Podcasts

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently visited a warship off the coast of Puerto Rico, telling Marines and sailors that they are on the “front lines” of a critical counter-narcotics mission. Exactly what that mission is – remains murky but the statement itself was a clue to the administration’s intent. The U.S. has been beefing up military assets in the region. In this edition of The State Secrets Podcast, The Cipher Brief is talking with Renee Novakoff, former Deputy Director of Intelligence for Sensitive Activities and Special Programs at the Office of the Secretary of Defense about what we know and what we still don’t - about the Pentagon’s mission off the coast of Venezuela.

Author and former Marine Elliot Ackerman’s latest tale is about an ex-CIA Ground Branch operator who goes by his call sign, “Skwerl” and a former Afghan special ops pilot who goes by the name “Big Cheese” so you’re probably already getting a good picture of Ackerman’s latest novel Sheepdogs, which follows Skwerl and Cheese on a globe-trotting adventure from Uganda to Marseille. Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly welcomed Ackerman to the Cover Stories Studio to talk about missing handlers, hidden cargo and shadow war.