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SPYCRAFT 101

SPYCRAFT 101

By: Justin Black
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Welcome to your clandestine classroom.© 2025 SPYCRAFT 101 Political Science Politics & Government World
Episodes
  • 236. Surviving Chinese Skies: The Hainan Island Incident with Shane Osborn
    Feb 23 2026

    This week Justin sits down with Shane Osborn. Shane is a veteran of the US Navy and a graduate of the University of Nebraska Lincoln. From 2007 until 2011, he served as the treasurer for the State of Nebraska. He's also the founder of the Nebraska Soldiers Foundation, which helps soldiers and their families cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. In early 2001, Shane was serving as a pilot with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron one based in Okinawa on April 1st of that year while flying a mission over the Pacific Ocean. His EP3E Orion was involved in a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter jet. Shane was forced to land his badly damaged aircraft on a Chinese island where he and his crew were detained and interrogated for 11 days in an event that made headlines worldwide as The Hainan Island incident. He's here today discuss his career in Navy aviation, the near fatal collision over the Pacific, and his time in the custody of the Chinese government, which he wrote about in his book.

    Connect with Shane:
    Check out the book, Born to Fly, here.
    https://a.co/d/0bld5G8Z

    Shane is currently supporting African Educational Support here:
    https://www.africaneducationalsupportinc.org/

    Connect with Spycraft 101:
    Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
    spycraft101.com
    IG: @spycraft101
    Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
    Patreon: Spycraft 101
    Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
    Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
    Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

    Kruschiki
    The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off!


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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    46 mins
  • 235. Secrets of a Spy Master: Your Guide to Influence with Jules Fisher
    Feb 16 2026

    Justin's guest for today is Julian Fisher, a former British intelligence operative espionage specialist and author of Think Like A Spy. Following a stint in government service, Julian headed up Africa operations for a private military company and then founded his own intelligence boutique specializing in Africa. In 2017, he was the lead trainer on the Channel Four reality series Spies, which put 16 ordinary members of the public through a series of challenges to find out if they had what it takes to be a spy. Julian has led an unusual life in his time. He's seen off camel wrestlers in Somalia, faced down gun toting soldiers in Congo, trained a newly formed intelligence service in South Sudan, and been invited to help plot a coup in West Africa, which he declined. Julian can show you how to take the hard lessons learned over centuries of international espionage and use those same strategies to accomplish your goals in almost any environment or context.

    Connect with Jules:
    julesfisher.com
    LinkedIn:
    Check out the book, Think Like A Spy, here.
    https://a.co/d/0ecDQ3sm

    Connect with Spycraft 101:
    Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
    spycraft101.com
    IG: @spycraft101
    Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
    Patreon: Spycraft 101
    Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
    Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
    Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

    Kruschiki
    The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off!


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 234. The Swedish "Assassin" and the Killer Cop with Paula May
    Feb 9 2026

    Today's guest is Paula May. Paula graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and later a Master's degree in Public Administration. She worked for more than 35 years in law enforcement, primarily in Waga County and then in King, North Carolina. She spent more than 20 of those years in major crime investigations, and the last 10 as Chief of Police directing major criminal incident response and investigations in King. Since retiring, she has also served on the board of directors and as the interim director of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police. Paula is here this week to discuss a major case she investigated beginning in 1993 with the murder of Viktor Gunnarsson in North Carolina.

    Years before his death, Viktor was a suspect in the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palma, which we previously discussed on episode 155 of the podcast. Now Paula can tell us how that investigation changed Viktor's life and what happened to him here in the United States at the hands of a local police officer. She also wrote two books about the case.

    Connect with Paula:
    amazon.com/stores/Paula-May/author/B08687TSC1
    Check out the book, FIRST DEGREE RAGE, here.
    https://a.co/d/0aOaxDHS

    Connect with Spycraft 101:
    Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
    spycraft101.com
    IG: @spycraft101
    Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
    Patreon: Spycraft 101
    Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
    Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
    Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

    Kruschiki
    The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off!


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
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