The KGB Double Agent Who Stopped Armageddon with Ben McIntyre

The KGB Double Agent Who Stopped Armageddon with Ben McIntyre

Author: History Hit September 14, 2026 Duration: 41:29

This is an extraordinary story of espionage, betrayal and an unlikely friendship between spies on opposite sides - and of a man who risked his life and shaped the course of history, for a deeply personal and unlikely reason. In 1981, Washington feared a Soviet takeover of Iran could trigger military intervention and potentially a nuclear war. A KGB officer - Vladimir Kouzichkin - was stationed in revolutionary Iran. He was codenamed Agent Redwood and worked with British intelligence to expose the Soviet Union's operations in Iran... in exchange for a cure to a very private medical problem.


Ben McIntyre's new book is called Redwood: The Most Extraordinary Spy of the Cold War and is out now!


Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.


Listen to The Iranian Embassy Siege with Ben Macintyre:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Yn4pGGxsG1YLI90kf4UkM?si=sUB3ShdzQiGEDeEj9fyBNg

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-iranian-embassy-siege-with-ben-macintyre/id1042631089?i=1000670522326


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There’s history you might recall from a textbook, and then there’s the kind that feels like you’re standing right there in the moment. Dan Snow's History Hit is firmly in the latter category. Hosted by the historian Dan Snow, this podcast doesn't just recount dates and facts; it transports you. Each episode is built from Dan's travels to the actual locations where history unfolded, from the echoing floor of the Roman Colosseum to the silent expanse of the Waterloo battlefields and the awe-inspiring presence of the Great Wall of China. The conversations dig into the compelling human stories-the motivations of heroes and villains, the engineering behind great monuments, and the pivotal decisions that changed everything. You’ll hear the how and why behind the world's most defining events, delivered with a palpable sense of place and curiosity. New episodes arrive twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursdays, with additional subscriber episodes every other Friday, making this a consistently engaging dive into our shared past. It’s a history podcast that treats the subject not as a static record, but as a living, breathing narrative waiting to be explored.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Dan Snow's History Hit
Podcast Episodes
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What happens when a civilisation at its peak begins to fail? Historians have long been fascinated by the Maya Collapse in the 9th century: why the great cities of Mesoamerica were abandoned, why their populations disappe…
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For more than 3,000 years, the Maya built one of the Ancient world's greatest civilisations. They raised towering pyramids in the rainforest, mastered the environment and established powerful dynasties- long before the r…
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Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff - all of these places and more were bombed during the Blitz. From the devastated shipyards of Tyneside to the bombed-out docks of Shieldhall, we strip away the myth of the Blitz spi…
A Short History of The Airport [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:00
It’s where our ancient instincts to travel, to trade, to reunite with family and explore meet modern technology and innovation. From muddy airfields to gleaming cathedrals of designer shopping, fancy restaurants and even…
The Mycenaean World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:05
Before 1200 BC, the ancient world was more connected than you'd ever imagine. Egyptian pharaohs, Hittite emperors and Mycenaean warrior-kings trading gifts, forging alliances and going to war across the glittering Medite…
BONUS: The Complete Map of the Odyssey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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A special video podcast where Dan charts the course of Odysseus through the Mediterranean as he investigates the true places that could have inspired the Odyssey. Using his new Big Pad, Dan investigates the theories of a…