16) Is This Freedom

Summary

Summary of "To Die For" - Episode 16: "Is This Freedom"

Podcast Title: To Die For
Host/Author: Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts
Episode: 16) Is This Freedom
Release Date: July 23, 2024

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Introduction

In episode 16, titled "Is This Freedom," host Neil Strauss delves into the gripping and unsettling narrative of Aliya Roza, a self-proclaimed "sex spy" within the Russian intelligence community. This episode explores the dark intersections of espionage, personal trauma, and the quest for autonomy, offering listeners a profound look into the complexities of modern-day sexpionage.

The Terror of a Warlord-Run Nation

Understanding the Power Structure

Aliya Roza provides a chilling depiction of the Russian intelligence framework, likening it to a feudal system dominated by warlords rather than a cohesive nation-state. She explains:

Aliya Roza [02:04]: "As warlords, they are going after their adversaries. It looks like a feudal system of a bunch of fiefdoms trying to take out each other's supply chain and monetary structure. That's kind of scary because this is actually the truth of how this nation state, a world power, is supposedly being run."

Former FBI counterintelligence expert, Robin Drake, corroborates Aliya's insights, emphasizing the chaotic and oppressive nature of this system:

Robin Drake [02:04]: "They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is what they do."

The Descent into Darkness

Isolation and Substance Abuse

After being sent to Moscow for protection, Aliya grapples with intense feelings of guilt and despair. She isolates herself, turning to excessive sleep and eventually substance abuse as mechanisms to cope with her trauma:

Aliya Roza [04:46]: "I felt so much guilt. I felt guilt for Vladimir, I felt guilt for Sasha, I felt guilt for my father that I didn't succeed in my career, I failed."

Her narrative reveals the profound psychological scars left by her experiences, highlighting the internal struggle between her obligations and her yearning for freedom.

A Ray of Hope: The Turning Point

The Vision and Escape

In a moment of near-suicidal despair, Aliya experiences a vivid vision of Vladimir, her former target and now ally, urging her to survive:

Aliya Roza [15:15]: "I saw him sitting next to my bed. And he looked at me and he said, come on, wake up. You have to go, you have to leave. You have to go and live your life."

This vision leads her to contact trusted associates, facilitating her escape from Moscow to Turkey. This pivotal moment marks the beginning of her tentative journey towards healing and autonomy.

Confronting the Past

Unresolved Grief and Public Persona

In Turkey, Aliya uncovers the fates of her abusers, deepening her sense of betrayal and loss. She begins therapy with Emily Machus, a trauma counselor, to address her dissociative coping mechanisms:

Emily Machus [26:34]: "Dissociation is part of her coping mechanism. It's a way that she protected herself most of the time."

Despite her internal struggles, Aliya maintains a public persona of success on social media, which masks her ongoing emotional turmoil:

Aliya Roza [23:58]: "The final story. Yeah, the fairy tale which I create in my illusory world, which actually fucking doesn't exist."

This dichotomy between her public image and private pain underscores the complexities of her recovery journey.

Redefining Heroism and Freedom

Empowerment Through Narrative

Neil Strauss explores the concept of heroism in the context of Aliya's experiences, highlighting that true heroism lies in survival and the courage to share one's story:

Neil Strauss [33:26]: "What is a hero? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story."

Trauma counselor Emily Machus adds depth to this understanding, explaining how reauthoring one's narrative can empower survivors:

Emily Machus [27:49]: "Look at even the way Aliyah was raised by her father in the military. She was raised not to feel, not to be connected, but she was also raised to be the superhero in the story."

Aliya acknowledges the liberation she gains from sharing her story, even as she continues to navigate her fears and vulnerabilities:

Aliya Roza [28:26]: "I feel like it's my armor. And I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot."

Expert Insights and Final Reflections

The Complexity of Totalitarian Influence

Robin Drake provides a critical analysis of the psychological manipulation employed by totalitarian systems, emphasizing the enduring impact on individuals even after physical escape:

Robin Drake [32:18]: "They traumatize you...this is what they do. And that's what she is a product of, of the state."

Neil Strauss concludes the episode by reflecting on the harsh realities of totalitarianism, the non-glamorous nature of sexpionage, and the often unresolved trauma experienced by survivors:

Neil Strauss [33:26]: "Most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete."

He redefines heroism as the act of surviving and sharing one's story, regardless of the imperfections in the healing process.

Conclusion

Episode 16 of "To Die For" offers a raw and unflinching exploration of Aliya Roza's tumultuous journey through the shadows of Russian intelligence, the depths of personal trauma, and the arduous path towards reclaiming her sense of self. Through candid interviews and expert insights, the episode illuminates the nuanced and often painful realities faced by individuals ensnared in the web of sexpionage and totalitarian control. Ultimately, it underscores the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring quest for freedom and identity amidst profound adversity.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Aliya Roza [02:04]: "As warlords, they are going after their adversaries. It looks like a feudal system of a bunch of fiefdoms trying to take out each other's supply chain and monetary structure. That's kind of scary because this is actually the truth of how this nation state, a world power, is supposedly being run."

• Robin Drake [02:04]: "They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is what they do."

• Aliya Roza [04:46]: "I felt so much guilt. I felt guilt for Vladimir, I felt guilt for Sasha, I felt guilt for my father that I didn't succeed in my career, I failed."

• Aliya Roza [15:15]: "I saw him sitting next to my bed. And he looked at me and he said, come on, wake up. You have to go, you have to leave. You have to go and live your life."

• Emily Machus [26:34]: "Dissociation is part of her coping mechanism. It's a way that she protected herself most of the time."

• Neil Strauss [33:26]: "What is a hero? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story."

• Aliya Roza [28:26]: "I feel like it's my armor. And I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot."

These quotes encapsulate the essence of the episode, highlighting the psychological manipulation, personal trauma, and the struggle for autonomy that define Aliya Roza's story.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Every day, our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

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[Caller]

Of To Die for are available now.

[Podcast Host]

To binge absolutely free.

[Caller]

But for ad free listening and exclusive bonuses.

[Podcast Host]

Subscribe to Tenderfoot plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. Warning the following episode contains explicit language and sexual themes. Listener discretion is advised.

[Caller]

This is a scary case. Actually.

[Podcast Host]

Tell me what you mean by that.

[Caller]

This is scary because the implications are pretty profound, I think. So let's assume everything.

[Podcast Host]

This is Robin Drake, who spent 22 years working Russian counterintelligence for the FBI. You heard from him in the first episode of this podcast. I've circled back to get his thoughts from an intelligence perspective on what he's heard so far.

[Caller]

Let's assume everything Alia has said is true. That would mean that this country is won by warlords, that each one of these generals is a fiefdom under themselves, and they're all serving the greater warlord, Putin. And they each have their cadre of enforcers that are in uniform, that are under state kind of control. I'm only analyzing the information she provided. But they're not as a nation state trying to counter drugs. They as warlords are going after their adversaries. And if it's a general that's at the top of yours, that means the general on the top of another. So in other words, this to me looks like a feudal system of a bunch of fiefdoms trying to take out each other's supply chain and monetary structure. That's kind of scary if you think about it. This is actually the truth of how this nation state, a world power, is supposedly being run. So it's either one or the other. Either Xi's making all this up, or this country is a country of warlords.

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I have to kill you.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I'm really sorry. I have to do it. I go on my own.

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You didn't guess the behind.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I was holding my gun.

[Cheap Caribbean Vacations Representative]

I got you, I tell you. I had to kill you.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Was it so much fun?

[Podcast Host]

Episode 16 Chapter 33 Downward Spiral.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

He put me into the car. I drove away. And I felt like something died inside of me. I felt like I just lost him forever. But I was trying to tell myself, no, no, no, I will see him again. But it didn't feel like I will really see him again.

[Podcast Host]

Alia had just left the home of Vladimir, her former target and now her ally. He was sending her to Moscow for the time being to hide out until it was safe. She had no idea how long that would be and whether or when she'd hear from the general.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

She met with the driver. He drove me to Moscow and he opened their apartment for me. Quite like small, but very clean and nice apartment. The driver brought me some food and then he left. And I remember I just. I just wanted to sleep. I think I slept like a few days straight. I woke up, I drank some water, and I just went back to bed. And I was just sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. Recovering, you know, sleep is the best recovering medicine. I just wanted to forget everything. I was thinking about Vladimir a lot, about what he's done for me, about Cornell and about, you know, my former commander. And I didn't go out for like a few days. And then at some point, life was starting to come back to me. And I was wondering what's happening outside? And I decided to go out just to buy some food, buy some newspapers. It was a dark time. I knew that I couldn't contact anyone, but I thought, if I will contact one person, wouldn't be bad.

[Podcast Host]

Aliyah decided to contact an old high school classmate of hers who had moved to Moscow.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I was just alone, lonely and bored.

[Podcast Host]

Her friend invited her to a party, and against her better judgment, Alia decided to go.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I knew I couldn't do it, but yet I did it. And I remember, like, first time for, like, so long. I saw so many people in one place, and it was so weird. There were, like, access to drugs everywhere.

[Podcast Host]

Despite everything she'd seen, Alia quickly found herself swept into this culture of drugs. It wasn't because she didn't know how they ruined lives. It was because she did.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

And then at some point, I just couldn't understand why the Week just was gone in one day. It was just like only one scene. Club, dog dancing, drugs, alcohol. And it just was like nonstop. And then you come back to the reality and you cannot accept it again and you just go back. I think that time I felt so much guilt. I felt guilt for Vladimir, I felt guilt for Sasha, I felt guilt for my father that I didn't succeed in my career, I failed. The feeling of guilt, it was so deep inside of me that I just couldn't handle it. And I just thought that moment that maybe this will help me to stop this pain when I try, that I don't understand people when they become drug addict because they have so much pain inside of them, so much so they. They just cannot handle it in a normal life. It's like too much everything. What Vladimir told me about the big life and the big world, I didn't see it. And I was still waiting. Maybe he will come and he will know what to do. Because I was completely lost. Completely.

[Podcast Host]

Unfortunately, Iliyah never saw Vladimir again.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

So his driver, his friend, he called me. He said, do you know what happened? Said like, no, I didn't know what was happening. I stopped even reading newspapers and I was just in another world. And I asked him, what's happening? Do you know anything about Vladimir? And he said, well, he said, he is. He's dead. And for quite a long time I was. I was silenced. He's like, are you okay? Are you okay? And I asked, what, what happened? How? And he said, I don't know a lot of details, but he was murdered. And I don't know how and where. I just wanted to tell you so, you know. And I said, when is the funeral? And he's like, well, it will be soon, like in a couple days, but you can't come here. Don't even think about doing that. And he switch off the phone and I couldn't even cry, you know, it was almost like they lost my hope of the future. The last, my connection with the past, it was just gone with him. I found some newspapers, but they wrote like, in a very, like, facts kind of thing. So and so was killed at this place that said. And I just took some drugs just to escape because I felt even more guilty. I felt like, now it's time for me to leave the world. I felt so disgusting that I'm not allowed to leave.

[Podcast Host]

Leah soon fell sick. A combination of the psychological toll of Vladimir's murder and the physical toll of her lifestyle.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I have a very high fever. I couldn't walk. It Was something really bad. I thought, like, this is the time when I may finally die. Like, I felt death so close to me, and I was thinking about my parents, and you know what? I decided to call them. My mom remembers that call still now. She sounded really sad. And I said, mom, that's me. I just wanted to tell you that I really, really love you. And I. I want to apologize for everything, like, everything I've done. And I just tried to do my best. And he said, oh, my God, you sound so sick. Like, where are you? What's going on? I said, like, tell my dad that I'm really sorry for everything. And I think this would be my last call. So I just wanted to tell you that I love you and thank you for giving me this life. That's it. And I switch over the phone, I thought, like, oh, this is just absolutely pointless life, you know, I live a pointless life. So I. I took the razor blade. I didn't even, like, write a letter, whatever. They said, oh, sometimes they write a letter, you know, I didn't do anything like that. I just took the laser and just cut my wrist. I thought, okay, so now I can be free. This is my freedom now. This is the end of my suffer, of my guilt, of my negative experience. And at some point, I just fainted. I woke up, I looked at my wrist, and either I didn't do the deep cut, either. My blood, it dried so fast. So I saw blood on the floor, on my hand, but in my hand, the blood stopped bleeding.

[Podcast Host]

Somewhere in the state of being half awake and half asleep, half alive and half dead, Aleeyah saw a vision that to her seemed very real. It was Vladimir.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

And I saw him sitting next to my bed. And he looked at me and he said, come on, wake up. You have to go, you have to leave. You have to go and live your life. And he told me, do you remember? I gave you all these numbers. Call them. They will organize for you everything. Call them. And he was saying it like, come on, stand up. You have to go. You have bigger goals, bigger mission. And he just disappeared. The next morning when I woke up, I found a note with all these numbers, all these addresses, names, everything. Switzerland, Italy, France, Turkey, Greece. His friends, people, he relied on them, he trusted them. And I called one number, and I said that I'm from Vladimir. And I asked for the help. And then they arranged everything. So I fly away. First country was Turkey. And I had the time, Russian passport, so it was very convenient and easier to fly to Turkey first. I wanted to Find the light in this dark tunnel. And Vladimir showed me that light. And I stopped doing drugs or alcohol just like that. In one day. Where I am right now, it's thanks to him, you know, he pushed me and he didn't let me die. Seriously, I feel this way.

[Podcast Host]

While Alia was in Turkey, she discovered the fate of her former superiors, the Colonel and the commander who assaulted her and abused her and sent her to die.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

So both of them, the colonel and my previous commander, they got retired and it was quite quick. After the whole operation was finished. Usually if you do something bad while your career, but not too bad, then they just rid of you. Like, okay, so here is your pension, here is your retirement. Good luck. And it gives me understanding that they obviously lost the income of the bribery and they the power which they had while they had high rank.

[Narrator]

Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Caller]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Narrator]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. Amica Empathy is our best policy with.

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[Podcast Host]

Chapter 34 Fairy Tale Endings.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

So 9th of July in 2004, according to Regnome Media, with a few shots to the neck and the head, the criminal leader, which is in Russian called Savtari Tetra, 44 years old, Vladimir Kostin were shot about 11pm near to the preschool.

[Podcast Host]

Elia Rosa is reading an article on the death of Vladimir. It's still a mystery what happened, but she believes that his former partner and friend had something to do with it. There are a lot of unanswered questions left at the end of Alia's story, so I ask her about a few of them. In the last episode we discussed your meeting with the General and him saying, take a rest. I have some other missions and things for you, and the story got a little squirrely there. But now that we're talking together, I wanted to get your answer to what happened there.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I. Okay, so I still, you know, like, I still scared. I mean, I was scared a lot of times when I was there, but this was the most scariest meeting in my life because you I that time and even now, I kind of like, you know, like them. Power of the person.

[Podcast Host]

Aliyah seems to be struggling here. I try to ask again what really happened at that meeting with the general, why she was allowed to leave the country, whether he had new assignments for her, and whether she escaped the system, and how. For the next half hour, I struggled to get a clear and direct answer that makes sense. I'm not sure if something is lost in the translation or if there's something she's hiding. And it turns out there is.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Am I free now? Am I free now? Like, I don't know where is the guarantee they will not, like, do anything to me or my son? And I have this thought every moment I leave. Is it a freedom? No.

[Podcast Host]

I ask Aleeya why she doesn't feel free and if there's anything she's had to do since.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

My general, my new commander, the unofficial commander, gave me a new task to become whom I never wanted to be. And it was low to my pride and betrayed to my body and my soul. But I don't want to end up on this note because it's such a. It's like breaking every hope for every person who listened to it that the life is not what, like, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Alia trails off here. It's clear that she's conflicted. She wants to be the hero of her own story. And she is. Just for starters, she's here and she survived it. But it's a different kind of hero than perhaps her father raised her to be. This desire to give her story a happy ending for the audience helps explain who she's become today. Throughout this podcast, some listeners have written in struggling to reconcile the story she's telling with her social media presence, which portrays a lot of red carpets, expensive sports cars, paparazzi, fame and glamour. She wants, she likes everybody to see the success. The success.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

The final story. Yeah, the fairy tale which I create in my. In my illusory world, which actually fucking doesn't exist. I pretend the Instagram is just all for me. It's like I look at it and I feel better. I want to believe that this is the result which I created for myself.

[Podcast Host]

Do you think part of that illusion also is not just for you, but like showing your dad that even though I didn't choose this path, look at me and look at my life to.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

My dad, of course, to show him that without military and without following your order, I still pretend that I'm successful because I feel. I feel like it's my armor. And I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot. I don't have power enough to be open and live in real world because it scares me a lot.

[Podcast Host]

Let me pause. Is it okay if I call Emily or you've been working with therapeutically, so if I kind of loop her in on this discussion? Yes. Okay. Hey, Emily, are you there?

[Emily Machus]

Yeah, I am.

[Podcast Host]

So as I'm sitting here sort of unpacking stuff with Aleeyah, I just thought I'd sort of bring you in and get some thoughts.

[Emily Machus]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

What I'm learning as I talk to Aaliyah more is the happy ending isn't. Exactly. How would you put Aaliyah? The happy ending isn't.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

There is no happy ending. To be honest.

[Podcast Host]

At this point, I've spent a year and a half with Aaliyah and unpacked her story, not just with Emily Machus, the trauma counselor we're speaking with now, but with Russian intelligence sources and experts. And I could go over it point by point and share what the FBI says was believable, what the CIA says was credible, and so on. But I think we could do that with any story. Every true crime podcast is a collection of narratives that we're trying to pick the best path through. And I think the path that is best to take with Aaliyah, given everything we've heard, is a trauma informed one. People see Aaliyah's Instagram and they think of it from an influencer point of view. But I'm curious, what does it look like from a trauma point of view?

[Emily Machus]

Part is dissociation. It's part of her coping mechanism and what she it was. And it's involuntary and detachment from reality at times. And it's a way that she protected herself and most of the time is.

[Podcast Host]

And conscious with that dissociation. When we experience trauma, some of us want to feel like it doesn't define us, that we're not victims, that we winners, winners.

[Emily Machus]

Trauma does affect the way we perceive ourselves, the way we act and react because it affected our brain, it affected our nervous system. When you look at dissociation is part of the fight flight response. It's even your memory that can be affected.

[Podcast Host]

I start to understand as Emily speaks that after surviving such a disempowering experience, there's a need to find a way to empower ourselves through our narrative. As the author Isak Dinesen once said, all sorrows can be born if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.

[Emily Machus]

And look at even the way Aliyah was raised by her father in the military. She was raised not to feel, not to be connected, but she was also raised to be the superhero in the story. I just want to remind you, Alia, that you can change your past. You can't, but you can change the narrative of the story. But you are a superhero in your life story.

[Podcast Host]

What are your thoughts on that?

[Amica Insurance Representative]

I was thinking that I think this podcast actually gave me freedom because first time in life I started to feel. I felt a strong guilt, I felt anger, I felt hate, I felt pain. And then I started to feel love. I started to not to be ashamed of my vulnerability. And first time in life I noticed that I started to be open to people in general and men especially. And it's very scary. Like it's so many fears that I don't know if I can handle it. But I take a deep breath and try to move on and not to close my heart and continue feeling, which is so hard.

[Narrator]

Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Caller]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Amica Insurance Representative]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Narrator]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. Amica Empathy is our best policy with.

[Cheap Caribbean Vacations Representative]

The best all inclusive vacation deals to Mexico and the Caribbean. Booking your getaway with cheap Caribbean vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling, endless margaritas and more, or simply soak up the sun and sand in a tropical paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that plan and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive budget beach Finder. Or find a featured all inclusive package to Oasis Hotels and Resorts and do your [e-mail].

[Podcast Host]

EPILOGUE A Russian Story so I just called to ask, what are your thoughts now that you've heard the rest of Aaliyah's story?

[Caller]

It took me on a journey, really. And the journey that it brought me on was the conclusion that she is a product of a father who's part of the state she was recruited and or volunteered into the state system. Her context is then shattered tragically with abuse and rape. And then put into this odd school of sparrow training. Because that is just as we've said before. Was that a real school? Was it a state sponsored school? Or was it a bunch of dirty old men that were justifying their actions on behalf of the state as an excuse? Could be. All therein lies the Russian state at its bedrock.

[Podcast Host]

This is Robin Trigg again, former Chief of the FBI's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis program.

[Caller]

They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is the case where they give you a little bit of love bombing. We love you. You're great, you're awesome. And then they beat on you, beat on you, beat on you, beat on you. And then the beatings become more and the love becomes less. And then you get addicted to that One time out of a million. You might get a kind word or a promotion or a good posting from someone or maybe even not being traumatized tonight by someone. This is what they do. And that's what she is a product of, of the state. It's pretty profound that she was able to do what she did to rescue herself. The amount of bravery she had to start recognizing, Basically it's the matrix, you know, that I have to get myself out of this matrix. And that's where therapy comes in and that's where rescuing ourselves from the trauma, with the great healthy relationships we can forge around us and get that narrative and that story out there for people to see.

[Podcast Host]

What is a hero? Is it Black Widow? Is it Red Sparrow? Is it James Bond? When I first sat down with Alia, that's the type of story I imagined hearing. And I think that's the type of story Alia imagined telling. But real life is not so clear cut. And I learned through this process at least three things I will never forget. The first is that life in a totalitarian system, whether it's a country or one's own family, is a prisoner with bars made of fear and duty. And even if we manage to escape physically, it's much harder to escape psychologically. The second is that sexpionage is anything but sexy. The third is that most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete.

[Caller]

All these things in here do happen, and these are the tragic results of them.

[Podcast Host]

So what is a hero in this case and so many others? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story. Their story and what is healing it's being heard. So thank you for listening To Die for is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with iHeart podcasts. The show is hosted and written by me, Neil Strauss, with additional writing assistance by Tristan Bankston. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. Lead producer and editor is Tristan Bankston. Additional editing by Myles Clark and Christian Brown. Supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Consultants include Nooshin Felizadeh, Chelsea Gooden and Jamie Albright. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set mixed and mastered by Dayton Cole. Our theme song is Killer Shangri La by Psychotic Beats featuring Patty Amour. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA Eck Media and Marketing Oren Siegel, Becky Jensen, the Nord Group, Meredith Stedman, Rose Baruch and Alex Vespested. Thanks also to our additional guests. Robin Dreeck, author of the upcoming book Unbreakable Alliances, A spy Recruiter's Authoritative Guide to Cultivating powerful and lasting Connections Alex Finley, author of the Victor Caro series Dr. David Lewis, author of Triumph of the How Two Men Hypnotized Hitler and Change the World Dr. Joel Dimmesdale, author of Dark A History of Brainwashing From Pavlov to Social Media Professor Mark Galeotti, author of Precosian Putin and the New Fight for the Future of Russia Mark Hollingsworth, author of Agents of How the KGB Subverted Western Democracies Dr. Ian Garner, author of Z Generation into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth Robert J. Lifton, author of Surviving Our Resilience and Renewal From Hiroshima to the COVID 19 pandemic Amy Knight, author of the Kremlin's Putin's Bitter Feud with the Oligarch who Made Him Ruler of Russia Yuri Felchinsky, author of From Red Terror to Terrorist Russia's Secret Service and Its Fight for world domination Dr. Joe Serio, author of Being 50 Lessons on Leaving Chronic Stress Behind Holly McKay, author of the Dictator's Wife Emily Machus, author of the Naked Truth of a the Path to My Authentic Self Luke Harding, author of the Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival and Svetlana Stevenson, author of Crossing the Vagrancy, Homelessness and Social Displacement in Russia Federico Varese, author of Mafia Love, Death and the Money at the Heart of Organized Crime and Matt Tipton Army Ranger veteran and internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons.

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Response wow, that was a very Russian.

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