Spies, Lies & Dead Drops
How Washington became the most paranoid city on Earth — and earned it. Walk from Ford's Theatre to the Soviet Embassy through the ugliest building in America, a hotel that smuggled a president, the most bugged address on Earth, an apartment complex where five men got caught with consecutive serial numbers on their bills, a spy's mailbox in Georgetown, and a tunnel that cost hundreds of millions and produced nothing.
Start This ExperienceWhat You'll Experience
A taste of what you'll hear
9 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"April fourteenth, eighteen sixty-five. The President of the United States signs a piece of paper creating a new federal agency — the Secret Service. Its job — catching counterfeit money. Half the currency in America is fake. Something has to be done."
"The White House. You know what it looks like. Everyone does. But here's what most people don't think about — this is the most surveilled residential address on Earth. Not because of the Secret Service outside. Because of the president inside."
"OK. You made it. Seven stops. An assassination, a blackmail empire, a smuggled president, a self-bugging White House, the worst burglary in history, a mailbox, and a tunnel to nowhere. Time to come clean."
Part tour, part game
Most of what you hear is true. But we slip in a few things that aren't. At the end, there's a quiz — can you tell which facts were real?
It makes you pay attention. And it's way more fun than just listening.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
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