Kiriakou's podcast breakthrough
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Kiriakou's podcast breakthrough is how John Kiriakou accounts for becoming, in his host's phrase, one of the most recognisable faces in the world, a change he says he had no sense was coming.

The policy

Until roughly eight weeks before the July 2026 interview, Kiriakou had a personal policy of saying yes to nearly every podcast request. He enjoyed the give and take, the banter and talking about current events, and gave interviews to fifteen-year-old high school students on the same basis as anyone else. "I said yes to everybody. Um and I did it only because it was fun for me. I wasn't thinking about an algorithm."

The trigger

It began in October 2024 with three shows whose hosts he counts as friends: the Danny Jones podcast in Tampa, the Dalton Fisher podcast in New Jersey, and the Julian Dorey podcast. Doing those three, he says, triggered something in the algorithm and elevated him, useful timing, as he was starting his own podcast and wanted to accumulate subscribers.

That led to a speaking tour of the UK and Ireland and to outlets he would otherwise have had no access to. Tucker Carlson was an old friend, but Kiriakou says he was not big enough to go on the show "until I was", and Carlson led to Patrick Bet-David, who led to Joe Rogan, who led to Diary of a CEO.

Consequences

He reports three marriage proposals and stalkers serious enough to involve the FBI. He also stopped saying yes to everything: the blanket policy ended about eight weeks before the interview.

See also

- The TikTok fan edits
- Joe Rogan
- Tucker Carlson
