The Enlightened Dirtbags Podcast

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre, is a stunning account of Oleg Gordievsky's work as a double agent for MI6.

Macintyre takes the political, historical, and cultural situation of the Cold War and writes a captivating true narrative of Gordievsky's almost unbelievable contribution to global security. #Books #Reading #Espionage #SpyCraft #ColdWar #Russia #SovietUnion #Enlightened...

Marching Powder, by Rusty Young, is The Astonishing Real-life Story of a Brit Drug Smuggler Banged Up in Bolivia's Most Notorious Jail.

Thomas McFadden was busted for attempting to smuggle 5 kilos of cocaine out of Bolivia, and Marching Power is Thomas's story of surviving and thriving in San Pedro prison.

Listen to the Enlightened Dirtbags discuss the funny, depressing, and stunning details of life inside San Pedro prison.

#Books ...

Paul Rusesabagina, hotel manger is a hero of the Rwandan Genocide. Rusesabagina housed over 1,200 refugees in the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the 100-day genocide. The genocide resulted in the atrocious murders of an estimated 800,000 people.

An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography is Rusesabagina's personal story of growing up and becoming a hotel manger in Kigali, and persevering during the Rwandan Civil War and Genocide.

Amaryllis Fox is ex-CIA, advanced operations. She spent the later part of her tenure working as a spy under "non-official cover" recruiting assets and infiltrating terrorist organizations. Fox's book, Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA recounts her experience as a young, female agent and as a new mother while deep undercover.

Listen in for The Enlightened Dirtbags' review of Amaryllis Fox's Life Undercover.

#CIA #Spy #Un...

Runaway Devil: How Forbidden Love Drove a 12-Year-Old to Murder Her Family (2009) is a true to life story about Jasmine Richardson and her boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke murdering Jasmine's parents and 8-year-old brother in 2006 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Written by Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose, Runaway Devil is not for the passive reader. Reading this book might f*** you up. In this episode, the Enlightened Dirtbags s...

Mark Eglinton is a Scottish author who tells us to “delete everything you know about John McAfee.” McAfee, well-known for creating the anti-virus software company McAfee Associates, is a math prodigy, a former libertarian presidential candidate, and an on again off again on again drug user with a self-described excellent “sense of impending doom.” No Domain: The John McAfee Tapes (2021) is Eglinton’s transcribed Skype conversations...

Welcome to Season Two of the Enlightened Dirtbags podcast. Version II (Dylan Knapp) and Jonah Kondro have eight Crime and Conspiracy themed books, one for each episode. In the Preface to Season Two, the Dirtbags introduce the books as well as share what they’ve been reading outside of the podcast.

Contact the Enlightened Dirtbags on Instagram @enlightened_dirtbag and @jonahkondro. They want to know what you’re reading and what you...

In the season finale of the Enlightened Dirtbags podcast, Version II (Dylan Knapp) and Jonah Kondro read and review both Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Mark Richardson’s Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (2008). Pirsig is an American writer and philosopher, and Richardson is a Canadian journalist and writer. Listen to the ep...

Hunter S. Thompson is an American journalist and writer. He’s famed for spawning gonzo journalism and for riding with the notorious California motorcycle club, the Hell’s Angels. In the ‘60s Thompson spent a year with the Angles and published Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Sage (1967). Version II and Jonah review Thompson’s book and have a broader discussion about their encounters with full-patch members.

The Enlightened Dir...

Ted Simon is a British journalist and writer. In 1973 he left on his first motorcycle trip around the world on a Triumph Tiger 100, and in 2001 he left on his second motorcycle trip around the world on a BMW R80GS. He published Jupiter’s Travels (1979) about his first circumnavigation of the globe and Dreaming of Jupiter (2007) after his second. The Enlightened Dirtbags read both books and in this episode talk and compare Simon’s m...

In the early ‘80s Elspeth Beard, an architecture student, set out on a BMW R60/6 for a two-year motorcycle trip. She published her tape recordings and travel journals as Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World (2018). In this episode of the podcast, Version II and Jonah discuss their thoughts on Beard’s written account of her trip around the world and give the book their octane rating.

The Enlightened Dir...

Robert Edison Fulton, Jr. is an American inventor, photographer, and adventurer. One Man Caravan (1937) is Fulton, Jr.’s account of riding a Douglas Twin motorcycle around the world during the interwar years. Throughout the trip he filmed and photographed his travels and, after publishing a book, released a film about riding around the world. In this episode, Version II and Jonah talk about Fulton, Jr.'s book and share their octane...

In 1952 Alberto Granado and Ernesto “Che” Guevara set out on a motorcycle adventure. Sharing the seat of Alberto’s Norton 500, the two medical students rode throughout South America. Che Guevara’s travel journals would later become published as The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey (1993). In this episode of the podcast, Version II and Jonah talk about Che’s Diaries and share the octane rating they’ve given the ...

Richard Hammond is a TV host, writer, and motorcyclist. You’ll likely know him from the infamous trio of car guys from the shows Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Hammond is a well-known motorcyclist and motorcycle enthusiast, and he wrote A Short History of the Motorcycle (2016). In this episode of the podcast the Enlightened Dirtbags review Hammond’s motorcycle book and give it their octane rating.

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This is the Enlightened Dirtbags Podcast. In the first episode Version II (Dylan Knapp) and Jonah Kondro introduce themselves and their reading list for the first season of their new book podcast. Each episode features a different book, and the co-hosts discuss what they’ve read. Version II and Jonah have a passion for riding motorcycles. So it only made sense that the books they read for the first season are all about motorcycles....