Weaponized Immigrants 🔪 Radio War Nerd
Gary Brecher and Mark Ames had me on Radio War Nerd to talk about about the new mini-series I launched last week: an investigation into the history and origins of America’s propaganda machine — and the central role that weaponized immigrants, including people from my own Soviet Jewish community, play in it. I also talk a bit about growing up with petty crime and gangsterism in the Russian and Soviet immigrant community of San Francisco in the 1990s.
Give it a listen — although I think you have to be a subscriber. So subscribe if you can!
I’m finishing up the first installment of my new mini-series right now and hope to have it out this weekend.
It’s gonna focus on the creation of the CIA’s “Radio Liberation from Bolshevism” — which grew into the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty global, multi-spectrum media outlet that it is today. Aside from the history of the radio station itself, which was created with the specific goal of weaponizing Soviet immigrants against the Soviet Union, I’m going to focus on the story of one of the radio station’s early stars: a Soviet Nazi collabo bard and comedian named Leonid, who’ll even get to a play a role in a Hollywood film thanks to his CIA connections.
Here’s Leonid entertaining some CIA-appointed Radio Liberty executives out in Munich.
Look for the newsletter to drop soon. And, if you haven’t already, subscribe!
—Yasha Levine
In the meantime, catch up on some old reading:
Sign up for Immigrants as a Weapon. You won’t regret it! And check out the archive.