Episode 571: The Ripple Effect Podcast (Ex-CIA John Kiriakou War On Whistleblowers: The High Cost of Speaking Truth To Power)

John Kiriakou, from a decorated high-ranking CIA counter-terrorism chief who led the 2002 capture of al-Qaeda’s Abu Zubaydah, to a federal inmate, John Kiriakou ’s life is a masterclass in the high cost of speaking truth to power. In 2007, he became the first CIA official to publicly confirm the agency’s use of waterboarding , explicitly calling it torture—an act of whistleblowing that eventually led to him being the only person imprisoned in connection with the torture program. After serving 23 months, he reinvented himself as a sharp-witted author and commentator, hosting the Deep Focus podcast and penning books like The Reluctant Spy, and the gritty survival manual Doing Time Like a Spy , effectively using his intelligence background to critique the very systems he once served. JOHN KIRIAKOU Website: X: IG: Deep Focus Podcast (YouTube): DeProgram Podcast (YouTube): Dead Drop Podcast (iTunes): Substack: THE RIPPLE EFFECT PODCAST: WEBSITE: SUPPORT: PATREON: PayPal: VENMO: MERCH: Store: THEORY 6 MUSIC: SPONSORS: Descript – AI Video & Podcast Editor: OPUS A.I. Clip Creator: Scott Horton Academy: University of Reason-Autonomy: WATCH: OFFICIAL YOUTUBE: YOUTUBE CLIPS CHANNEL: LISTEN: SPOTIFY: iTUNES: THE UNION OF THE UNWANTED :

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Episode 571: The Ripple Effect Podcast (Ex-CIA John Kiriakou War On Whistleblowers: The High Cost of Speaking Truth To Power) is an episode from The Ripple Effect Podcast by Ricky Varandas.

This episode is 57:13 long.

This episode was published on Feb 27, 2026.

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