The Gift of Giving
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Michael Isikoff
12 min read
Isikoff is mentioned as a contributing writer to SpyTalk. He's an investigative journalist known for breaking major stories including the Monica Lewinsky scandal and reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 election - directly relevant to SpyTalk's intelligence beat.
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GivingTuesday
13 min read
The article is explicitly a Giving Tuesday appeal. Readers may not know the history of this global generosity movement that started in 2012 as a response to commercialized shopping days after Thanksgiving.
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Open-source intelligence
11 min read
The article discusses intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI) and describes intelligence as 'machinery running silently beneath' policy. OSINT represents how publications like SpyTalk operate at the intersection of public information and intelligence analysis.
Hi there. I don't know about you, but when I fork over a few bucks to a worthy person or cause, I feel a lot better about myself. That’s just the way it works. The recipient may be a homeless person hanging out at the 7-11. Or a valiant medical group braving savage Russian missiles in Ukraine. Or, closer to home, a worthy publication here on Substack. Most of them, like SpyTalk, are virtually shoestring operations that have something to say that I deem worthy of my support, no matter that some days I feel overwhelmed by so many.
SpyTalk launched in the summer of 2020 with lofty expectations, that we had something worthy to offer from—as we often say—the intersection of intelligence, foreign policy and military operations. It’s been a remarkable success.
What is “intelligence”? It’s the machinery running silently beneath an administration’s initiatives around the globe. Think of it as the hidden apps running inside your laptop or phone—critical to their functioning but unseen. Sometimes, as so often in present circumstances, the views of well seasoned experts at the CIA, NSA and FBI are ignored. But they’re always imbedded somewhere in the conduct of foreign affairs and military deployments. And that’s our beat, here in our daily reports or our weekly podcasts.
We’ve had a great run, but remain entirely dependent on the kindness of strangers—which is to say you, Dear Readers. The revenue from your paid subscriptions comes in one door and quickly out another, to our highly accomplished contributing writers and editors, people like Michael Isikoff, Karen J. Greenberg, Peter Eisner, Jonathan Broder, Yossi Melman, John Dinges, Gus Russo, Adam Zagorin and so many more. Without you, we simply wouldn’t exist.
With more of your support, we could do so much more. So before the clock strikes midnight on this Giving Tuesday, please do consider becoming a SpyTalk sustainer, either through a monthly or annual subscription, or even a generous Founders Circle donation.
You won’t be sorry. You’ll actually feel good. But you know that. The gift of giving gives back.
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