Tom Clancy was a good friend of US intelligence. After the publication of his enormously successful Hunt for Red October in 1984, he was repeatedly invited to speak at the CIA, NSA and FBI. The CIA even paid him a $500 honourarium for his ‘performance’ for speaking at Langley in 1986 – but Clancy gave […](Read more...)
What is fake news? Where did it come from and why is it so profitable? In this week’s episode I consider whether fake news is a new thing, or simply a newly-popular name for methods of deceit that have existed for centuries. I explore the idea that it is simply a popular recognition of an […](Read more...)
In 2015 Admiral Robert Papp, the State Department’s Arctic envoy, spoke multiple times about trying to broker a deal with Disney to use characters from Frozen to promote climate change issues to children. Recently released State Dept. documents show that negotiations broke down because of conflicts with Disney’s corporate messaging, and that Disney were unhappy […](Read more...)
This week I welcome Martin Darlington, co-host of the History by Hollywood podcast, which reviews and analyses films claiming to be based on real events. We talk about Martin’s adopted homeland of Qatar, his views on history and politics, how he and his co-host Andrew prepare and produce the podcast, the power of music in […](Read more...)
The latest files to be released by the National Archives include one on Kinsgley Amis - the former novelist and critic who was knighted in 1990. Amis was a member of the Communist party while at Oxford university in June 1941, though he renounced Marxism in 1956-7. MI5's monitoring of Amis, which included intercepting letters, collecting news cuttings, keeping an eye on his mistress and talking to people who knew him, covered this same period but continued for another decade after Amis has publicly rejected communism.
Long answer: probably, with an ‘if’. Short answer: yes, with a ‘but’. A recently-published report into the terrorism in Britain in the run-up to this year’s general election has found that the Manchester bombing might have been prevented. The review says that MI5 had planned to discuss the potential threat posed by the reported bomber […](Read more...)
Lone Survivor is one of very few recent DOD-supported films that is based on real events from the war on terror. In a period where the Pentagon is more interested in Transformers and superhero movies, Lone Survivor is an exception. Reports from the military Hollywood offices called it ‘a two hour infomercial’ about US special […](Read more...)
One of the first films to be made with the help of former CIA officers was 1985's The Man With One Red Shoe. This badly-written, weakly-executed action-comedy depict the Agency running surveillance on a musician played by Tom Hanks, who they believe is a CIA agent who is going to testify in a congressional hearing about Agency drug smuggling. In reality, he is a mild-mannered violinist who one faction within the CIA has tricked another faction into believing is an agent of the utmost importance.
Of all the US intelligence agencies, the FBI has the longest-running relationship with Hollywood. From spying on A-listers as to helping blacklist screenwriters, through to manipulating scripts for PR and propaganda purposes, the Bureau’s influence on Tinseltown is very broad. Using documents from throughout the FBI’s history, today we’re going to look at this relationship and ask: whatever happened about that Sony hack?(Read more...)
Newly released documents shed light on the FBI's entertainment liaison office - officially titled the Investigative Publicity and Public Affairs Unit (IPPAU), including how they work on dozens of popular films and TV shows, and reject requests for support for PR reasons, just like the Pentagon. (Read more...)
