Award-winning author Ilana Berry explores the gap between how espionage is portrayed and how it actually works. Drawing on her experience in the CIA, the Department of Defense, and er firsthand view of the Arab Spring in Bahrain. She explains why secrecy fuels conspiracy theories, and why even insiders often struggle to separate truth from manipulation.

Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

Award-winning author Ilana Berry explores the gap between how espionage is portrayed and how it actually works. Drawing on her experience in the CIA, the Department of Defense, and er firsthand view of the Arab Spring in Bahrain. She explains why secrecy fuels conspiracy theories, and why even insiders often struggle to separate truth from manipulation.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

Do you want to know the truth behind the world’s wildest conspiracy theories? Former CIA officers John Sipher & Jerry O’Shea try to determine where misinformation is coming from, when we’re being lied to and when a conspiracy theory is an actual real conspiracy. In the world of espionage, they were part of creating conspiracies. Now they and their circle of experts probe what’s true and when we’re being manipulated.

New episodes every week.

Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod
Executive Producers: Adam Davidson, John Sipher, Jerry O'Shea & Jonathan Stern. Producer: Rachel Harner
A production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures

Do you want to know the truth behind the world&rsquo;s wildest conspiracy theories? Former CIA officers John Sipher &amp; Jerry O&rsquo;Shea try to determine where misinformation is coming from, when we&rsquo;re being lied to and when a conspiracy theory is an actual real conspiracy. In the world of espionage, they were part of creating conspiracies. Now they and their circle of experts probe what&rsquo;s true and when we&rsquo;re being manipulated.
New episodes every week.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1765390388763000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Xv6PaRO8ms-z_hEp0Uxvi">https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod</a>
<ul>
<li>Executive Producers: Adam Davidson, John Sipher, Jerry O'Shea &amp; Jonathan Stern. Producer: Rachel Harner</li>
<li>A production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures</li>
</ul>

Mission Implausible

Mission Implausible: Ex-CIA Officers on Conspiracy Theories

Serving in the Middle East, then Writing About It (with Ilana Berry)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/3eebc5a6-9c28-4fb8-a56e-b438002291f1/transcript

In 2003, a single Iraqi refugee — codenamed Curveball — fabricated stories about Iraqi weapons. The U.S. intelligence community, desperate for sources after 9/11, laundered his claims into a National Intelligence Estimate produced in under three weeks. Bob Drogin, the award-winning journalist who broke the story and wrote the definitive book on it, joins John & Jerry to examine how political will, institutional groupthink, and bureaucratic cowardice allowed a con man’s tales to be treated as fact. But history repeats itself as now, in 2026, fuzzy claims about Iranian weapons undergirds another Middle East war.

Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

In 2003, a single Iraqi refugee &mdash; codenamed Curveball &mdash; fabricated stories about Iraqi weapons. The U.S. intelligence community, desperate for sources after 9/11, laundered his claims into a National Intelligence Estimate produced in under three weeks. Bob Drogin, the award-winning journalist who broke the story and wrote the definitive book on it, joins John &amp; Jerry to examine how political will, institutional groupthink, and bureaucratic cowardice allowed a con man&rsquo;s tales to be treated as fact. But history repeats itself as now, in 2026, fuzzy claims about Iranian weapons undergirds another Middle East war.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

Swinging at Curveball: When You Want It Bad, You Get It Bad (with Bob Drogin)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d81a63ae-60dc-48ff-a25f-b462003121f2/transcript

ENCORE EPISODE - Gabriel Gatehouse is a journalist and broadcaster and author of “The Coming Storm” that looks at Q Anon and the January 6th conspiracies. And he’s British!

Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

ENCORE EPISODE - Gabriel Gatehouse is a journalist and broadcaster and author of &ldquo;The Coming Storm&rdquo; that looks at Q Anon and the January 6th conspiracies. And he&rsquo;s British!
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

How Everyone Else Sees America (with Gabriel Gatehouse) - ENCORE

In light of this week's resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, we're re-running our recent very illuminating episode about her. Also, check out John Sipher's timely piece on her in The Bullwark on May 19.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/tulsi-gabbard-office-shouldnt-exist-director-national-intelligence-9-11

Our current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was born into The Science of Identity Foundation, a secretive, authoritarian religious group led by guru Chris Butler. What are the beliefs of The SIF and how did they influence Gabbard's political career? Some believe that she's still under their direction, if not outright control. If so, the international criminal investigations of the organization, along with the local Hawaiian suspicions of it, raises serious national security questions for someone in that role. Then why does it appear that even a standard FBI background check of Gabbard was skipped? The reporting on Gabbard's origins had been sparse... until now.

Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

In light of this week's resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, we're re-running our recent very illuminating episode about her. Also, check out John Sipher's timely piece on her in The Bullwark on May 19.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/tulsi-gabbard-office-shouldnt-exist-director-national-intelligence-9-11
Our current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was born into The Science of Identity Foundation, a secretive, authoritarian religious group led by guru Chris Butler. What are the beliefs of The SIF and how did they influence Gabbard's political career? Some believe that she's still under their direction, if not outright control. If so, the international criminal investigations of the organization, along with the local Hawaiian suspicions of it, raises serious national security questions for someone in that role. Then why does it appear that even a standard FBI background check of Gabbard was skipped? The reporting on Gabbard's origins had been sparse... until now.
Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod">https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod</a>

The Hawaiian Cult that raised Tulsi Gabbard (with Christine Gralow) - ENCORE

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8816b6e5-6146-4ade-bba0-b3e9002393b2/transcript

Serving in the Middle East, then Writing About It (with Ilana Berry)

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Mission Implausible: Ex-CIA Officers on Conspiracy Theories

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