Six Secrets has become The Brief: Spy agencies brief people in power. We brief you. Each week weâll bring you one story that matters, plus a few that donât!
Your Brief for Thursday, April 4, 2024: BTC in the wake of SBF, flying cars, truck driver spies, a famous movie secretly funded by the CIA and more!
News
BTC after SB-F
In recent weeks weâve seen former crypto supremo Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) sentenced to 25 years behind bars for pulling off a heist that would make movie villains blush, while Bitcoin (BTC) surged to an all-time high - so whatâs happening here? The truth is that despite SBF having spirited away over $10 billion in what's been dubbed as one of the grandest financial frauds on American soil, and his company FTX having been a $32 billion titan before its downfall, SBF just isnât that big of a deal. The real big deal is based on two other acronyms: ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) and SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission).
In January the SEC allowed financial institutions to offer crypto bets through âtraditionalâ financial instruments, ETFs. In March alone Wall Street giants saw record inflows on their Bitcoin ETFs, taking in a total of $111 billion in volume, and BlackRockâs new ETF hit $10bn faster than any US ETF in history, powered by a rally that has driven Bitcoin to dizzying new heights. Professional investors have become increasingly active in Bitcoin but most of the influx seems to be from retail investors: âprimarily individual investors looking to access crypto through their tax-advantaged retirement accounts and brokerage accounts,â said Zach Pandl, director of research at Grayscale. What could possibly go wrong?
Technology
Heads up, future commuters!
The skies might just become your new highway. The tech behind the AirCar, a marvel vehicle that transforms from car to aircraft in just over two minutes, has been acquired by a Chinese firm: Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company. After its show-stopping 35-minute flight between two Slovak airports in 2021, the flying car, powered by a BMW engine and regular fuel, is now set to take on the skies of Asia. China, already a front-runner in the electric vehicles race, is upping the ante by diving headfirst into flying transport solutions. With drones ferrying passengers and electric flying taxis getting the green light, the future of commuting may well be something straight out of a sci-fi movie. The firm has already set up its very own airport and flight school so you may want to start saving for your flight lessons!
Travel
A new home for Egyptian pharaohs
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), situated near the awe-inspiring Giza Pyramids, is gearing up to open its doors to the world this year, marking a new era in the display and preservation of Egypt's ancient treasures. This monumental museum is set to redefine cultural tourism, housing over 100,000 artifacts that span Egyptâs extensive history, from the age of the Pharaohs through to the Greco-Roman period.
The long-awaited museum has been under construction for several years, building anticipation with each delayed opening - all of which has only heightened the global excitement and curiosity about whatâs to come. Among its most anticipated exhibits are collections from the tomb of Tutankhamun, many pieces of which will be displayed to the public for the first time. The GEM promises to be the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization, offering a comprehensive view into the life and times of ancient Egyptians.
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What happens when a seemingly average Joe finds himself in the midst of a bloody conflict involving Irish terrorists? Meet David Rupert; truck driver, entrepreneur, womanizer, spy, and one of the most unusual and effective moles in modern American history. Rupert secretly infiltrated the Real IRA, the group behind the 1998 Omagh bomb atrocity, on behalf of the FBI and MI5.
His unlikely adventure into espionage begins after a chance encounter in Florida with a woman by the name of Linda Vaughn. While David is off duty drinking in an Irish bar called the Harp and Thistle, the redheaded woman catches his eye from across the room. What he did not know yet but would soon discover is that this meeting would spark an unlikely chain of events that would lead him to infiltrate the deadly Irish Republican terrorist group working alongside two of the most infamous intelligence agencies.
Not long after their chance encounter David and Linda begin to date. Now a couple, Linda invites him to visit the west of Ireland with her on a trip. Davidâs life is about to change forever.
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Film
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Popcorn and a movie anyone? Directed by George Clooney and based on the memoir of Chuck Barris, the creator of the hit TV show "The Dating Game," Confessions of a Dangerous Mind presents a fascinating premise: What if a TV producer was also a covert CIA assassin? The story weaves through layers of suspense, dark comedy, and espionage.
Cling to the edge of your seat as the film follows Barris behind enemy lines on covert assassination missions from Mexico to West Berlin. Navigate through Barris's purported double life, a thrilling ride into the complexities of a man who claims to have orchestrated the demise of 33 individuals under the guise of his day job.
The son of a serial killer and raised by a mother who wanted him to be a girl, Barris was deemed by the CIA to be a perfect fit for the profile of a trained assassin. Were they right? âConfessions of a Dangerous Mindâ offers a deliciously twisted tale that blurs the lines between reality and fiction - so maybe they were!
Spy Objects
The animated film funded by the CIA
What did George Orwell and the CIA have in common? Perhaps more than the great socialist writer would have liked! Contemporary artist Daniel Arsham is so fascinated by the connection that heâs made a podcast to explain it.
Orwellâs barnyard animals were not simply passive pigs and horses, nor the stuff of dreamy childhood bedtime stories. Animal Farm was an anti-totalitarian novel published partially because the British author was disturbed at the UK left's whitewashing of Russian leader Joseph Stalin's atrocities and partially because of Orwellâs experiences in a Trotskyist group during the Spanish Civil War. And what of the CIA?
Well, the film was covertly funded by the CIA as part of a psychological warfare strategy during the Cold War. The agency aimed to use the movie as a tool to spread anti-Communist sentiment, leveraging Orwell's narrative to counter Soviet influence.
Under the leadership of E. Howard Hunt the CIA had a wide remit that included propaganda, economic warfare, sabotage, and subversion. The spymaster decided he could win over American hearts and minds by making a full-length animated film based on Animal Farm. The CIA prevailed when Sonia Orwell, after her husband's death, agreed to sell the rights if she could meet her hero Clark Gable. Listen to Daniel Arshamâs take here.
Ever wondered whose idea it was to chop pictures up into confusing little pieces? Journey back to 1760 with us to find out. John Spilsbury was a London-based cartographer (mapmaker) who came up with the idea of creating these cunning handcrafted puzzles. Ironically, he started without a jigsaw (the type of saw for which the puzzles are now named) as those werenât invented until almost a century later in 1855. Spilsbury had to use a marquetry saw to carve out his first puzzles.
Spilsburyâs wooden creations went on to capture the imagination of young and old, and by 1906 they were known as âjigsaw puzzlesâ in reference to the more modern devices used to cut them. They quickly transformed from exclusive handcrafted items available only to the wealthy to a universally adored hobby. By 1933, amidst the Great Depression, countless puzzle manufacturers were churning out a staggering 10 million puzzles a week, offering rentals at just five cents a night. In recent times one company alone, the German games producer Ravensburger, sold more than 28 million puzzles in a single year - thatâs enough pieces to make a life-size puzzle of New Yorkâs Central Park!
The New York Times puzzle master Bryant White has prepared an enigmatic puzzle for you to solve here, no jigsaw needed in the making.
Despite its military tactics, Kubb is remarkably inviting: easy to learn and playable on grass, sand, snow or ice, its mix of skill, precision, and strategy makes it endlessly sociable and exciting. If youâve ever dreamed of leading a Viking horde to victory this could be the game for you!
Music
Wear Sunscreen
In need of some good advice? Look no further! âWear Sunscreenâ, envisioned as a hypothetical graduation speech and penned by columnist Mary Schmich is full of witty yet meaningful guidance and muses on the notion that advice is often squandered on the young. The essay first appeared in the Chicago Tribune in June 1997 but later famously served as the foundation for Baz Luhrmann's spoken word track "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," also referred to as "The Sunscreen Song," released in 1997.
The track uniquely combines spoken-word narration, provided by Australian voice actor Lee Perry, with a groovy instrumental backdrop. The underlying music includes a choral rendition of Rozalla's "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" from 1991, which Luhrmann also used in his adaptation of "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet." The song serves up the same profound yet often humorous advice taken from the essay, featuring gems such as: âIf I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be itâ and âDon't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85â. Have a listen and see what rings true to you.
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