giamatti more than Sean Connery!

[@jodycarter7308]

It's because they are ignored by everybody that they are exploitable.

[@mwills24]

“Human shaped” is the way it was explained in military intel & counter intel. You want someone that is so nondescript that you pretty much forget them immediately or if you managed to get a decent sketch, it could be 15 people in any building. People think the trick is being quiet and watching to go unnoticed when it’s really just matching the aesthetic and energy of where you are (ie secret service being in casual clothes at campaign rallies and stationed in the crowd vs suits at the White House or press tours)

[@brandontrafford5004]

I love your videos man. Fun to watch, educational and a great source for fun facts.

[@mikeguilmette776]

I always laughed when movies depicted the inside of NSA as some high-tech super fortress, while I had a desk from the '50s. That said, the scene in Patriot Games that showed a cubicle inside the CIA with a bumper sticker that said "Please don't feed the analyst" was pretty accurate.

[@felixhex]

Yeah, think less James Bomd It's never like in the movies. Especially in signals intelligence, ppl don't care about fancy desks or end devices or any shit like that

[@mikeguilmette776]

@@felixhex Were you a SIGINT guy too? Good times . . .

[@felixhex]

@@mikeguilmette776 00000001 just a hacker, but good times indeed 😂

[@ProbablyNotLegit]

"intelligence agencies are not law enforcement agencies" China: HOLD MY BEER

[@doktormcnasty]

Again, the problem isn't that Hollywood movies don't represent real life the actual problem is that real life isn't more like Hollywood movies. So let's step it up, people. You know what you have to do.

[@MP-db9sw]

Deserves more likes

[@cat22_a1]

You missed industrial espionage. It even happens when two companies work together, one as a supplier to the other for instance. Sometimes it becomes necessary to steal certain information from the supplier, especially if the supplier is in a foreign country.

[@100percentSNAFU]

Companies will also spy on their own workers. I used to work for one that sent in fake customers that would subtly ask for little favors and bending of the rules to see if you would do it and report back to the head management. I guess it was effective because everyone knew they did it and most were not willing to break any rules for fear of getting blown in by a fake customer.

[@randeknight]

And spying by the government on behalf of the industry. I remember many years ago there was a bit of a kerfuffle when the CIA handed over info to help US aircraft manufacturers. Can't seem to find it on a quick google though.

[@swaggery]

You forgot the part that spy work isn't going to be exciting either. There's no world domination plots. For human intelligence it's going to be boring stuff like reporting on organizational structures, what some random guy is doing in his day to day life, stuff like that.

[@BGNewsReporter]

I mean, "90% paperwork" pretty much implies it isn't exciting.

[@100percentSNAFU]

"There's no world domination plots". True, not in the spy world, just out in plain view but people are too stupid or too busy with their regular lives to notice.

[@liquidwombat]

When I was in high school a good friends, aunt retired and had a big party and it wasn’t until the party that anyone in her family found out she’s been working for the CIA for 35 years. One of the coolest things she told me is that there’s a store somewhere in the CIA building in Langley that basically has postcards and small souvenirs like you would bring to family members and kids frommajor cities all over the world so you could just spend the weekend in Washington doing whatever needed to be done. Bring back souvenirs and postcards from London or Tokyo or whatever.

[@MrJontte79]

Real life intelligence work is like computer hacking in the sense that a completely realistic depiction would make for the most boring movie *ever*! 😂

[@ceebarnes-hurt8901]

Thank you. Your videos are ALWAYS entertainingly informative!

[@gbonkers666]

I also wondered how good is James Bond as a secret agent if everyone knows who he is. He gets captured and the bad guy always goes, "what does MI6 have in mind for me?"

[@frank1279]

The theory is he supposed be captured. Bond is told he is this great spy and lives the part. In reality he is the distraction and the real spy work is behind the scenes. Bond is replaceable and the name used over and over. It doesn’t even matter if they kill him.

[@Anglomachian]

In the Discworld books, Samuel Vimes, head of the city watch, confronts Lord Vetinari at one point about an ally of their city of Ankh-Morpork, having spies in the city. Lord Vetinari replies that he has spies in their country too. It helps them remain friends by knowing about one another. There would hardly be any point to spying on one’s enemies.

[@SadisticalTendencies]

Automatic thumbs up for referencing Discworld.

[@emotional.support.goblin]

My dad worked in intelligence for over three decades. He went on trips every once in a while when I was younger, including to the Pentagon in D.C. for two weeks a year. He was never able to tell us what he was working on, in detail, but I know it had something to do with Russia. He was actually learning Russian before his cognitive decline prevented him from continuing. I often wondered if he could be a spy, but thought nah no way his life is too boring but watching this is making me reconsider. He died last November, three days after Thanksgiving. I guess I'll never know now lol Thank you for this video Simon, though I'm sure you won't see this. It really puts my dads work in a new light for me, ya know. Like maybe he was an international super-spy? Haha I'm just being silly. Also, fun fact. Well, fun to me. My dad's Master's Thesis is on the internet, you can actually search for it and read it. When he died, I was given the original. Pretty neat, huh? Hope everyone has a great day and remember to hug the people you love. You literally never know when it'll be the last. ❤❤❤

[@100percentSNAFU]

That was a very nice story and remembrance of your dad. Mine died 10 years ago last October suddenly and unexpectedly. We had a phone conversation the night before about how bad our local football team was 😂. We lived in different towns but still talked in the phone several times a week. I give my boys big hugs every single day, just like my dad did with me when I was little. My friend who lost his father at a relatively young age put it best when he called me after my dad passed, he said "you will get accustomed to then being gone, but you will never stop missing them", and that's spot on.

[@finished6267]

if he was learning Russian late in his career, he was likely on desk duty, did he have command of multiple languages?

[@MovieFanatic4500]

American Dad, the television show may not completely be accurate, but it seems a lot more so than one may think.

[@glennrugar9248]

It's like scrubs with the medical profession. Way more accurate than something like ER

[@100percentSNAFU]

"The Americans" was good, and seemed fairly plausible for cold war era soviet spies to blend in to American suburban culture and look like everyday people. Yes, that show had the sensationalized bits too, but to any neighbors or community members, the main characters would just appear as regular people and did so.

[@MatthewSchuller]

​@glennrugar9248 I asked a New York City cop what the most accurate cop show was, he said, quite seriously, Barney Miller.

[@ITILII]

American Dad is a Documentary 📺

[@timriggins70]

I remember in DS9 when Garak saw Bashir's holosuire program and said "Evidently I joined the wrong spy organization."

[@goodcorwin627]

on the other hand, not sure joining another agency would make that much of a difference for Garak. Whether in the CIA, KGB, MI5 or Obsidian Order, I imagine the job description for a tailor doesn't vary that much.

[@S0meRand0mP3rs0n._.]

to be fair, in the Daniel Craig Bond films, they do refer to him as an assassin, and same with Bourne. As for Kingsman, that’s a massive spoof.

[@DeadBrokeSaddlery]

‘Honey traps don’t work’ - Eric Swalwell has entered the chat…

[@100percentSNAFU]

I thought about Fartswell as soon as that segment started 😂

[@chaddog313]

First name that came to my mind too

[@Hexon66]

Nice try, but it's just a massive own goal. It *_DIDN'T_* work!

[@gbonkers666]

FBI Special Agent Richard Miller too...

[@randeknight]

They might not use agents for that, but they'll definitely use women who are already in the group they are trying to infiltrate.

[@QBCPerdition]

The Spy Museum in DC is a pretty cool museum. I recommend it to anyone who has even a slight interest in spies and espionage. On another note, it's always odd to me that people assume the events in movies or TV shows are what the average experience is for real people. To me, falling deeply into the acceptance of the premise, the reason this show or movie is being made is that something unusual is happening. Just like we don't tend to make documentaries about mundane life, if we accept the movie is a "true" retelling of the events the character lived through, then the reason it was a story worth telling was due to the gact that it wasn't normal. Even if every movie or TV show has similar events, each thing should be viewed in a vacuum, unless part of a series, these things do not exist in the same universe and should not be lumped together.

[@candicabaniss2560]

I went there with my brother. We are both US Army veterans from the Cold War era. He was showing me something that I think was for getting photos from Satellites. His job was to work with those.

[@chrisshorten4406]

My grandpa was in the CIA. Most of his time was spent doing paperwork and trying to recruit enemy spies through friendship and hosting dinners.

[@artursandwich1974]

I love the Russian TV series "Aquarium" - very good portrayal of spy training, recruitment, life

[@Simonpocarroll]

If a civilian is ‘used’ they would most often not even be aware they were.

[@Julyfaction]

Yeah agree except for the lawyer guy DiCaprio used in "Body of Lies" That poor bloke was dealt a really bad hand... 💀

[@DavidBenner-cy4zl]

No. They would know. They had rules. And actual followed.

[@Macabee_chanukkah]

Great vid thanks

[@womble321]

My Father used to travel in Eastern Europe for months at a time. Mum told him to have fun. You can't blackmail someone if the wife says "go for it and have fun" he was a "buyer" for a large UK company. :)

[@Jeremy-ql1or]

There was a great line in the comic book The Boys. The former lead guy tells the Rookie "In movies, the spy is always a handsome man in a tuxedo. In real life, a great spy is a seedy little man who no one would even notice or think twice about if they did."

[@maccurtis730]

Spy: "Honey I killed a man with a papercut."

[@DavidBenner-cy4zl]

You would be surprised if you knew. Obama just sent in Hellfire missiles. The CIA screwed up so many times over the years.

[@bhgtree]

Tiger Tanaka (to Bond): "The one thing my honourable mother taught a long time ago was never get into a car with a strange girl, but you, Bond-san, will get into anything with any girl." (Tiger Tanaka, You only Live Twice).

[@williamscott688]

Idea: top 5 weirdest experiments preformed on the ISS?

[@dr.michaellittle5611]

A friend of the family is a retired MI-6 agent who worked in the section that developed devices. He told me that his section was “S” branch, not “Q” branch, and that the head of MI-6 is known as “C”, and not “M” as in the Bond films.

[@katyg3873]

The designation changes with whoever is in charge.

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thanks.

[@rickwilliams967]

"Honey pots rarely work." Ohhhh, riiiight. They definitely don't work...

[@SpacePatrollerLaser]

In the heyday of the spy genre, the mid '60'd's, it was well known that Bond was a satire of the genre of the "superspy" and the paperwork aspect of it was the opening to GOLDFINGER. Also observe that most of the Bond books were mre on the idea of law enforcement, where car chases and the like would make more sense. Also there is very little of the gruesome torture. You wanted to keep captured spies in good condtion since you would want to trade captured spies. Most of the weird sthings were in the act of espeionage to protect data by misdirection, red herrings and other "puzzle palace" techniques.

[@Bootmahoy88]

One of the goals of writer John le Carre was to minimize the wild, theatrical action aspect of spy movies that was all the 'James Bond' rage and simplify it to the actions of information gathering and bartering. He succeeded for the most part with his stories about his number one spy, George Smiley.

[@Bootmahoy88]

The image at 3:44 is from Fritz Lang's M with Peter Lorre. Not a spy film. One thing about honey traps I want to mention is that the East German Stasi were well recognized for their successful, 'Romeos.' The West begrudgingly admitted this to be true, saying, "We weren't very good at that."

[@RandalNichols-li1pd]

Surprised you didn't work a dull salesman by the name of Harry Tasker in. Just thinking out loud here. Twas a piece worth watching 👍.

[@jefft786]

The double 0 designation in the books meant that if Bond had to kill someone in the line of his mission, if caught, MI6 would do everything possible to get him out of custody.

[@granatmof]

I've met a CIA spy chief who went undercover with his wife and family as part of his cover. His wife was also a spy. They didn't tell their children when stationed over seas until there was a security risk and they had to prep their kids to leave suddenly. According to him within the CIA family disclosure depends on the agent. This dude was CIA station chief for Moscow and Mexico city in his career. He even told a story of having a scripted dinner at the US embassy where his voice was on a tape while he slipped out in a disguise to plant a bug on the data lines between the KGB headquarters and the capital. A double agent later revealed everything so all his stories were no longer secrets. The again he was a spy chief, so everything he said could have been a lie. I will say this: he was charismatic, extremely likeable, and I can't remember anything about how he looks because he was so generic. The kind of person you like when you're talking to and forget about when he's not there.

[@DavidBenner-cy4zl]

Dear old Dad seldom carried a weapon. If he was working with his native guerilla warfare forces, then he carried a gun. A big gun! In today's dollars, he had a $750,000 reward on his head. Living all over the world, Dad had his wife and kids close by in most cases. And for ten years, Mom was no slacker. Boy, did we kids have interesting upbringings. I was in my actual first shooting war at age ten. Hey, I was a kid, not a soldier. Dad's a legend. In real life. Only, it's all secret.

[@j.p.6932]

2:15 That’s not nearly as ridiculous as having crime scene investigators arrest people as in CSI

[@SiNFPVGUAM]

Im almost 90% sure that Simon is "ShadowFrax"

[@DavidBenner-cy4zl]

The Jackel.

[@AlessandroRodriguez]

I thought he was "focus glass", well you learn something new everyday

[@AnotherOtherMan-alive]

What's more common in the case of the honey pot/trap is to leverage existing relationships in order to exert pressure or otherwise undo stress on the target individual (typically a rival political figure) causing interference with their main job etc. But the practice is uncommon but not rare due to the setup required.

[@davidioanhedges]

James Bond is mostly based on what an SOE operative did, specifically what would be known as a special agent They would sabotage, investigate, and even kill... In wartime in an enemy or occupied country and would usually have a military and/or military rank.. But during the cold war, or after, this role didn't exist any more

[@Cynicism101]

I met a SIS agent through work, what capacity he was, no idea but his appearance was that he had somehow managed to encompass every taxi driver you ever met, familiar yet totally forgettable.

[@jlongino51823]

I had a teacher whose husband worked for the CIA and she was never told anything else. She knew he was going out of town “for work” and nothing else. He wasn’t at either of their children’s births.

[@yobgodababua1862]

There's a man who leads a life of danger To everyone he meets he stays a stranger With every move he makes another chance he takes Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow Secret agent man Secret agent man They've given you a number, and taken away your name

[@maranathaschraag5757]

the dc spy museum is pretty cool. highly suggest it! kid friendly, too. it's right near the crime and punishment museum, whish is also really neat, but less family friendly (unless your kid really likes torture devices and electric chairs. national portrait gallery is just down the road.

[@boredbootneck81]

The fact that car chases do not really happen is mostly true but groups such as SRR and ISA do train VERY high level driving to be able to move through traffic to pick up a target as part of a surveillance protocol and counter surveillance driving is also a specific skill. It does not usually look like rally driving but it can be very intensive and stressful for the person doing it.

[@markphelt6395]

Honey pots don’t work! Honey pots don’t work? Tell that to William Buckley and all those secretaries that fell victim to Romeos back in the 60s 70s and 80s.

[@JadeStone00]

The International Spy Museum in DC is amazing, well worth the price of admission (it's a private museum, not part of the Smithsonian; admission is currently $27 for adults in July 2024). As for spy movies with a basis in reality, check out Argo -- the late Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) and his wife, Johnna, were both CIA operatives in the 70s and 80s, and they consulted on the film for accuracy and realism. (Johnna Mendez sits on the board of the International Spy Museum to this day and is one of the coolest people you've probably never heard of.)

[@CAP198462]

The Tailor of Panama is with some exceptions a reasonably accurate portrayal of a case officer’s day to day, IMHO. Pierce Brosnan’s character has far more freedom than a real intelligence officer would have.

[@dragade101]

@7:13 Not like wikipedia is a perfect record. The USSR name is swallow rather than sparrow. Do you have a particular source?

[@QueenetBowie]

The International Spy Museum in Washington DC, briefly mentioned at the end, is an amazing museum for anyone visiting D.C. Everyone focuses on the Smithsonian but definitely one of D.C’s best museums

[@martinpfeilsticker5420]

Charlie Muffin: Always comply with the civil laws of the country you're spying on.

[@thehomeschoolinglibrarian]

Anyone who has ever worked for any government agency knows that you spend half your time doing paperwork. This also goes for police officers since they have to do a lot of paperwork work as well.

[@No-One-of-Consequence]

When I was undercover, I was a college student, so I dressed like one and acted like one. And it worked a treat. I was able to cozy up to a KGB Rezidentura at the Soviet Mission to the UN, and affected the defection of a Soviet diplomat who was an expert on Soviet war plans against NATO, along with his secretary and daughter. I was very young, and I'm writing a book about the whole nasty business. You'd be amazed who the government will use as an asset when it's the only way to get what they need. My program only lasted two years, and it went wrong in almost every way it could have. You can now mock me for making this up if you like.

[@pohldriver]

How do you explain why you're gone days, weeks, or even months at a time? Tell people you're a truck driver. Most people don't know a long haul driver because they're never around. Those who do only have a vague idea what they do, but they do know they're never around.

[@SlawcioD]

@10:27 project Echelon was that kind project.

[@revenantmuffin4730]

I also feel like a lot of "spies" fall more under the category of "assassin." Jason Borne, for example, is not a spy to me, but an assassin with additional spy training.

[@petepop4319]

bond was the government telling corporations they crossed the line and their next nap was in dirt

[@edneddy2]

It makes sense to spy on your allies. Sometimes, they'll tell you one thing to try and avoid panic because they might be able to handle the situation. But other times, you want to know the bigger picture of what is happening so you can make an appropriate judgment call.

[@MisterPlanePilot]

"I can tell you but I'd have to kill you" is really just a funny military thing. My dad was a civil engineer in the Air Force for 22 years and I recall during my childhood that even he went on short deployments where he could not tell us or my mother. He'd pack his bag and leave out in the early morning in his BDUs. He still cannot tell us a lot about it, so he always uses that phrase 😂

[@100percentSNAFU]

I bet there were times they didn't even tell HIM where he was. My dad was also in the Air Force and used to tell stories of when they would fly them to a base in an "undisclosed" location, they were simply told that the whereabouts were "need to know" only.

[@CoughitsKath]

love that the example of a "spy" in a trenchcoat is a literal child serial murderer 😂 3:45

[@jerrywood4508]

The original Man From UNCLE tv show always had an ordinary citizen caught up in the caper. It gave the audience someone to identify with, and, boy, did I ever. I can remember fantasizing about helping Napoleon Solo after accidentally getting pulled into the action. I had a good imagination in 6th grade.

[@michael30736]

1:34 I walk around with a gun on me all the time in the United States and it draws no attention.

[@gbalfour9618]

I’m immune to honey traps. If anyone starts showing any form of interest in me I know they want something from me.

[@kevinc-727]

For honeypots, what about rep Swalwell and Chinese spy Fang Fang? That's a famous one

[@charlesgantz5865]

Of course, Swalwell didn't fall for it, and reported her to the FBI.

[@backcountry164]

Quick, someone tell Kames O'Keffe that honeypots don't work...

[@librarysong8617]

I've started writing a story about an information gathering agency that employs skilled and gifted youth from 16 and upwards, would you have any information about how that would look?

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:35 - Chapter 1 - Licence to kill 2:10 - Chapter 2 - You are under arrest 3:35 - Chapter 3 - The suit makes the spy 5:00 - Chapter 4 - I could tell you but i'd have to kill you 6:25 - Chapter 5 - Honey traps 8:10 - Chapter 6 - Anyone can be a spy 9:15 - Chapter 7 - Countries only spy on their enemies 10:50 - Chapter 8 - My bond moment

[@I.QV.I]

Simon back in the office!!

[@MrPleers]

Even in Ian Flemings books, James Bond's job is mostly paperwork. And he gets only one dangerous task a year (two at most). And is likely to retire from active work in the field at age 40. Also when he gets wounded during an assignment, he is still recuperating in the next book.

[@honkeykong9592]

2:42 what about the infamous “citizens arrest?”

[@stunnerjokes1583]

involves getting actual cops involved and explaining to them that you’re a spy who just happened to arrest a foreign spy…

[@katyg3873]

Zero dark thirty is fairly accurate.

[@williamleslie4939]

Bond is really more of an agent provocateur than a spy.

[@Axonteer]

Stealth: If everybody is dead and thus cant report you seen, its counted as stealth in my book ;-)

[@ianmorris7485]

I once knew a former spy, who never revealed anything about what he did even decades after he retired - official secrets and all that. The only thing we ever knew was he once had to leave Moscow in a bit of a hurry.

[@fcsuper]

Start 0:28

[@j.p.6932]

4:21 Kind of like putting ninjas in those all black ninja costumes?

[@joelellis7035]

Bond's license to kill was with the UK government. Meaning that he was immune from prosecution in the UK (and likely Commonwealth countries) for killing people, as it was assumed his actions were justified. This would not, however, extend to other countries as evidenced in Goldeneye where the Russian general was trying to tell the security guy that they had James Bond.

[@paladro]

espionage is mostly bribery, extortion and torture, not necessarily in that order.

[@jfbeam]

And bugging builds during construction. (US did it to Russia. Russia did it to the US. ...)

[@BenRoth4]

It drives me crazy that Simon's door is open in every video, usually at the exact same angle

[@Jszar]

NB: In some countries, Citizen’s Arrest is a real and legal thing. For example, Canada has it, but neither U.S. nor UK do. (In the UK, someone trying that would likely be charged with unlawful restraint.)

[@charlesgantz5865]

The U.S. does have citizen's arrest. But you'd better be 1000% sure of the persons guilt or you will be sued for every dime you have.

[@matthewjay660]

The best spy movies I've even seen are the "Jason Bourne" trilogy. He defeated a dude by using a phonebook as a weapon! 📖☠️🤯

[@Kicia84]

The Stasi not only spied on their own citizens, they used Honey Traps and recruited anyone who might be useful.

[@FoxMulder-FBI]

Juan Pujol García aka 'Garbo' though Dude's story really is stranger than fiction

[@candicabaniss2560]

I went on a spy walking tour in DC by a former CIA employee. The information was public knowledge, no secrets. Just "this was the house of the head of the OSS." There was a lot of information about the Cold War. It was fascinating for both my brother and I as we are both US Army veterans of the Cold War and we were both in Intelligence. We went to the spy museum in DC and he showed me a device the dropped satellite photos.

[@Ji66a]

We (the United States) literally got caught spying on our Allie’s like last year or something. By that loser who really needed to win his arguments vs his internet friends… 🤣😂

[@desperadox7565]

Not only last year, constantly.

[@Ji66a]

@@tripsaplenty1227 yes yes cus I brought up something that actually happened I’m a Russian bot. 🤡

[@charlesgantz5865]

We got caught listening in on Angela Merkle's cellphone.

[@desperadox7565]

@@charlesgantz5865 Exactly

[@tripsaplenty1227]

@@Ji66a what is so special about this like of Allie's?

[@boyeatsworld-vr9ci]

the most famous hony trap is Swalwell.... who is still a Congressmen

[@twotrackjack2260]

Austin Powers deserved a name drop in this

[@crankyyankee2475]

No mention of Eric Swalwell?

[@dr.michaellittle5611]

Don’t be dim. There’s no there there.

[@crankyyankee2475]

@@dr.michaellittle5611 he was sleeping with a Chinese spy, no big deal for a democrat.

[@1hiddenearth]

Uhhmmm, honey traps are quite common but not for espionage reasons; more for blackmail control of those in power, like senators and other politicians. Very common