Nitrate

Spycraft · S1 · E5

Covert Communication

  • Jan 20, 2021
  • 33 min
  • 6.2

From old-school "dead drops" to high-tech digital transfers: Learn how intelligence officers actually acquire the information collected by sources.

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About this episode

From old-school "dead drops" to high-tech digital transfers: Learn how intelligence officers actually acquire the information collected by sources.

Season 1

8 episodes
  1. 1High-Tech Surveillance and an Eye in the Sky

    29 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.7

    In the spy game, if you can listen, you can learn, and gaining that crucial ability to eavesdrop has required some deeply creative ingenuity.

  2. 2Deadly Poisons

    31 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.2

    For some covert missions, the goal is not information, but assassination, and lethal toxins have been deployed by spy agencies to kill perceived foes.

  3. 3Sexspionage

    33 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.3

    As long as there has been espionage, sex and the promise of it have been powerful tools of persuasion and blackmail — practices that continue today.

  4. 4Clandestine Collection

    36 minJan 20, 2021★ 5.4

    Methods for covertly capturing sensitive data have grown infinitely more advanced as the devices used to do so have become exponentially smaller.

  5. 5Covert Communication

    33 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.2Now viewing

    From old-school "dead drops" to high-tech digital transfers: Learn how intelligence officers actually acquire the information collected by sources.

  6. 6Special Ops and the Saboteur

    30 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.2

    Special ops require the very best people to execute them. But some of the most famous missions in modern history relied on elite technology as well.

  7. 7The Code Breakers

    36 minJan 20, 2021★ 6.2

    Encryption is a key tool for keeping valuable information secret — but some ingenious minds have managed to crack seemingly impenetrable codes.

  8. 8Recruiting the Perfect Spy

    38 minJan 20, 2021

    What leads someone to spy against their own nation? Motivations vary but tend to fall into one of four categories, as notorious cases demonstrate.

Guest stars

Keith MeltonSelf - Intelligence Historian and Author