Outside the Secret Service Podcast

Retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Nason walks us through his 27-year Secret Service career, from small‑town resident agent assignments and protective details to counter surveillance operations, inspections, and media relations. He takes us behind the scenes of the infamous shoe-throwing incident in Baghdad involving Former President Bush, campaign improvisation, and explains how technology, recruitment, and agency cult...

Retired Special Agent Brad Beeler (1999–2024) discusses his new book Tell Me Everything, recounting 25 years in the US Secret Service, including many as a polygrapher. Join us as Brad shares vivid and insightful stories - from high‑profile counterfeit cases and child‑exploitation - and explains how polygraph and interviewing techniques shaped investigations and relationships.

The episode also offers practical communication ta...

On April 25, 2026, during the White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) at the Washington Hilton, an armed man charged past a magnetometer checkpoint, shot a uniformed Secret Service Officer and was subsequently apprehended as he attempted to make his way to the ballroom where the President, Vice President and a host of other USSS Protectees and Cabinet Officials were seated. 

On this episode of Outside the Secret Service, I'm...

Former Special Agent Jason Russell recounts his unconventional path to the Secret Service beginning with a remarkably unremarkable high school tenure. When he took his first criminal justice course in college, his life's purpose came into focus. Passionate about service and law enforcement, Jason bookended his time with the US Secret Service with a local department and another federal agency. Each uniquely preparing him for that mo...

Today we site down with Retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Mark Youngblood, to re-trace his 23-year Secret Service Career.

Mark is a natural storyteller and this episode features vivid anecdotes - from getaway trips during training, Rwandan goodwill moments, airspace operations and the Bitcoin/Silk Road investigation fallout - as well as reflections on timing, teamwork, leadership, and the challenges that lead to retirement...

Former Special Agent Tate Jarrow joins the podcast to share his journey from West Point to wiretaps. We talk about his path through combat deployments to the U.S. Secret Service, where he tackled major cyber investigations like the Liberty Reserve takedown and JPMorgan intrusion, served on the Counter Assault Team, and later transitioned to tech and startups focused on online safety.

This episode dives into polygraph myths, trainin...

They tell you not to start a show with a "show stopper", so I saved this for Episode 2 of Season 2.

Barry Spodak is a mostly-retired clinical specialist, senior consultant and trainer, whose simulation-based training and collaboration with researchers shaped behavioral threat assessment and protective intelligence for the U.S. Secret Service.

The episode traces Spodak’s 40-year impact on generations of agents and officers: te...

Today we welcome Brian Lewis to the Outside the Secret Service Podcast. Brian is a Navy veteran and now retired Roseville, CA Police Lieutenant. On this episode we cover his fast-paced two years in the Secret Service which included a stint on a campaign advance team, and protecting a high-level foreign dignitary (Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai); and the ping-pong match that may have saved US-Afghan relations.

While Brian's stor...

On this Season 1 finale of OTSS, we sit down with Retired ATSAIC of the US Secret Service, Sean Quarmby. We cover his 25-year career that started in New York, saw time in Washington DC, then finishing in Charlotte (which is definitely in one of the Carolinas). Sean shares great stories and unique insights of what it's like to work inside the White Houses access control section (housed in Room 23), protective details, and memorable ...

Retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge Charlie White recounts his 27-year Secret Service career spanning San Francisco Field Office fraud squads, Counter Assault Team work, Presidential Protective Division, and long-term overseas liaison posts in Bonn, Germany and Moscow, Russia. 

Charlie's career offers a unique insight into how cultural differences can shape security operations abroad. He reflects on leadership, integrity...

Retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert "Bobby Mac" McDonald joins the OTSS podcast to trace his path from serving as a federal probation officer to 20+ years in the U.S. Secret Service. He generously shares behind-the-scenes stories from New Haven, D.C., both the Presidential and Vice Presidential detail and his post-USSS time with the NBA.

Now an assistant professor at the University of New Haven, Bobby Mac reflects on e...

Retired Deputy Chief Katrina Bonus, shares her start-to-finish journey in the Secret Service Uniformed Division, tracing its history, mission, and day-to-day duties protecting the White House complex, and so much more, in the Nation's Capitol.

She recalls defining moments from Oklahoma City, memorable encounters on post, the challenges of construction and security, serving as the first woman Deputy Chief, and her transition to reti...

This week, I'm fortunate to sit down with the inestimable Jerome Pickett. Jerome started as an intern in the New York Field Office, then hired on as a Special Agent in the same office. He later served on the Counter Assault Team and the Presidential Protective Division where he always made a positive impact. 

As interesting as his career in the Secret Service is the road which lead him there and the path he charted afterwards....

Retired Special Agent John Constantine joins us to discuss his 20+ year career in the US Secret Service, focusing on life after retirement, identity transition, and the mindset needed for protective operations.

The episode covers counter‑assault team experiences, leadership lessons, physical and mental health challenges for retirees, diplomatic and operational demands of global protective work, and John’s post‑service plans i...

Join fan favorites Kevin Dye and Todd Jenkins as we unpack the Secret Service’s role in securing New York City for the annual United Nations General Assembly. We share firsthand stories about the massive logistics undertaking, long hours, cultural clashes, and unexpected moments that define UNGA in New York City.

The episode is heavy on humor and hard-earned lessons, post assignments, and memorable incidents — offering ...

From driving limousines to lockup, Retired Special Agent Frank Kelley sits down to recount a 23-year Secret Service career - from field investigations and presidential protection to an international counterfeit takedown. 

Frank also discusses his move to Inspector General for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the growing drone-and-cellphone contraband problem inside prisons, and candid personal anecdotes about life...

On this episode of Outside the Secret Service, former Special Agent Jon Wackrow recounts his unexpected path into the Secret Service from a career in the hospitality industry. Jon's career teaches us about the power of relationships.

Join us as we explore his experiences from being in the training academy during 9/11 (returning to a field office that no longer physically existed), and his years on protective and investigative detai...

As America approaches the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our homeland, it's only fitting to hear the story of an Agent who witnessed it first hand. Now retired, Special Agent Darin Kinder recounts what brought him to the US Secret Service in 2000, what happened on 9/11 as a young agent in the New York Field Office, and what motivated him to serve an additional 24 years in the organization. 

Since retirement,...

Retired Special Agent Cindy Marble joins the OTSS podcast to trace her Secret Service career—from being inspired by Watergate to posts in Houston, the Washington Field Office, the Intelligence Division, and the Presidential Protective Detail.

She shares frontline stories and insights about threat assessment, mental health intervention, and how her protective intelligence work led to a new role in the private sector with a foc...