The List: What You Liked in ‘23
There were some surprises among the top 40 favorites of SpyTalk readers
“TOP 40” HAS A NOSTGALGIC RING FOR ME—it was a staple of my teenage rock-radio years. Does it even exist anymore in this era of multiple streaming music channels?
Our list of SpyTalk’s “most popular” stories, meanwhile, as measured by the Substack algorithm that compiles reader clicks, is about as objective as pop music sales figures before Billboard started including rap and hip hop via big-box stores like Walmart. Which is to say, quality isn’t everything: Timing counts for a lot. Extraneous events certainly influence what readers choose to look at—the shocking war between Israel and Hamas, for example, which drew a spike in our traffic. Stories related to China also always play well, too, and not just with U.S. readers, because, well, it’s China—big. (We’re now read in 183 countries and all 50 states, Substack also tells us.)
Another thing to factor into our Top 40 list is the sheer number of stories by particularly prolific contributing writers, like Jonathan Broder, our terrific expert on all things Middle East, and Matthew Brazil, coauthor of the authoritative Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer. We’re lucky to have such brilliant talents on our masthead. I’d like to think I landed several spots on the Top 40 list sheerly out of my own superior talents, but, without admitting otherwise, the fact is I just write more than anybody else. (It’s my job.)
What did come as a bit of surprise was impressive reader interest in lingering mysteries related to Saudi involvement with the 9/11 hijackers. Seth Hettena’s scoops always did very well, as you’ll see from the rankings below. The works of a handful of newcomers—historian Derek Leebaert, US-Mexico specialist Dolia Estévez, former Army intelligence spook and VOA writer Gary Thomas, propaganda expert Emma Briant, and retired longtime CIA ops officer Doug London—also made the Top 40.
Some of my favorite pieces did not make the readers’ Top 40, but added sparkle, heft and longtime value to our modest enterprise. These were the book and film reviews by Henry Allen, a Pulitzer Prize winner (for criticism) during his decades at The Washington Post, Peter Eisner, a prolific investigative author and former deputy foreign editor at the paper, and Adam Zagorin, a former longtime senior correspondent for Time and, later, senior journalist at the watchdog Project on Government Oversight. We’re proud as heck to have them as regular contributors. Do yourself a favor and do a search for more of their SpyTalk bylines.
But now, without further ado, the 40 most-read stories here in 2023 . . .
Previously unreported interviews filed in court claim CIA is hiding information relating to a failed 'recruitment' effort SETH HETTENA MAR 22, 2023
Iran agents, Bedouin smugglers, shifting routes critical to dramatic arms upgrade JONATHAN BRODER OCT 9, 2023
Legendary former CIA officer Jim Lawler says the tricks of the trade turned him into a sociopath—of sorts Jeff Stein, Jan. 30
Rumors abound of an affair between 'Wolf Warrior' Qin Gang and a TV news star MATT BRAZIL JUL 20, 2023
Amaryllis Fox left the CIA and married the boss’s son SETH HETTENA OCT 14, 2023
Hyperspectral sensors could be key to the battle of Gaza—but they have their limits JONATHAN BRODER OCT 27, 2023
Old-fashioned intelligence gathering keyed its success JEFF STEIN OCT 21, 2023
CIA, State expressed confidence in Niger’s Bazoum only hours before military takeover JONATHAN BRODER OCT 4, 2023
Efraim Halevy says Israeli PM’s long term tenure would be “very dangerous” JEFF STEIN NOV 2, 2023
Derek Leebaert recounts his double life at Harvard spying on Russians for the FBI DEREK LEEBAERT SEP 5, 2023
‘The Scarlet Papers,’ is an old-school triumph for author Matthew Richardson GARY THOMAS SEP 8, 202
Did US intelligence see Yevgeny Prigozhin's revolt coming? A tale of pizza boxes tells the story. JEFF STEIN JUN 24, 2023
FBI agents told former Army officer to delete months-old SpyTalk story he posted on LinkedIn JEFF STEIN AUG 13, 2023
The infamous diplomat had the soul of an intelligence boss from SMERSH JEFF STEIN MAY 27, 2023
We catalog the swift justice meted out to others caught hoarding secret documents, showing Trump's unprecedented kindly treatment by the feds. JEFF STEIN DEC 17, 2023
The communists have long had an espionage advantage over the nationalists, but widespread Taiwan defeatism adds to their leverage. MATT BRAZIL JUN 5, 2023
How Dan Ellsberg changed my life JEFF STEIN JUN 17, 2023
I had to get a top secret security clearance, too, years ago. It was far more rigorous than the leaker airman's process. JEFF STEIN APR 27, 2023
19. Turncoat Hanssen Was a Very Weird Dude
The late FBI agent-turned traitor left a strange mark in the annals of espionag JEFF STEIN JUN 5, 2023
No, military experts say. It’s fake news pushed by a U.K. tabloid and anti-China media MATT BRAZIL OCT 12, 2023
Omar al-Bayoumi was the subject of FBI investigations that stretched over more than 20 years SETH HETTENA DEC 1, 2023
There will be no lightening rescues as Israel faces no good options for rooting out Hamas JEFF STEIN NOV 13, 2023
Did a towering ego factor in the wayward path of the former top FBI counterintelligence official? Some former colleagues think so. JEFF STEIN JAN 25, 2023
Shocking Hamas Assault on Israel Echoes 1973 Yom Kippur Intelligence Failure Questions raised on how Israel missed months of Hamas battle preparations JONATHAN BRODER OCT 7, 2023
Prominent DC oil specialist charged with working as Chinese, Iranian agent JONATHAN BRODER JUL 12, 2023
Battle is joined over Speaker McCarthy's purge of former Chair Adam Schiff JEFF STEIN JAN 15, 2023
Conditions are ripe for Kremlin rats to offer secrets for safe passage outJEFF STEIN JUN 25, 2023
López Obrador has become a useful tool for Vladimir Putin DOLIA ESTÉVEZ SEP 19, 2023
How Joe Biden can—and can’t—get rid of the notorious MBS, a man he called a 'thug' JONATHAN BRODER JAN 21, 2021
Manuel Rochas was a US diplomat—and Cuban spy—for decades, the FBI says JEFF STEIN DEC 4, 2023
A Vietnam veteran tunnel rat has some thoughts about the battle for Gaza JEFF STEIN NOV 8, 2023
Former CIA officer Douglas London questions recent Post, Times stories. DOUGLAS LONDON JUN 9, 2023
SpyTalk plumbs Chinese intel history for facts behind David Ignatius's semi-fictional "The Tao of Deception" MATT BRAZIL JUL 14, 2023
Her valiant stewardship of the CIA torture report is a monument to congressional oversight JEFF STEIN SEP 29, 2023
Threats proliferate well beyond well guarded DC Courthouse JEFF STEIN AUG 2, 2023
India's Narendra Modi better watch his step. The knives may come for him. JEFF STEIN SEP 24, 2023
A CIA Family Drama John Hadden’s remarkable interrogation of his CIA father JEFF STEIN AUG 11, 2023
Navy SEALs were punished for 2003 death of Manadel al-Jamadi while he was under CIA interrogation SETH HETTENA JUN 7, 2023\
The Discord leaks reveal a digital culture problem that more AI surveillance can’t solve DR. EMMA L BRIANT APR 15, 2023
The CIA made sure there were no US fingerprints on the Nordstream pipleine sabotage, according to new Washington Post reporting JEFF STEIN with Shane Harris NOV 18, 2023