Title: Mini Episode 2: Pete Seeger, American Hero
Show: John Kiriakou's Dead Drop
Date: 2025-11-10
URL: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/690fe0d86d62d4e03dd49036/media.mp3
Duration: 0:15:34

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[00:01] ACAS powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. I'm Monica Reinagel, nutritionist, author, and host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. We dig into the questions that you are actually asking if it's okay to drink coffee on an empty stomach, whether it's possible to retrain your sweet tooth, which ultra-processed foods you might actually want to include in your diet. We take a closer look at diet trends,

[01:06] This podcast, it's a cost-ed and touched-on production. Hi, I'm John Kiriakou. Welcome to this bonus episode of Dead Drop, What Makes a Spy Tick? Not a revelation. America is a celebrity culture on steroids. In LA, you can gawk at famous actors pumping their own gas or standing in the produce section at a grocery store. In Washington, D.C.,

[01:37] you can watch former secretaries of state doing it. Now, I'm not a star-fucker by nature. I've been in some pretty big rooms with some pretty big people, Oval offices and presidents. It's hard not to be impressed by those rooms while you're sitting or standing, in my case, in them. But of all the famous people I've ever met or worked with, only one or two reduced me to pure fanboy. In the case of folk singer and social activist Pete Seeger,

[02:07] he was always the most special to me. Even when I was just six or seven years old and I saw Pete on Sesame Street, I knew that I wanted him to be a part of my life, even if it was a very small one. When I was 18 years old, I said I'm gonna become friends with Pete Seeger. And it took me years, and I did. I had such deep respect for Pete Seeger, even when I was just a teenager, because I knew that he had refused to plead the fifth

[02:39] before the House on American Activities Committee. He pleaded the first, which just so threw them for a loop, they didn't know how to respond. And so they arrested him. He said, I have a constitutional right to associate with whomever I wanna associate, to read whatever I wanna read, to say whatever I wanna say. He said, I will not plead the fifth because I have nothing to hide. So they charged him with contempt of Congress and he was convicted. And the conviction was upheld in the Circuit Court of Appeals, but then overturned in the Supreme Court.

[03:11] But such guts, what big brass balls he had to stand up to the most powerful men in America, men who had the power to lock him up for the rest of his life if they wanted to. And he stood up. He had kids, little kids, and he stood up. So when I was 18, I said, I wanna meet this man. I had read his biography, I listened to his music. Who doesn't know Pete Seger's music? He gave a concert with Arlo Guthrie, no less, at George Washington University. And I went and I went with my friends

[03:43] and it was awesome. This was 1982. It was the fall of 1982 because they're just two normal, common guys. They don't see themselves as big folk heroes. When they finished the concert, they just climbed down off the stage and just stood there so everybody could shake hands. And then we finally got outside. Pete had gone back to his hotel and Arlo was just standing there on the street corner and we said, hey, Arlo, you wanna go have beers with us? And he said, yes. So every time Pete would do a concert,

[04:17] I'd go Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, wherever he happened to be. And it got to the point where he was like, you're that kid that comes to all my concerts. And I said, yeah, well, 1986, it's the very first Martin Luther King holiday. And Pete is doing a concert of civil rights songs at the 15th Street AME Church. And there's a coffee hour in the basement afterwards. That was 1986.

[04:47] I went in the direction of the CIA a couple of years later. And then I left, of course, the CIA and I blew the whistle in December of 2007 on the CIA's torture program. I wrote my book, my first book, 2009, and I sent Pete a copy. He lived in a house that he built with his own two hands in Beacon, New York. And so I sent him a copy and I said, Pete, next to my father, you were the most influential man in my life. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated. I inscribed this in the book. So he wrote back to me and thanked me

[05:19] and he drew a banjo and signed Love Pete, which I still have. We sort of continued this relationship but as adults, we would exchange Christmas cards and I didn't wanna call often cause I didn't wanna bother him. He was so important and so well known and so active, especially in environmental protection. So we'd stay in occasional touch but I didn't wanna bother him. And then I got arrested. And Pete reached out, how can I help? And I said, I don't know.

[05:50] I don't know. Summertime and the living is easy, am I right, John? That is one of the best parts of Summer Allen. Living really does feel easier. You're about to travel. Good thing you've got a couple of quince pieces going with you. They are as relaxed and comfortable as I wanna feel. That's why whether I'm traveling or staying at home, I reach for the same quince go anywhere pieces again and again. Quince focuses on well made essential. They're the t-shirt I reach for first every time. In all seriousness, I just bought another one today.

[06:22] They're my favorite t-shirts too. And when the ocean breeze kicks in at night, as it does here in LA, a quince lightweight cotton sweater is sublime. And perfect for travel too, which these days has all kinds of new challenges that impact how you pack. So versatility really matters. You gotta pack smart, like a spy. That's why a pair of quince's 100% European linen pants and a couple of linen shirts are coming with me. They're breathable and easy to throw on. Sometimes I add a t-shirt underneath

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[14:07] You never know when people need you the most. But like I say, Pete Seeger, one of the greatest Americans who ever lived as far as I'm concerned, he probably had no idea how important he was in my life, how important he was in the lives of a thousand other people. But he really was. Gosh, I hope I can be helpful and I can extend a kindness when it should be extended. And I hope I can live up to that. As always, thank you for listening. It really does mean a lot.

[14:38] And if you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word about it. Every time you leave a review or a comment, geez, just liking the podcast whenever you're listening to it helps. It makes a difference. That's really all any spy wants to do, make a difference. If you're enjoying Dead Drop, and I really hope you are. And if you like the way that we're telling my story, it's pretty sure bet that you'll enjoy some of the other podcasts in the Costard and Touchstone family. Just like in this podcast, the aim with all Costard and Touchstone podcasts

[15:10] is to tell great stories the best way possible and put you deeply inside the experience of the storyteller. There's a link to all of their great podcasts in this episode's show notes. And again, thanks for listening. Until next time, I'm John Kiriakou. This podcast, it's a Costard and Touchstone production.
