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In the late 1990s a friend of mine gave me a birthday gift: two tickets to Spy Drive. Now THAT was something that could only happen in DC. Oleg Kalugin (https:
by SeanLuke 3y ago
In the late 1990s a friend of mine gave me a birthday gift: two tickets to Spy Drive. Now THAT was something that could only happen in DC.
Oleg Kalugin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kalugin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kalugin) was a former head of the KGB at the Russian Embassy in DC in the 1980s. When Oleg returned to Russia, his criticism of the KGB led him to be stripped of his rank and eventually exiled to the USA to avoid serious recriminations in Russia. He was eventually tried in abstentia. It was in DC where he teamed up for a while with David Major, a retired spymaster for the FBI and former adversary, and together they did what could only be done in Washington DC: they ran a paid bus tour.
You heard that right. For $80, we'd get on the bus, and then these two former spymasters on opposite sides of the cold war would get up in the front of the bus with microphones and take us to various dead drops, mark locations, famous spy meeting locations, and so on, and tell stories the whole way, and joke about how one was gonna arrest the other. It was insane. It was glorious.
Both of them later were recruited to be on the advisory board of the Spy Museum, and it is my understanding that Oleg was very effective at acquiring a lot of stuff for the museum from the former KGB.
Edit: in case people don't believe me...
https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/9cc8f17c411182bd874217388e940c54/Spy-Drive/ https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/9cc8f17c411182bd874...
- etrautmann 3y agoThis is why I keep coming back to HN. I would never have come across this otherwise.
- ghotli 3y agoI've been to that museum and was most struck by the small section about Einstein informing the president at the time that the math meant nukes were possible and likely would exist in the short term. There's a lot of cool stuff in that museum, but that's the one that stuck with me. It's written with a typewriter and signed by Einstein, iirc.
- boomboomsubban 3y agoIt's rather famous. Written by Leo Szilard but signed by Einstein who later seemed to regret it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szilard_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szilard_lette... I don't understand why it would be in the Spy Museum.
- ourmandave 3y agoIs this what happens to 007s if they actually live to retire age?
- 6stringmerc 3y agoPretty much - look at Frank Abignale the "Catch Me If You Can" con master. Even Mitnick fits the role. Once you've mastered a craft and somehow get out from under "the system" which punishes or has caused stress, well, education is fun. Story telling is how we grow. Oral histories and all that. Normally these type of folks are not allowed to write about their experiences much due to there being potential collateral damage in print, but talking? Much smaller radius. Plus you get to size up your audience!
- tetris11 3y agoin the case of Frank, it might have all been storytelling
- dylan604 3y ago>but talking? Much smaller radius. I don't think this adage is true now, or won't be for much longer. Fewer and fewer things are read, but everyone is watching videos now. That's the current trend at least. However, written text does have the potential for long out lasting whatever digital video/audio anything, so to that point I concede the original sentiment
- FormerBandmate 3y agoFrank Abagnale exaggerated his exploits as a con man as a… con. You almost have to admire how ballsy that is.