A documentary history podcast
From the File
History from the documents. Every claim traced to a declassified file.
Each episode is built from contemporaneous records, later Agency histories, and the investigations that followed — and from what is still blacked out or missing. No invented scenes. No dramatization. The hook is the paper.
Season 1: The Bay of Pigs
Ten episodes on one declassified operation. What the program was authorized to do, what the Agency built instead, and what the files still will not settle.
Cited document bundles by email. The cables, the memos, the record numbers — facts first, no hype.
Featured episodes
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The Inheritance
Eisenhower’s March 1960 authorization for small teams and a resistance that never materialized — handed to a new president who was never asked, on the record we have, whether he wanted an invasion at all.
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The Secret Army
Guatemala camps, the November pivot to amphibious assault, and five contradictory answers to what the exiles were promised about American backing.
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The Cover Story
The staged defector flight, Stevenson at the UN, and a denial written in Washington before the ambassador who would speak it was told what it covered.
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The Navy That Watched
Task Group 81.8, the Essex, and orders designed to keep the fleet out of the fight — through the six unmarked jets and the missed rendezvous.
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The Inspector General
Kirkpatrick’s survey, the rebuttal, McCone’s binder, and 19 of 20 copies destroyed.
Episodes 1–7 available; 8–10 in production. Full stack with players: Season 1 hub. All seasons: seasons index.
How to listen
Self-hosted audio and a public RSS feed. The Season 1 hub is the binge surface; episode pages carry the sourced essay, citations, and a player. Questions: [email protected].