rant · moment 25 of 25

Post-Interview Debrief: 'Best Interview We've Ever Done'

from Our Best Episode (Inside the CIA with John Kiriakou) · #136

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

6 min

Tim and Ray break down the Kiriakou interview afterward, agreeing it might be their best episode, discussing his earnestness, institutional CIA/FBI rivalry, and wanting the Zero Dark Thirty analyst on the show.

In this bit10 moments
  • 2:16:17Tim calls the interview "the best interview we've ever done."
  • 2:16:34Guest successfully charmed them despite initial intention to criticize him hard.
  • 2:16:53Tim notes how easy it is to win their favor with basic flattery like "good question."
  • 2:17:26Guest didn't watch the five-hour Pearl Harbor documentary that Tim and the co-host have seen.
  • 2:17:49Tim expresses interest in having a conspiracy theorist author on the show to argue with them.
  • 2:18:42Guest is probably only sharing 25% of what he knows, with classification restrictions on the rest.
  • 2:19:07Information about Saudi and Israeli princes being killed was new to Tim.
  • 2:19:58Guest seems like an earnest guy excited to be in Hollywood who'd probably like to sell a screenplay.
  • 2:20:42Tim notes the counterintuitive claim that CIA divisions hated each other rather than cooperating on 9/11.
  • 2:21:05Awkward transition from deep intelligence discussion to promoting his comedy tour dates.
Mentioned here

CIA9/11IranIsraelSaudi ArabiaPearl Harbor

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