About this episode

This episode explores the influence of Soviet spy fiction on the imagination of Vladimir Putin and the KGB's role in shaping narratives during the Cold War.

This is one of Spionpodden’s more unusual journeys into the intelligence world. Not through secret meetings or hidden microphones. But through spy fiction. Can a novel become an intelligence tool? Can a secret police service write itself into the imagination of a nation? KGB - Literati opens a forgotten Cold War battlefield: Soviet spy fiction written by active or former KGB officers. Stories where the Chekist was noble. The West was corrupt. The dissident was suspect. And the homeland was always under siege. One young reader of these romantic KGB stories was Vladimir Putin. The Soviet Union collapsed. But did the mythology of the KGB ever really disappear? From Chekist Stories to Putin’s Russia, from literature to disinformation and digital influence — this episode asks: If espionage steals secrets… what does influence steal? Guest: Professor Filip Kovacevic — scholar of Soviet and Russian intelligence history and author of KGB Literati. A podcast by Mikael Hylin Music: Anton Fossum-Hylin Cover design: Sebastian Frye Cover image: Emblem of the KGB. Wikimedia Commons Friskrivningsklausul: De berättelser, fakta, åsikter och synpunkter som presenteras i denna podcast är uteslutande…

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