Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The betrayal of George Blake. Try brilliant.org/Newsthink and get 20% off your annual premium subscription.
I highly recommend Spies, Lies, and Exile: The Extraordinary Story of Russian Double Agent George Blake by Simon Kuper
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/5YNf9PM
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/20gEY7e
Amazon CA: https://a.co/d/3DAgZtS
Video of Klaus Fuchs: youtu.be/KpuBYvWY2ig
Chapters:
0:00 Escape from Wormwood Scrubs
0:34 The Perfect British Spy
1:20 Childhood Identity Crisis in Cairo
2:02 Bombs, Resistance, and War
3:00 Recruited by MI6
3:36 Seoul, War, and Capture
4:29 The Choice That Changed Everything
5:11 Release from Captivity
5:32 The Spy Inside MI6
6:44 The Berlin Tunnel Betrayal
7:45 The Mole Is Discovered
9:04 Today’s Sponsor: Brilliant
10:08 Interrogation and a Shocking Confession
11:07 The Sentence
12:46 Life in Prison
13:10 The Greatest Prison Escape
15:12 Disappointing Life in Moscow
16:43 The Happy Traitor
Sources:
Korea prisoners of war memorial: Dsdugan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea: Lazyhawk, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
MI6 building at 2 Carlton Gardens: 1-2 Carlton Gardens by Stephen Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
1955 London bus on the road: Ben Brooksbank / Highgate High Street: NW at South Grove, 1955
1949 London street corner: Sba2 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Berlin spy tunnel: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Palace of Westminster: Eluveitie, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Tbmurray, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wormwood Scrubs prison in London: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Moscow, winter 1964: Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
English tea with milk: Mark Hillary, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBBC building: Alexander Svensson, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Christmas pudding: James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Rotterdam panorama: Massimo Catarinella, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
London panorama: Diliff, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Moscow’s Alley of Heroes: Александровы АГ, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The betrayal of George Blake. Try brilliant.org/Newsthink and get 20% off your annual premium subscription.
I highly recommend Spies, Lies, and Exile: The Extraordinary Story of Russian Double Agent George Blake by Simon Kuper
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/5YNf9PM
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/20gEY7e
Amazon CA: https://a.co/d/3DAgZtS
Video of Klaus Fuchs: youtu.be/KpuBYvWY2ig
Chapters:
0:00 Escape from Wormwood Scrubs
0:34 The Perfect British Spy
1:20 Childhood Identity Crisis in Cairo
2:02 Bombs, Resistance, and War
3:00 Recruited by MI6
3:36 Seoul, War, and Capture
4:29 The Choice That Changed Everything
5:11 Release from Captivity
5:32 The Spy Inside MI6
6:44 The Berlin Tunnel Betrayal
7:45 The Mole Is Discovered
9:04 Today’s Sponsor: Brilliant
10:08 Interrogation and a Shocking Confession
11:07 The Sentence
12:46 Life in Prison
13:10 The Greatest Prison Escape
15:12 Disappointing Life in Moscow
16:43 The Happy Traitor
Sources:
Korea prisoners of war memorial: Dsdugan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea: Lazyhawk, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
MI6 building at 2 Carlton Gardens: 1-2 Carlton Gardens by Stephen Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
1955 London bus on the road: Ben Brooksbank / Highgate High Street: NW at South Grove, 1955
1949 London street corner: Sba2 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Berlin spy tunnel: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Palace of Westminster: Eluveitie, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Tbmurray, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wormwood Scrubs prison in London: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Moscow, winter 1964: Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
English tea with milk: Mark Hillary, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBBC building: Alexander Svensson, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Christmas pudding: James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Rotterdam panorama: Massimo Catarinella, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
London panorama: Diliff, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Moscow’s Alley of Heroes: Александровы АГ, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
