Want to support the show? Visit conversationswithtyler.com/donate.
Growing up in a working-class city in New Jersey, John Brennan’s father was an Irish immigrant who always impressed upon his children how grateful they should be to be American citizens. That deeply-instilled patriotism and the sense of right and wrong emphasized by his Catholic upbringing would lead John first to become an intelligence officer and then eventually Director of the CIA. His new memoir, which Tyler found substantive on every page, recounts that career journey.
John joined Tyler to discuss what working in intelligence taught him about people’s motivations, how his Catholic upbringing prepared him for working in intelligence, the similarities between working at the CIA and entering the priesthood, his ability to synthetize information from disparate sources, his assessment on the possibility of alien life, the efficacy of personality tests and polygraphs, why CIA agents are so punctual, how the CIA plans to remain a competitive recruiter for top talent, the challenges that spouses and family members of intelligence workers face, the impact of modern technology on spycraft, why he doesn’t support the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, his favorite parts of Cairo, the pros and cons of the recent Middle Eastern peace deal brokered by Jared Kushner, the reasons he thinks we should leverage American culture more abroad, JFK conspiracy theories, why there seemed to be much less foreign interference in the 2020 election than experts predicted, what John le Carré got right about being a spy, why most spies aren’t like James Bond, what he would change about FISA courts, and more.
Follow us on Twitter and IG: @cowenconvos
Email: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Follow John on Twitter
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Newsletter
Tyler Cowen and Steve Davies talk Theresa May, Brexit, and Europe (Live)
Raj Chetty on Teachers, Social Mobility, and How to Find Answers to Big Questions
Garry Kasparov on AI, Chess, and the Future of Creativity
Patrick Collison has a Few Questions for Tyler (Live at Stripe)
Malcolm Gladwell Wants to Make the World Safe for Mediocrity (Live at Mason)
*The Complacent Class* with Katherine Mangu-Ward (Live at Mason)
Rabbi David Wolpe on Leadership, Religion, and Identity (Live at Sixth & I)
Chef Mark Miller on Food as the Ultimate Intellectual Exploration
Jhumpa Lahiri on Writing, Translation, and Crossing Between Cultures (Live at Mason)
Joseph Henrich on WEIRD Societies and Life Among Two Strange Tribes (Live at Mason)
Fuchsia Dunlop on Chinese Food, Culture, and Travel
Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence (Live at Mason)
Ezra Klein on Media, Politics, and Models of the World
Margalit Fox on Life, Death, and the Best Job in Journalism
Michael Orthofer on Why Fiction Matters
Cass Sunstein on Judicial Minimalism, the Supreme Court, and Star Wars (Live at Mason)
Camille Paglia on her Lifestyle of Observation (Live at Mason)
Jonathan Haidt on Morality, Politics, and Intellectual Diversity on Campus
Nate Silver on the Supreme Court and the Underrated Stat for Finding Good Food (Live at Mason)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Fighting Bruce Lee, Growing Up in Harlem, and Basketball (Live at Mason)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Teachers Talk Radio
LifeBlood
Navigating Life After 40
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast