The Longform Guide to the CIA
Operations gone wrong, how the media covered for spies, and the story that became Argo — a collection of our favorite articles about the CIA.
The Great Escape
How the CIA used a fake science fiction film to sneak six Americans out of revolutionary Iran. The declassified story that became Ben Affleck’s Argo.
Joshuah Bearman Wired Apr 2007 20min
The CIA and the Media
Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, media outlets including the New York Times and CBS News provided the CIA with information and cover for agents. Then everyone decided to pretend it had never happened.
Carl Bernstein Rolling Stone Oct 1977 55min
Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy
Erik Prince, the boyish CEO of America’s largest and most controversial mercenary force, Blackwater, also happened to be a CIA agent.
Adam Ciralsky Vanity Fair Jan 2010 25min
The Yankee Comandante
The story of William Morgan: American, wanderer, Cuban revolutionary, possible spy.
David Grann New Yorker May 2012 1h25min
Black Ops and Blood Money
When a CIA operation in Pakistan went bad, leaving three men dead, the episode offered a rare glimpse inside a shadowy world of espionage. It also jeopardized America’s most critical outpost in the war against terrorism.
Matthew Teague Men's Journal Jun 2011
The CIA and the Intellectuals
On the CIA’s early operations.
Jason Epstein New York Review of Books Apr 1967
The CIA Burglar Who Went Rogue
A spy takes on his own agency.
David Wise Smithsonian Oct 2012
Top Secret America
A three-part series on the U.S. intelligence system post-9/11.
Apr 1967 – Oct 2012 Permalink
