John Kiriakou: Most Replayed Moment: Ex-CIA Reveals What Spies Know About Human Nature

John recounts wanting to be a spy from childhood and choosing George Washington University for its location and Middle Eastern studies programme. A psychology assignment asked students to observe their bosses and write a profile. He says his sharply critical, heavily referenced paper led Gerald Post to reveal an undercover CIA role and introduce him to a recruiter. The narrative is his retrospective account of a particular route into the agency, not a description of a universal recruitment process.

His anecdotes about coded late-night calls and retrieving documents from a rubbish container illustrate the domestic cost of concealment. He had told his wife about the application despite instructions, but could not explain daily operations. Her suspicion and their eventual divorce turn secrecy from a glamorous feature of spy stories into a problem of trust at home.