Logo for Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal

Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal

Brazen

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

Silicon Valley is an espionage innovator—it has been since its inception. During the dawn of the high-tech age, an engineer named James Harper begins his industrious climb. But as Silicon Valley blossoms into what it is today, so too does the dark side of all this newfound wealth and ambition—right as the cold war reaches its final crescendo.

As Harper works to build his fortune, his ambition endangers his nation’s safety. He sells nuclear secrets to the Soviet Bloc—intelligence that might still help Moscow in a nuclear exchange today. It would become the chase of a lifetime for San Francisco’s FBI spy hunters.

In this series, we’ll walk you through a maze. One of nuclear spying, technology theft, and double agents, and the too wild-to-be-believed events that placed James Harper at the center of this story.

And you’ll hear that story from James Harper–the Soviet Bloc spy–himself.

Spy Valley is a Project Brazen production. For more fearless storytelling, search for the Brazen channel on Apple Podcasts or visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.

Don’t stay in the dark. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes for Spy Valley and all our shows, as well as ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts. For the latest from Brazen delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters at brazen.fm/newsletters.

Copyright © 2024 Brazen

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

Silicon Valley is an espionage innovator—it has been since its inception. During the dawn of the high-tech age, an engineer named James Harper begins his industrious climb. But as Silicon Valley blossoms into what it is today, so too does the dark side of all this newfound wealth and ambition—right as the cold war reaches its final crescendo.

As Harper works to build his fortune, his ambition endangers his nation’s safety. He sells nuclear secrets to the Soviet Bloc—intelligence that might still help Moscow in a nuclear exchange today. It would become the chase of a lifetime for San Francisco’s FBI spy hunters.

In this series, we’ll walk you through a maze. One of nuclear spying, technology theft, and double agents, and the too wild-to-be-believed events that placed James Harper at the center of this story.

And you’ll hear that story from James Harper–the Soviet Bloc spy–himself.

Spy Valley is a Project Brazen production. For more fearless storytelling, search for the Brazen channel on Apple Podcasts or visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.

Don’t stay in the dark. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes for Spy Valley and all our shows, as well as ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts. For the latest from Brazen delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters at brazen.fm/newsletters.

Copyright © 2024 Brazen
6hr 51min
Thumbnail for "Introducing Spy Valley: An Engineer's Nuclear Betrayal".
One man’s ambition in the technology capital of the world endangers his nation’s safety. During the tensest years of the Cold War, James Harper sells nuclear secrets to the Soviet Bloc—intelligence that might still help Moscow in a nuclear exchange today.
Thumbnail for "Episode 1: A Wilderness of Mirrors".
Silicon Valley becomes a laboratory for hi-tech innovation–and espionage.
Thumbnail for "Episode 2: The Shadow of the Valley of Wealth".
James Harper dips his toes into cold war subterfuge.
Thumbnail for "Episode 3: Get as Much as You Can".
Harper finds love — and nuclear secrets for Moscow.
Thumbnail for "Episode 4: Tinkerers, Traders, Solderers, Spies ".
Harper’s wild spying heyday — and payday.
Thumbnail for "Episode 5: The Doomsday Machine".
Harper schemes to become a double agent for the CIA. But the FBI is on his tail.
Thumbnail for "Episode 6: Crossing the Rubicon".
The vice closes on Harper. But U.S. officials need help from a secret CIA source.
Thumbnail for "Bonus: Caribou: An American Agent in Communist Warsaw with Hanna Kozlowska".
Moles operate right under the nose of their own spy service. What happens when their operation is over?
Thumbnail for "Listen Now—Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen".
Amid the nuclear threat of the Cold War, America's prized secrets were falling into the hands of its sworn enemy—the Kremlin.
Thumbnail for "From SpyCast and Spy Valley: a night at the museum".
At the International Spy Museum, experts discuss James Harper's betrayal and how the tech capital of the world became a hotbed for Soviet Block spies.
Thumbnail for "Live Bonus: Producing Spy Valley".
Go behind the scenes of Spy Valley with award-winning journalist Zach Dorfman as he reveals the journey of a Cold War nuclear spy in Silicon Valley.

Episode 4: Tinkerers, Traders, Solderers, Spies

Thumbnail for "Episode 4: Tinkerers, Traders, Solderers, Spies ".
August 14, 202332min 20sec

Nuclear tensions between Moscow and Washington are reaching a fever pitch. When a desperate James Harper doubles down on spying for the Soviet Bloc, he gets his big payday.  But in a game of double-cross and deception, even your friends start to feel like enemies.

Spy Valley is a Project Brazen production. Subscribe to Brazen+ on Apple Podcasts or at brazen.fm/plus and get exclusive bonus episodes for Spy Valley and all our shows, as well as ad-free listening and early access to new podcasts.

For more fearless storytelling, search for the Brazen channel on Apple Podcasts or visit brazen.fm, home to all our podcasts, documentaries and newsletters. At Brazen, we show you how the world really works – from espionage and corruption to deal-making and organised crime, we’ll take you inside stories from hidden worlds.