The First Female CIA Officer in Moscow, The Widow Spy | Marti Peterson (throwback episode)

dee takos

10 December 2025

Original airdate 7/16/2021 In this episode, the team sits down with legendary CIA case officer Marty Peterson, whose Cold War mission in Moscow led to one of the most dramatic KGB arrests of the era. Marty walks through running a top Soviet asset, the night of the failed dead drop, her capture at Lubyanka Prison, and what she later learned about her agent’s tragic fate. It’s a firsthand look inside real espionage, tradecraft, and the cost of intelligence work at the highest level. 00:00 – CIA Widow Spy: Marty Peterson Intro 12:40 – Moscow Tradecraft: Dead Drops & Surveillance 27:15 – Running Soviet Assets Under KGB Pressure 44:10 – Psychological Toll of Life as a CIA Spy 1:05:30 – Losing “Trigon”: Top Cold War Asset Compromised 1:22:45 – Was There a Mole? Suspecting CIA Compromise 1:33:15 – The Failed Dead Drop: Something Is Wrong 1:42:02 – KGB Ambush on the Bridge: Marty Is Taken 1:46:37 – Inside Lubyanka: Interrogation by the KGB 2:04:03 – How Trigon Died: Betrayal, Poison & Cover-Up 2:16:14 – Briefing President Carter: From Moscow to the White House 2:26:24 – Life After the CIA & Why She Wrote The Widow Spy Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support.