Intelligence agencies shape wars, elections and what the public is told, yet most of their work stays hidden. Brian Rose has sat down with people who worked inside the CIA, MI5 and the National Security Agency, and with the lawyers and journalists who have challenged them. They explain what the work is really like, how surveillance and disinformation operate, why some officers became whistleblowers and how they read today’s conflicts from Ukraine to Iran. Every full interview is free to watch.
From former CIA officers Andrew Bustamante, John Kiriakou and Mike Baker to former MI5 officer Annie Machon, veteran CIA analyst Ray McGovern, NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh: how the secret world works, told by people who have seen it up close.
Andrew Bustamante, a former covert CIA officer, has been on London Real three times. In 2022 he talked about surveillance and disinformation, in 2023 he analysed the Israel-Hamas war and Iran’s ambitions, and in 2025 he argued that Donald Trump had no choice but to strike Iran. Mike Baker, who spent almost 20 years as a CIA field operations officer, explains how lessons from the agency apply to business. Kevin Shipp, a former CIA officer and anti-terrorism expert, sets out what he calls the deep state and the shadow government. Journalist Seymour Hersh argues that the CIA covered up the Nord Stream bombing.
Several guests broke ranks. John Kiriakou, a former CIA counter-terrorism officer, talks about CIA torture tactics, mass surveillance and the war in Ukraine. Annie Machon, a former MI5 intelligence officer, explains why she became a whistleblower and how she sees the wars on terror, drugs and the internet. Ray McGovern worked as a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, serving under presidents from John F. Kennedy to George H. W. Bush, before turning to activism. Jesselyn Radack, legal adviser to Edward Snowden, joins former NSA senior executive Thomas Drake to argue for government accountability and the rights of whistleblowers.
Two guests saw the secret world from the outside. Howard Marks (1945–2016), the Welsh cannabis smuggler who became the author of Mr Nice, told Brian Rose how, by his own account, MI6 once recruited him. He also talked about borders, prison and drug law reform, and a 2015 redux of the interview remembers him. Dutch information security expert Arjen Kamphuis, who disappeared in Norway in 2018, spoke in 2013 about state surveillance, Edward Snowden’s leaks and the privacy tools ordinary people could use to protect themselves.
Get every new episode free: watch the latest London Real interviews.
Who has London Real interviewed about spies and intelligence? Brian Rose has interviewed former CIA officers Andrew Bustamante, John Kiriakou, Kevin Shipp and Mike Baker, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, former MI5 officer Annie Machon, NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, lawyer Jesselyn Radack, journalist Seymour Hersh, author Howard Marks and information security expert Arjen Kamphuis, among others.
What do the former spies say about Iran and Israel? Andrew Bustamante has covered the region twice. In 2023 he analysed the Israel-Hamas war and what he sees as Iran’s wider agenda, and in 2025 he argued that Donald Trump had no choice but to strike Iran and talked through the risks of modern nuclear warfare.
Why did some intelligence officers become whistleblowers? Each tells their own story. John Kiriakou talks about CIA torture tactics, Annie Machon about her time in MI5, and Thomas Drake and Jesselyn Radack about NSA surveillance and holding government to account. Kevin Shipp explains why he speaks out about what he calls the shadow government.
Are the full intelligence episodes free to watch? Yes. Every full-length interview on this page can be watched free on londonreal.tv.
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