SummaryJohn Blaxland (X, LinkedIn) and Clare Birgin (Wikipedia, LinkedIn) join Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss Australian codebreaking. John and Clare are coauthors of the new book Revealing Secrets.
What You’ll LearnIntelligence
- The importance of SIGINT
- Codebreaking in Australian intelligence
- Australia’s role in WWII and the Cold War
- The advent and evolution of cyber
Reflections
- Strategic defense and offense
- The power, and danger, of communication
And much, much more …Quotes of the Week"What I've noticed with the Australians, and I think it's similar in the other the other Five Eyes countries, these people tend to be quite patriotic to do [Signals Intelligence]. They want to, they love their country, and it also seems to preserve very good qualities.” -Clare Birgin.
Resources SURFACE SKIM*Spotlight Resource* -
Revealing Secrets: An unofficial history of Australian Signals intelligence and the advent of cyber, Clare Birgin and John Blaxland (University of New South Wales Press, 2023)
*SpyCasts*
-
I Helped Solve the Final Zodiac Killer Cipher with David Oranchak (2024)
-
Australian National Day Special: Intelligence Down Under with John Blaxland (2024)
-
My Father the Navajo Code-Talker with Laura Tohe (2023)
-
CYBER AUGUST: “So, You Want to Be a Codebreaker?” with Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh (2021)
*Beginner Resources*
-
Australia's Involvement in WWII, Australian Broadcasting Service, YouTube (2020) [4 min. video]
-
A short history of cyber espionage, D. O’Brien, Medium (2017) [Short article]
-
Signals Intelligence (SINGINT) Overview, National Security Agency (n.d.) [Short article]
DEEPER DIVEPrimary Sources
-
WMD Report (2005)
-
The ANZUS Treaty (1951)
-
Role and effectiveness of Signals Intelligence in World War II (1945)
-
The Atlantic Charter (1941)
-
The Zimmerman Telegram (1917)
-
Oral History by Ruby Boye Jones (n.d.)
*Wildcard Resource*
- Here’s a challenge – For their 75th Anniversary in 2022, the Australian Signals Directorate released a limited edition coin with multiple layers of code to crack on both sides.
- Think you can solve it? Check out the link above and test your code-cracking skills.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices