App Store

Google Play

Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Step into an infinite world of stories

Listen and read

SPYSCAPE

A History of the World in Spy Objects

The Enigma Machine. The B2 stealth bomber. The poisoned-tipped umbrella. Napoleon’s Briefcase of Secrets. As long as there has been conflict, there have been spies, and as long as there have been spies, there have been incredible gadgets and iconic objects. These are the stories of the tools that power the world of espionage. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing: A History of the World in Spy Objects

What connects the radical 20th century painter Jackson Pollock and the CIA? 
More than you’d think. 
Artist Daniel Arsham and host Alice Loxton share the surprising secret history of Pollock’s 1949 masterpiece, Number 8. 
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Arsham: Jackson Pollock, Number 8

What was the sharp pain that Georgi Markov felt in his ankle as he crossed London’s Waterloo Bridge one day?
Spoiler: it doesn’t end well for Georgi. Designer Thomas Heatherwick and host Alice Loxton tell the sad tale of a Bulgarian dissident’s encounter with one of the most notorious tools of spycraft.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Heatherwick: Poison-Tipped Umbrella

How can a button save your life? 
It depends on who your tailor is.
Military history expert Lynette Nusbacher and host Alice Loxton discuss an ingenious piece of covert pathfinding technology, designed for RAF pilots stranded behind enemy lines in World War Two.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lynette Nusbacher: Button Compass

For how long could you keep a secret?
In the case of Joan Bright Astley, the answer was ‘To the grave.’ Acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz and host Alice Loxton offer up a gift from the real-life Miss Moneypenny – a formidable woman who protected the secrets of the notorious Special Operations Executive for as long as she lived.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Horowitz: Joan Bright Astley’s Inner Circle

How much depended on breaking Enigma’s code?
Mathematician James Grime and host, Alice Loxton peer beneath the hood of one of the most storied inventions in military history: the near-unbreakable Enigma Machine, used by German military throughout World War II as a means of protecting critical communications.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Grime: Enigma Machine

How many secrets weigh 1500 lbs, cost $100 million, and travel at 600 mph?
Only one that we can think of. Acclaimed actor Jason Isaacs and host Alice Loxton take us inside the cockpit of Northrop Grumman’s legendary B-2 Spirit – the iconic stealth bomber that epitomized late Cold War ingenuity.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Isaacs: B-2 Spirit

What does it take to betray your country?
Less than you might think. Dr. Elizabeth Bruton and host, Alice Loxton, break down the surprisingly humble tool kit of one of the most destructive espionage networks in British history – the Portland Spy Ring.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Bruton: Portland Spy Ring Ephemera

To whom do retired spies turn after the collapse of their mission?
Los Angeles’ Wende Museum holds one of the most impressive Cold War collections in the world – and has become something of an amnesty box for old agents seeking to preserve a piece of their former lives. The Wende’s director Justin Jampol and host Alice Loxton explore highlights from the collection and peer into the history of tradecraft.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Jampol: Wende Museum Artefacts

What did George Orwell and the CIA have in common?
Perhaps more than the great socialist writer would have cared to admit. The groundbreaking visual artist Daniel Arsham and host Alice Loxton bring us inside the CIA-sponsored production of Animal Farm.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Arsham: Animal Farm Cels

How does the old spy regard himself, when he’s left alone with his thoughts?
The answer to this question can be found in the aborted memoir of one of the most notorious traitors in history: Kim Philby. Screenwriter Alexander Cary and host Alice Loxton unpick the inner workings of a complicated spy.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series produced by Alex Burnard, Morgan Childs, Claire Crofton, Joe Foley, Frank Palmer, Kellie Redmond and Isabel Sutton. Music by Nick Ryan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexander Cary: Kim Philby Papers

Listen and read

Other podcasts you might like ...