Thanks. Back just after college, one guy in my singles group had a goal of working in the NSA, so I think I‘ll find this interesting.

Thanks, Elmer.

Thanks for pointing these out, Elmer. I have a friend who is retiring this November from the NSA after working there 35 years. He's always jokingly said he can't tell me what he does there - but through years of joking, he never actually has told me. So I'm interested in "No Such Podcast."

I believe the NSA also contains the cryptography/cryptanalysis/code breaking etc (I'm probably using the terms wrong ) experts in our Intelligence Community.

Elmer, yes, they are responsible for SIGINT (signals intelligence) activities, among other things that have evolved over the years.

Fun Fact (if it hasn’t changed )….the longest unobstructed corridor is in their main building. It’s been years since my first visit there, but I was told about it prior to going by a colleague, and my escort pointed it out.

BTW, i meant to tell you I enjoyed the book about the women of the CIA you recommended. It’s been a while since I read it but it was spot on, and it appears some of that culture is still ongoing. I recognized a couple of names in the book! Didn’t actually know the people personally but they were well known at the time.

Sounds interesting to me. I love listening to podcasts especially when doing mindless tasks, cooking, cleaning etc.

Thanks for the tip!

It sounds like you worked in or near this field. You probably know that James Bamford's books decades ago were perhaps the first to pull open the doors of the NSA to the public. His views were those of a very critical, unsympathetic explorer. The earlier books, before he seemed to get a bit too antagnostic, were interesting for outsiders like me. And would still be of timely interest to anyone who knows little more about the agency than what the letters stand for.

In the field of espionage and covert action, perhaps the richest place to look for non-fiction insights is the broad field of books on Israeli agencies. Books by authors like Bar-Zohar(including The Mossad Amazons, women in the agency), Darshan-Leitner, and many others were ones I enjoyed very much. Far more swashbuckling and unimaginable outside the box thinking for many of their operations.

edit misspelling comment - s/b antagonistic above, I left it as is.

Thank you, Elmer. sounds great. i love gabriel allon. westsider40 westy

Who are you again please, HU-86?

(Reminds me of Get Smart and Agent 86)

I like Daniel Silva's books too. I remember when I read the first one I questioned how it would be possible for the same basic premise (Allon's fictional background) to provide material for more than one story. Happily, I was very wrong. I'm current, having read everything he's written and released so far and I've not found one I didn't enjoy.

Following the old saying that fact can sometimes be stranger than fiction, the material in the Allon stories are kindergarten stuff when compared to many of the actual high jinks that Israeli covert agencies have pulled off over the years. Some really imaginative and unbelievable missions.

Yes, i dont know of their real life capers, except they are truly smart and motivated. would be very exciting to read.