The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired 'The Americans'
16 April - 45 mins
Podcast Series
Fresh Air
In The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West, journalist Shaun Walker shares how agents were trained to blend into a target country and posed as citizens. Walker tells the story of Andrei Olegovich Bezrukov, aka "Donald," and Elena Vavilova, aka "Tracey," who were embedded in Cambridge, Mass. until a 2010 FBI raid. Even their two children didn't know their parents' true identities.
Also, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead pays tribute to versatile tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons.
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