S10 Ep44: A Spy at War with Charles Beaumont

About this episode

Charles Beaumont discusses his experiences as an MI6 officer and the themes of his novel A Spy at War, particularly in relation to the Ukraine War and Russian disinformation.

Charles Beaumont spent years as an MI6 officer running human sources before turning to fiction—and his second novel, A Spy at War, carries the authority of someone who has actually done the work. Set against the early days of the Ukraine War in 2022, the book maps the architecture of Russian disinformation: corruption narratives seeded into sympathetic media, useful idiots at senior policy levels, and the Chechen enforcers whose own histories implicate Moscow in the violence that built Putin's state. His conversation with Matt covers the CIA-SIS pre-invasion intelligence coup, the fracturing transatlantic alliance, and the Global South's soft-power vacuum—arriving at a conclusion that is harder to dismiss with every passing month: that this war won't be decided in the Donbas, but in the battle for Western public opinion, a battle the West is still not sure it's fighting.Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, global issues, and current affairs.Order A Spy at War and Charles’s first novel, A Spy Alone: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/259672/charles-beaumont/Follow Charles on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aspyalone.bsky.socialPlease share this…

People in this episode

Host: Matt

Guest: Charles Beaumont

Topics covered

• espionage
• disinformation
• Ukraine War
• intelligence
• public opinion
• global issues

Keywords

• MI6
• CIA
• SIS
• Ukraine War
• disinformation
• public opinion
• Charles Beaumont

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MI6, CIA, SIS

Books & works: A Spy at War, A Spy Alone

Places: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Donbas

More episodes of Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs

• Iran, China, and the New Middle East with Ahmed Aboudouh from Chatham House · June 11, 2026 · 49 min
• S10 Ep48: Think Like a Spy: What Intelligence Work Really Teaches About People | Julian Fisher · June 6, 2026 · 1h 9m
• S10 Ep47: A Rich Harvest of Bitter Fruit : CIA, MI6, and Covert Action in Cold War Albania with Stephen Long · June 4, 2026 · 54 min
• S10 Ep46: Espresso Martini | Gabbard Resigns, Trump Meets Xi, and China's Capitol Hill Spy Pitch · May 31, 2026 · 1h 17m
• S10 Ep45: America’s War Powers Crisis with Brian Finucane · May 23, 2026 · 59 min
• No show on Saturday 9th May. We will return on 16th May. Chris has some episode recommendations from our back catalogue · May 8, 2026 · 1 min