Mission Implausible

Mission Implausible

Do you want to know the truth behind the world’s wildest conspiracy theories? Former CIA officers John Sipher & Jerry O’Shea try to determine where misinformation is coming from, when we’re being lied to and when a conspiracy theory is an actual real conspiracy. In the world of espionage, they were part of creating conspiracies. Now they and their circle of experts probe what’s true and when we’re being manipulated. New episodes every week. Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod Executive Producers: Adam Davidson, John Sipher, Jerry O'Shea & Jonathan Stern. Producer: Rachel Harner A production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures

Episodes

May 24, 2026 37 mins

In light of this week's resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, we're re-running our recent very illuminating episode about her. Also, check out John Sipher's timely piece on her in The Bullwark on May 19.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/tulsi-gabbard-office-shouldnt-exist-director-national-intelligence-9-11

Our current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was born into The Science of Identity Foundation, a secretive, authoritarian r...

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Nuclear weapons-usable uranium, biolabs for biological warfare, secret chemical facilities -- In Operation Sapphire, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Andy Weber found and disposed of them. Where are the current threats? What does Iran still have? Biological threats may ultimately prove even more dangerous than nuclear ones. How do we control them?

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Former CIA and NSA attorney Jim Petrila explains the legal decisions about covert action, presidential power, and the legal guardrails surrounding America’s intelligence agencies. He argues that the Trump-era expansion of executive power, combined with the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and the dismantling of institutional oversight, represents a fundamental threat to the rule of law. 

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Forget hotel rooms and presidential merch, this time around, the Trumps are making untraceable billions with ventures like World Liberty Financial and a Trump-backed stablecoin. It’s a new world of buying influence and access.

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Award-winning author Ilana Berry explores the gap between how espionage is portrayed and how it actually works. Drawing on her experience in the CIA, the Department of Defense, and er firsthand view of the Arab Spring in Bahrain. She explains why secrecy fuels conspiracy theories, and why even insiders often struggle to separate truth from manipulation.

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Real government secrecy, intelligence failures, and historic scandals created the conditions for today’s conspiracy culture. Pearl Harbor, The Red Scare, JFK, 9/11, QAnon - a small truth can explode into a dangerous paranoid belief in hidden power and control. Genuine conspiracies often make it harder—not easier—to separate fact from fiction. How do democracies survive when citizens no longer agree on what’s...

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Comedian Ben Palmer (Palmer Trolls) does sort-of-pranks that have evolved from satire to social experiment. Using aliases, fake websites and a “deportation hotline,” Palmer reveals how easily ordinary people are drawn into exposing their own bad behavior and unabashed racism (he would make a terrific CIA case officer). Watch his video about pretending to be the social media person for three months for Republican Congres...

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 In 2016, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele produced a series of intelligence memos that were leaked and widely called “The Steel Dossier” containing allegations about Russia's interference in the US election and links between Trumpworld and the Kremlin. In a highly unique conversation, Steele and John & Jerry look into the many hot-button conspiracy theories and real conspiracies that Stee...

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We continue to look at Havana Syndrome and Russian intelligence operations. Investigative journalist Michael Weiss expands on evidence suggesting that a covert unit within Russian military intelligence may have targeted Western operatives, particularly those involved in countering Russian activities in Ukraine and other strategic regions. We discuss geopolitical miscalculations, including U.S. responses to Russian aggression, the w...

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Havana Syndrome wasn’t a mystery. It was a coverup. And it wasn’t just Havana. Investigative journalist Michael Weiss (The Insider) returns to the show to break down his explosive reporting on the unexplained brain injuries suffered by U.S. diplomats, CIA officers, and military personnel around the world. Weiss lays out compelling evidence linking these incidents to a covert Russian intelligence unit and a new kind of d...

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Former CIA analyst and bestselling spy novelist David McCloskey (“The Rest Is Classified” podcast) explains how Israel manipulated Trump to get him to attack Iran and what Netanyahu’s real plan is. The new answers on Havana Syndrome and whether there was a CIA coverup. And the tragic events of Jordanian triple-agent  Balawi.

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Former senior intelligence officer and author of The Fourth Intelligence Revolution explores how artificial intelligence, big data, and information warfare are fundamentally reshaping global intelligence. He forsees the coming “Singularity War” — a future of fully autonomous intelligence and warfare systems. Now AI enables small groups or even individuals to carry out attacks once reserved for nation-states, inclu...

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Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer was fired by Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche after she refused to recommend giving a domestic abuser back his gun. That criminal was Trump’s “Ambassador to Hollywood” Mel Gibson. Oyer explains how presidential pardons and clemency is supposed to work. With Trump’s Dept. of Justice, it’s been supercharged. Pardons seem to be driven by personal favors, political alliances ...

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February 22, 2026 36 mins

Will Sommer (of The Bulwark) returns to unpack threats to federalize elections to renewed efforts to “prove” 2020 was stolen. We also diagnose the strange incentives and rivalries inside MAGA world — the influencers, grifters, true believers, and opportunists.

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Tara breaks down what Ghislaine Maxwell’s current treatment, legal positioning, and pardon speculation actually signal. They describe the difference between the public narrative and the private reality journalists encounter inside the MAGA ecosystem. From pardon strategy to media pressure to the survival instincts of those closest to Trump, Tara and Adam connect the dots between Maxwell’s continued silence and the polit...

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The co-host of the Knowledge Fight podcast knows too much about Alex Jones. How are conspiracy ecosystems built, monetized, and sustained? From cult psychology and propaganda laundering to Sandy Hook, supplement grifting, and political power, what are the conditions that keep figures like Jones alive and influential?

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The host of CONSPIRACY! THE SHOW has insights on  why people believe wild things and how grifters and media personalities turn paranoia into profit. With questions about his own conspiracy theories: 
  - Was an ad in The New Yorker for a board game a tipoff about Pearl Harbor?
  - Did the CIA want to kill Reagan?
  - Why are there bans on lab-produced meat?
  - Is there proof of The October...

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Investigative journalist Leah Sottile, author of Blazing Eye Sees All, draws on years of direct reporting on anti-government movements, Christian nationalism, New Age spirituality, death cults and online radicalization to explains how fringe belief systems gain power amongst women in America. It’s very different from the path that men take.

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Drawing on her leadership roles with Planned Parenthood Global and humanitarian organizations in Africa, actor & activist Stephanie March (ADA Alex Cabot on Law & Order: SVU) describes how ill-conceived policy decisions —particularly the dismantling of USAID programs — have immediate, devastating consequences. Plus, is there any actual nation-building happening in Venezuela, why CIA doesn’t use honey traps...

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From wellness culture and yoga influencers to QAnon forums and January 6, the pathways into conspiracy extremism aren’t always obvious — especially for women. Identity and meaning can quietly turn misinformation into ideology. Author and researcher Noelle Cook discuss did direct fieldwork with women involved in conspiracy movements and the Capitol attack. Extremism doesn’t always look extreme. Sometimes it looks l...

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Hosts And Creators

Adam Davidson

Adam Davidson

John Sipher

John Sipher

Jerry O'Shea

Jerry O'Shea

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