Episode notes
Vitaly Yurchenko is a fountain of intelligence and quickly becomes a celebrity in US intelligence circles. But the higher his profile, the greater the threat to his safety...
Podcast
The Redefector
Audiochuck · Society & Culture · English
It was 1985, the so-called “Year of the Spy”. The CIA had been losing Soviet assets left and right; the first loss seemed like bad luck, but four in a row? That wasn't coincidence — it was a deadly leak. And just as the Agency was scrambling to find answers, across the world, a KGB colonel named Vit
More from The Redefector All episodes →
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S1 · 30 Apr 2025 · 56 min
It’s Hard to Find a Leak | Chapter 7.5 BONUS
BONUS EPISODE: Bodies continue to drop, despite the leaks identified by Yurchenko. Despite intensifying debate over his legitimacy, the SE division has a new desperate focus: to find answers. It creates a special task force to identify the remaining leak before any more lives are lost. In this bonus episode, we track the three fascinating reasons why the task force took years: Masterful deception campaigns by the Soviets; the ghost of James Jesus Angleton; and a scandal at the White House.
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S1 · E7 · 23 Apr 2025 · 52 min
Whiplash | Chapter 7
Yurchenko... reappears, sowing chaos. A debate begins to rage in the press, at the CIA, and even in the White House: Was Vitaly Yurchenko a plant from the very beginning?
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S1 · E6 · 16 Apr 2025 · 52 min
Vanished | Chapter 6
To cheer up the despondent Yurchenko, the CIA takes Yurchenko on a road trip through the American Southwest, complete with a stop in Sin City. Soon after he returns from the trip, his spirits still low, Yurchenko... disappears.
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S1 · E5 · 9 Apr 2025 · 44 min
Valentina | Chapter 5
Yurchenko travels to Canada to be reunited with the love of his life, but plans go awry...
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S1 · E4 · 2 Apr 2025 · 56 min
The Safe Safehouse | Chapter 4
Yurchenko and his team of CIA and FBI officers start over in a new safehouse in the Virginia countryside. Meanwhile, the mole Yurchenko revealed... makes a run for it.
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S1 · E2 · 19 Mar 2025 · 35 min
Meet the Team | Chapter 2
The CIA and FBI have less than 24 hours to prepare to welcome the KGB colonel who, in the defector world, appeared to be the catch of the century.
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S1 · E1 · 19 Mar 2025 · 39 min
The Walk-in | Chapter 1
It was August 1st, 1985, a year so full of espionage drama that it has since become known as "The Year of the Spy." The CIA had been suspiciously losing Soviet assets one after another. Just as the Agency was beginning to suspect a leak, around the world in Italy, a KGB Colonel named Vitaly Yurchenko made his way to the American Embassy in Rome, ready to trade Soviet intelligence in exchange for immediate exfiltration to the U.S. The first secret he revealed: The CIA had a mole in its midst. Two secrets he doesn't mention: Yurchenko believes he's dying, and wants to spend his last months…
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S1 · 3 Mar 2025 · 3 min
Trailer: The Redefector
It was 1985, and the CIA had a painful secret. Soviet assets who had been secretly working for the CIA had begun ominously disappearing one, after another. One might be bad luck… But four was three too many to be a coincidence.
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