CIA officers can spend their entire careers undercover—sometimes, even their families don't know they worked for the Agency. So it's not unusual for agents to emerge from the shadows after 20, 25, even 30 years.
Espionage is all about building trust and forging relationships—then manipulating them. That's precisely what the toast of cable news, Wayne Simmons, did best. Simmons was a fixture, appearing as Fox News' security expert. He analyzed the war on terror and offered his take on stopping extremist threats.
But under the cloak of Agency secrecy, deception thrives. Tall tales can blossom—unchecked and unprovable. Simmons claimed to be a former CIA officer with a storied operational history—often called upon to comment on intelligence matters. But he hid a dark secret. He was a fraud! Simmons had never worked for the CIA or any intelligence agency. And as luck would have it, Simmons had a real agent on his heels.
A legitimate ex-CIA operations officer, Kent Clizbe, suspected the truth. But proving it? That would take three years of his life. Join Clizbe in this week's podcast selection, 'CIA? More Like CON,' to discover how he exposed the deceptions of a con man to the world.
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Music
The Sound Of Silence
Can a silent album make the music industry listen?
More than 1,000 musicians, including Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush, have released a silent album in protest against proposed UK copyright law changes regarding the training of AI models on music. Proceeds from the album will support the charity Help Musicians.
The release, Is This What We Want?, features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces—symbolizing what many artists fear could be the future of music if AI companies gain access to copyrighted works without a license. The proposed law would allow AI developers to use online creative content unless rights holders actively "opt out." Listen to the album here.
Image Credit: Various Artists/Is This What We Want?
Photography
The Man Who Captured Snowflakes
How Did a 19th-Century Photographer Shape the Way We See Snow?
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley, born in 1865, was among the first to reveal the hidden beauty of snowflakes! For 40 years, he photographed thousands of snow crystals, proving that no two were identical. Using a microscope and a custom-built camera, he refined the art of photomicrography, capturing intricate patterns that would otherwise melt away unseen.
Bentley's fascination with snowflakes began as a teenager in Vermont, where he marveled at their delicate, fleeting designs: "Every crystal was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated." By his death in 1931, Bentley had taken over 5,000 snowflake photographs, documenting their unique geometry and scientific significance.
In 1903, he donated 500 images to the Smithsonian Institution to protect them from fire or loss. His work helped shape how we see snow today—not just as frozen precipitation, but as tiny, natural masterpieces. View the image gallery here.
Image Credit: Wilson Bentley/Jericho Historical Society
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Even in countries where governments tightly control the internet, one digital loophole might remain open: Minecraft.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in collaboration with design studio BlockWorks and other partners, transformed an online map in the open-world game, Minecraft, into a virtual library of banned journalism. The Uncensored Library provides access to censored journalism from countries with restricted and censored press. Players can enter the library, open in-game books, and read stories that may otherwise be inaccessible in their home countries. The library, filled with books containing articles, offers a unique way to access information—one block at a time. Check out the library here.
Image Credit: The Uncensored Library
Technology
Quantum Computing
Is modern encryption running out of time?
Twenty-five years ago, the Y2K bug had the world on edge. Now, experts are warning of a far greater digital threat—one that doesn’t have a set deadline. The rise of quantum computing could one day render today’s encryption methods useless, making sensitive data across banking, government, and communication networks vulnerable.
Unlike traditional computers, which process information in binary (ones and zeros), quantum computers use qubits, which exist in multiple states simultaneously. These qubits enable complex problem solving far beyond the reach of traditional computers, including cracking the encryption algorithms that protect modern digital infrastructure.
Encryption methods like RSA, a public-key algorithm that uses a pair of keys to encrypt and decrypt data, would take traditional computers millions of years to break. But a sufficiently advanced quantum computer could, in theory, do it in minutes. While researchers are working on quantum-resistant encryption, the uncertainty of when quantum computers will reach this capability leaves many concerned.
Image Credit: Designed by Freepik
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