0:00

Beneath the veneer of the everyday lurks

0:02

the realm of the spy. It's a

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dank, murky world full of dark

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corners, sinister motives, and corroded morals.

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From Wondery comes a new podcast,

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The Spy Who, revealing the invisible

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work of the world's intelligence services,

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unearthing daring missions packed with danger,

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deceit, and double-crosses. Each season, hosts

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Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey introduce

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shadowy figures who risk everything to

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achieve their mission. Like Oleg Lailin,

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The Spy Who Sabotaged the KGB,

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or Noor Inayatkarn, The Spy Who

0:32

Was a Princess. We're about to

0:34

play you a clip from the

0:36

first season, exploring the life of

0:39

The Spy Who Inspired 007. If

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you'd like to hear more, follow The

0:43

Spy Who wherever you listen to podcasts.

0:45

Or you can binge full seasons early

0:47

and ad-free with Wondery Plus on Apple

0:49

Podcasts or the Wondery app. Dushko

1:00

Popov wakes from his alcohol-drenched

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slumber. It's

1:07

1937, and Popov studying law

1:09

in Freiburg, Nazi Germany. Popov

1:15

drags himself out of bed. He's

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in his mid-20s with short black hair. Yawning,

1:20

he unlocks the door. Four

1:23

Gestapo officers barge past. One confronts

1:26

Popov as the others ransack his

1:28

flat. Dushko Popov, you

1:30

are under arrest. On what charge? The

1:33

Gestapo officer punches Popov in the stomach.

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Popov crumples under the blow. Before

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he can recover, two officers grab him. They

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drag him outside to a waiting car, throw

1:43

him into the vehicle's boot, and slam the

1:45

door shut. Popov

1:55

snaps awake as cold water hits his

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face. He's tied to a chair in a

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Gestapo interrogation room and he's been

2:01

there for days. Phopos's

2:04

interrogator tosses the metal bucket aside

2:06

and leans in close. Admit it,

2:09

you're a communist. That's ridiculous. You

2:11

can't think. Listen, Malphava,

2:15

he owns coal mines and factories.

2:19

Why would I support communism? But

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I'm a Yugoslav citizen and I want a lawyer.

2:25

The interrogator takes a step back. If you're

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not a communist, why are you dating one?

2:30

Phopos smirks. Because she's pretty.

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The interrogator's face flashes with anger.

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A split second later, Phopos sees

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his fist hurtling towards

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his face. A

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train blasts its whistle as it thunders through

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the Swiss Alps. On

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the road running alongside the tracks, a

3:01

Mercedes burns rubber. The man at

3:03

the wheel checks he's keeping up with the train. He's

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Johnny Yebesund, Phopos's best friend.

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He's a wealthy German with a pencil

3:12

moustache and he's on a rescue mission.

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Yebesund screeches to a halt outside

3:20

Basel train station just as Phopos

3:22

exits the station. Dusko!

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Phopos runs over. Johnny,

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what are you doing here? We can't have you

3:30

taking a taxi after all you've been through. But

3:34

how did you know I'd be here? Yebesund

3:36

smiles. Who do you think

3:38

got you out? I got wind that

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you'd been arrested and called your father. He got

3:42

the Yugoslav government to step in. Phopos

3:45

climbs into the passenger seat. They

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were going to ship me out to a concentration camp.

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Well, you're here now. No! Seriously. I

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thought I was done. Don't

3:58

be silly. I owe you. Good.

4:03

You can pay for dinner. I'm being

4:05

serious. I

4:07

owe you. Yepsen

4:10

smiles. He won't forget

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that promise. And when he

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calls it in, Popov will be transformed into

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one of the greatest secret agents

4:19

of World War II. From

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Wondery, I'm Indra Varma

4:33

and this is The Spy Who.

4:38

Beneath the veneer of the everyday

4:40

lurks the realm of the spy.

4:44

It's a dark, dangerous world, full

4:47

of shadowy corners, sinister motives

4:50

and corrupted morals. A

4:53

place of paranoia and infiltration,

4:55

sabotage and manipulation.

4:59

Every week, The Spy Who will take

5:01

you inside that Twilight Realm. You'll

5:06

hear true stories about the work

5:09

of the World's Intelligence Services and

5:11

follows spies on daring missions packed

5:13

with danger, deceit and

5:15

double-crosses. And

5:19

we begin by retrieving the files on

5:21

Dusko Popov. He's

5:23

a Serbian playboy who outfoxed Nazi

5:26

Germany while living a life

5:28

full of cocktails women and

5:30

casinos. And

5:32

he also helped inspire the most famous fictional

5:34

spy of all time, James

5:37

Bond. What

5:40

you're about to hear are dramatised

5:42

reconstructions based on real events and

5:44

the information that's been made public.

5:48

But remember, in

5:50

the shadow realm of the spy, the

5:52

full story is rarely clear. This

5:57

is The Spy Who Inspired

5:59

Ataloth. Episode

6:01

1, A Friend Among Us