Title: Part 2: How Well Do You Really Know Him?
Show: Unfiltered With S.A.M.
Date: 2026-07-09
URL: https://youtu.be/bKx-CsyO_zI
Duration: 37:00

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[00:02] [music] >> Welcome to the second part of our in-studio interview with John Kiryakou, who I've had the pleasure of hosting here in Nicosia for the last 3 days. Right off the first part of our interview, we transition now to something different. It's the let's get to know John apart of the interview. So, John has become one of the most recognizable faces in the world, and I've even witnessed it here in Cyprus in

[00:32] the smallest of tavernas or souvlaki places I've taken him to. People just come up to the table like, "Aren't you?" Anyway, so this is amazing. It's crazy. He And we all know how he's become famous. But appearing on the biggest podcasters in the world the last year certainly has helped to that. So, while millions feel they already know him as that older gentleman told you today when we were having lunch, he said, "We feel like we know you, right?" >> Yeah. Uh like he's someone they can sit down, you know, and have a conversation with. Tonight, I'm I'm going to go a a step

[01:03] further. I want to bring out a side of John that we don't usually get to see because even with someone as open as John is, there's always more beneath the surface. So, John, welcome back again. Kalos Oris es. >> Thank you so much. To our studio here in Nicosia. Very, very glad to be here. >> Yeah, it's it's it's been amazing the last few days spending time with you. You've met the family. We've also, you know, gone around and um had meetings with important people, but you've also, you know, been exposed to

[01:34] the history of Cyprus and not just I'm not just talking about 1974, the medieval history, the religious history, but we'll get to that later. So, John, 12 months ago when you were just starting to, you know, break through the global stage and appear on these major podcasters, did you have any sense that things would accelerate this fast? No. No sense of it at all. You know, it's funny until very recently, just the last 8 weeks, I had a personal policy of saying yes to just

[02:05] about every podcast request. Mhm. >> Right? I enjoy the give and take. I enjoy the banter. I enjoy talking about current events and politics. And I I gave interviews to, you know, 15-year-old high school kids. Good for you. I I said yes to everybody. Um and I did it only because it was fun for me. I wasn't thinking about an algorithm. I just wasn't. It never occurred to me that this had something to do with an algorithm and it was going to take off.

[02:37] And then it took off. It started with it started a year ago last October with the Danny Jones podcast in Tampa, the Dalton Fisher podcast in New Jersey, and the Julian Dorey podcast. They're all friends. So, I did those three podcasts. And And we are friends, I should add. And uh and it triggered something in the algorithm. So, it elevated me to a to a higher level, which was great because I was

[03:08] starting my own podcast. And I wanted to I wanted to try to accumulate as many subscribers and followers as I could. >> Yeah. That led to a speaking tour of the UK and Ireland. And it led to interviews with outlets that I would never have had um access to. Tucker Carlson. Tucker and I were old friends, but but he had left Fox News and started his own podcast, and I wasn't big enough to go on that podcast until I was. Mhm. So, Tucker

[03:38] Carlson, and then that led to Patrick Bet David, and then that led to Joe Rogan, and then that one led to Diary of a CEO. >> Mhm. So, 8 weeks ago, I was in Dubai, and my niece uh called me and said, "Theo John, you're exploding on Tik Tok." And I said, "Why?" And she said, "I don't know, but it's like gone crazy." Well, it turned out that there was a 20-year-old sophomore

[04:09] at the University of Texas who took my Diary of a CEO podcast and cut it into shorts, but he gave me an Alvin and the Chipmunks high-pitched voice and laser beams shooting out of my eyes and it just hit with Gen Z. That's all fun and games, but the important thing is I'm a 61-year-old man with access to Gen Z. Mhm. And yes, they're all having fun with it, but they're discussing and considering very

[04:42] important ideas. Correct. And so, it's taken on a life of its own. I All of a sudden, I'm represented by the largest uh talent agency in the world and I'm I'm meeting with Hollywood titans Mhm. about some of these these issues and about making movies and and TV series and I I've written nine books. They want my 10th one to be

[05:12] a novel, fiction, which I've never written fiction before, but I'm already now 10,000 words into it. Life has changed completely in the last eight weeks only because this kid put me on Tik Tok. Bless him. Mhm. >> Looks as if it does. Mhm. Yeah. So, you've become officially the cool uncle in the family. >> Right? Yeah, that's great, right? >> I've had three marriage proposals. Oh, really? >> Yeah. I get weird stalker people that, you know, I've had to call the FBI and then the FBI got involved and

[05:42] Well, it comes with the territory. >> Yeah. So, two decades since leaving the CIA. >> Yes. >> It's a bit more. You left in 2004. >> years now. Right. Is it hard to switch off the mindset of, you know, the the instinct of not to trust easily, the urge to read people immediately, and to always stay on, you know, even on days when you don't feel like it? Yeah, it's it's not possible to turn it off. >> You are so highly trained. It is so It is so drilled into you. It becomes

[06:13] second nature. I've been out for 22 years. I still constantly scan my rearview inside view mirrors for surveillance. Wow. Constantly. Constantly trying to size people up. You know, what are their real intentions? What do they want from me? The CIA taught us to trust no one. I learned that the hard way. Oh, yes. Um but yeah, I trust no one. Let me ask you something that I'm sure a lot of people are curious about, and if not, I'm curious about.

[06:44] Um does the CIA have James Bond-type gadgets, you know, um like the pen that you'd flick and it would detonate a bomb, or the Google-type glasses long before they even were made available to the public? Yes. Okay. 20 years ago, I would have said no. Because it was far easier and far cheaper just to buy whatever gadget you needed to do an operation. Okay. When I was in in Pakistan uh in 2002,

[07:15] we had to fly a technical team out to create a device that we needed uh to track him. That was unusual. Uh normally, we would just buy software or buy a gadget. But then, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the Congress gave the CIA a waiver allowing it to invest in technology companies. Like to invest to buy shares. Mm. Which doesn't make any sense, cuz how is government by how this one agency has billions of dollars to invest in

[07:46] tech, but that's what they started doing. And they invested they were the first investor in the company Palantir, which is now a multi-billion dollar intelligence Silicon Valley intelligence concern. And it's not just Palantir, it's a whole bunch of different technology companies. And so because they're such significant investors, they have access to the technology as it's being developed and they can help to customize it to their own intelligence needs. So 20 years ago, 25 years ago, no, those

[08:18] gadgets didn't exist. They were just in the James Bond movies. Today, yes, of course they exist. Palantir founded by a fellow Stanford alum, Peter Thiel. >> That's exactly right. So you never ended up using any one of those gadgets. >> No. Okay. Never. Okay. >> There used to be a shop in London with a sister shop in New York called the spy shop. And every time I'd pass through London, I would go to the spy shop and buy a little, you know, pinhole camera or, you know, something. Just for fun.

[08:49] We bought a lot of the equipment that we needed at the spy shop. >> Really? That's crazy. >> Yeah. Why reinvent the wheel? Why spend a million dollars developing a tool when you can go to the spy shop and buy it for a thousand dollars? >> is still around, right? You know, I I look I I haven't been able to find them. I think they've sort of been overtaken by the technology. The technology advances so quickly that they can't really keep up. I had a friend too from Washington who was a he was an attorney and he quit his job

[09:19] as an attorney to move to Southern California and open up his own spy gadget store and development shop and that lasted about five years and then went it went out because the technology was just changing too quickly. So as soon as you order something and you put it on on it's already outdated and there's something better that's coming. Now, you publicly wrote to Edward Snowden, right? Was it in 2013? 2013, summer. So, if Edward Snowden is watching this interview, what would you

[09:50] want to say to him today? It's been many years since then. I would say not to lose faith. Ed Snowden went public with his revelations of mass dragnet surveillance against American citizens in the summer of 2013 um at great, great personal risk. Uh he he was trying to make his way to Ecuador. And when he was in the transit lounge at Moscow Airport, John Kerry, who was Secretary of State at the time, uh canceled his passport and stranded him

[10:22] in Russia. This is one thing I really hate, Suzie, is when people say he defected to Russia. No, he didn't. He was in the transit lounge and John Kerry stranded him I didn't know in Russia. Everybody's forgotten that. Yeah. So, he never made his way to Ecuador and it's a good thing he didn't Oh, yeah. because the Ecuadorian government flipped, it became pro-American, they gave up Julian Assange, Exactly. and they would have given up Ed Snowden and he would be in prison for the rest of his life. So, what I would say to him is keep the

[10:53] faith because he was right in what he did. He was right to report that the American government was spying on its own people illegally and even though we still have Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, every 2 years when it comes up, fewer and fewer and fewer members vote in favor of it. And so, eventually he's going to be vindicated. >> Oh, wow. Mhm. Wow. So,

[11:24] don't lose hope >> Don't lose hope. Okay. He can get in touch with you if he wants to? Oh, yeah, I've been in touch with him a couple of times. Yeah. Now, when you were released from prison, I think you had mentioned that you would have you would like to have to get involved in prison reform. Is prison reform something still that you'd like to be involved in today or you don't have the time? Funny that you ask. >> Why? Suzy.

[11:55] A week ago on Saturday it was early in the morning, 8:00 8:30, I'm driving down the street in Washington and my phone rings. And I look at it and it's a number that's not in my phone. It says Chicago mobile. Normally I don't answer question phone calls rather that I don't know the caller. I thought maybe it's somebody important they're calling me this early on a Saturday morning. I answer. It's the director of the Bureau of Prisons. I was shocked. He introduced himself and

[12:28] I said, "To what do I owe the pleasure of a call from the director of the Bureau of Prisons?" And he said Yeah. "You've been talking about the Bureau of Prisons for the last 10 years." And I said "On the contrary I've been talking about the Bureau of Prisons for the last 13 years." And he says, "Thus the reason for my call. You don't just talk about the Bureau of Prisons. You offer solutions." He's right, you know. >> Uh-huh? I I do. I've written about this

[12:59] extensively hundreds of times. And so he said "The president has tasked me with tearing the Bureau of Prisons down and rebuilding it." And I said, "The Bureau of Prisons is a failure because it's corrupt and everybody in it is corrupt. We should be ashamed globally ashamed of the of the conditions inside American prisons. They're third world." And said, "And that's why I'm calling.

[13:30] Would you be willing to serve on an advisory board for me?" Okay. He said, "I need advice on how to do this." And I said, "I'm all in." And so, I've joined this advisory board. He asked me if there was anybody I could recommend to also join this advisory board, and I said, "Yes. There are two people that I I highly recommend." And I made a reference. I I connected them. Is this the first time you're saying this to >> First time I've telling anybody I'm telling anybody. >> then. This is This is a big deal. And it gives hope to a lot of people and a lot of people's families. I can't tell you

[14:02] how many times I would go to the prison prison commissary and I would need, let's say, I needed to buy deodorant Yeah. or Pop-Tarts or a battery for my radio. And there are none. Why? Because the guards backed their pickup truck up to the loading dock and stole all of it. And then they sold them on black Yeah, exactly. They sold it on eBay or on the black market. We're talking about tens of thousands just in our little prison. Tens of thousands of dollars

[14:32] stolen. And nobody batted an eye because they were all stealing. I'll give you another example. Um there is a 30% markup on everything in every prison commissary. And that 30% is supposed to go to buy gym equipment, workout equipment TVs, whatever. Yeah. It went to buy gym equipment and workout equipment and TVs for the guards' lounge. We didn't get any of it. It's our own money. And they just stole it from us.

[15:04] Uh the guards are supposed to eat whatever is being prepared in the cafeteria. Well, what's being prepared in the cafeteria is animal-grade food. It says it on the box, "Not for human consumption. Feed use only." Um there was a prisoner who came up to me one time with a with a tub of Sabra hummus. I said, "Where in the world did you find hummus?" And he said, uh "I stole it from the guards' lounge. They're using our money to buy hummus."

[15:37] So, I had him steal some for me. I had to pay him handsomely for it. But, uh they weren't eating the garbage, the animal-grade food that uh we were eating. How about the fish? I remember now you said you told me about the fish that they Fish my very first day in prison. So, what what do you call it? Yes, we called it sewer trout. Sewer trout. On my very first full day in prison, I reported to prison on a Thursday. On Friday, it's fish day. And I said, "Oh, good. I like fish." And one of the Italians told me, "Oh, you're not going to like this fish. Don't eat

[16:08] it. We call it sewer trout." So, I went down to the cafeteria and I see these boxes stacked behind the food line. And it says, "Alaskan cod." Okay. "Product of China." So, it's not Alaskan. And then underneath it says, "Feed use only. Not for human consumption." It's written on the box. It is not to be fed to humans. I'll tell you something worse, Susie.

[16:38] We got a memo from the warden one time, right? Everybody gets a memo. All hands memo, it's called. And it's an apology from the warden. We would have taco night every Wednesday night. It was the worst ground beef I've ever experienced in my life. To the point where I've never eaten a taco again. Since? >> Uh-huh. Wow. I haven't eaten a taco in what, 13 years? I just I can't. >> so tasty, though. >> I can't do it. So, taco night,

[17:11] we were accidentally fed dog food instead of ground beef. Right? It He said, "It's not our fault. Uh it was a mix-up at the um at the meat factory." Whatever they call it. And the the owner of the meat factory is going to pay a fine and the fine goes to the Bureau of Prisons. It doesn't go to us. But I'll tell you, the shame was not that they fed us dog food. The shame was they fed us dog food and

[17:43] we couldn't even tell the difference. So, I mean, Mhm. who knows other times? Exactly. Oh god. I was lucky in that I I was a very high-profile prisoner. And so strangers were just sending money into my commissary account. And so I was able to buy real food. I could buy bags of chicken or bags of tuna. I could buy tortillas to make whatever. I could buy rice. Um

[18:14] and so after my first year [clears throat] or 9 months, I didn't eat their food. It was too unhealthy. It was too dangerous. So, there's a lot of work to do and hopefully uh whatever the commission comes out with the report, it's going to be implemented. Yeah, I hope so. Yeah. Although, again, Donald Trump is only president for 2 and 1/2 more years. Is that really enough time to reform an entire, you know, major global prison system? No. Now, let's let's turn to something lighter. Let's go back to

[18:45] uh that. Do you or did you ever have anything remotely resembling what we see movies uh that involve spies uh like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, you know, a hidden room containing a stash, a secret stash of weapons or anything like that? No? No, nobody does. But there are movies that are very, very true to life. Like Argo was completely true. Really? Completely, totally true. >> Yeah. Uh those guys were heroes at the agency. Um The Recruit was Yeah. almost completely true. The only difference is

[19:17] they didn't beat us in training. Training was hard, but they didn't beat us like they beat him. Uh Bridge of Spies? Oh, I love that. >> 100% historically accurate. >> a Yeah, a true story. >> Yeah, so there are there are a lot of movies that are that are right on, but the action ones, it's totally made up. >> hidden agents don't have hidden rooms with stash. Okay. >> No, no. But, have you ever, as John, acted like Robert De Niro did in the Meet the Parents movie, you know, holding holding someone's wrist to read

[19:49] or intimidate them socially? Did you ever do that? You there? >> Once. Really? I did it once, and the guy started crying. >> Yeah. Why did you do it? You wanted to intimidate him? >> I wanted to intimidate him. But, it was a on a for on a social level, or was it for work? He thought it was a social meeting. Oh. >> For me, it was a it was a work meeting. Can you say more about it? >> He claimed access to a to a target that we were very, very interested in. And so, he came to the embassy and just

[20:19] volunteered. Greek embassy? American embassy. Yeah, the American embassy. >> Where? What What >> No, I can't tell you where. Okay, sorry. I'm just asking you the questions, and if you can't, just tell me I can't. >> Yeah, I can't tell you. So, he comes to the embassy. I have information on this guy who is a known target of ours. I said, "Okay, give me the information." Well, he said, "I'm going to need something from you. I want money. I want this. I want that. I want to resettle in the United States." I said, "Yeah, if you have access to this guy, I'll give you all that stuff." So, he I said, "Give Give me Give me your

[20:51] driver's license, your passport, whatever, so I could see, you know, who I'm dealing with. I'm going to send it back to headquarters for a name trace." And I said, "Come back in 24 hours." So, he didn't realize that we put a surveillance on him to follow him for the rest of the day. And he was just a dishwasher at a restaurant. He didn't have access to this target. He was just washing dishes. But he thought he could lie his way into the United States and I'm going to make him rich and you know, might as well give it a try, right? Yeah. But he was an [clears throat] idiot.

[21:21] And so he came back the next day, he's wearing a suit the next day. And so I did the Robert De Niro thing on him and I wouldn't let go of his wrist. He got very nervous. And then I threatened him. And he started crying and I said, don't you ever come back here or to any other American embassy anywhere in the world. And then one of my colleagues walked up to him and just went click and took his picture. He was bawling. And then left as quickly as he could. That's a fun story.

[21:53] I said afterwards, I can't believe I had to waste two hours on that guy. Wait. That took two hours? The whole um Well, an hour the one day and an hour the next day. >> Okay. Yeah. Fun. So, rapid fire now. Okay. Quick round. One word or one short phrase. Ready? It's a few, but I want to ask them. Bernie Sanders. Love him. Rand Paul. Like him. >> [laughter] >> Why not love him? I love him.

[22:23] >> [snorts] >> Rapid fire. >> Okay. Marjorie Taylor Greene. I've come to respect her. Matt Gaetz. Did I pronounce it correctly? Funny that I've come to respect him. Pete Hegseth. War criminal. Marco Rubio. Another war criminal. Kamala Harris. Loser with a capital L on her head.

[22:53] John Kerry. The stupidest smart guy I've ever encountered. And certainly the most arrogant. Nancy Pelosi. Stayed around way, way too long. Chuck Schumer. Corrupt. And still around. And still around. Bill Clinton. Far more popular as a president. He had a true aura about him.

[23:25] Hillary. Demonic. Bush senior. >> [sighs] >> Complicated, yet very, very popular at the CIA. Bush junior. Um not bright at all and one of the weakest presidents in my lifetime. Barack Obama. Criminal. Trump.

[23:55] No comment. JFK. One of the greatest presidents in American history. If he had been able to to actually survive um the entire face of the world would be different today. Agreed. Dr. Gerald Post. Oh, one of my personal heroes. Recruited me into the CIA and wanted only the best for me. Andres Bustamante. Not important enough to even bother commenting on.

[24:26] Former CIA director Gina Haspel. Bloody Gina Haspel, a war criminal. Former CIA director John Brennan. The worst of all of the criminals. He deserves to be in prison for a very long time. And if all goes well, that's exactly where he'll end his life. Abu Zubaydah. Poor Abu Zubaydah. Abu Zubaydah Yes. Abu Zubaydah should be should be free and living with his family today. He's still in Guantanamo. Still in Guantanamo. Is he in isolation?

[24:58] Uh I mean they're all in relative isolation. They're in cages. Let's go back to the list. Bibi Netanyahu? Uh probably the foremost war criminal on the planet. Putin? A strong leader. Uh I don't agree with everything he does certainly and certainly he has blood on his hands. People don't just fall off hotel balconies for no reason. But a strong leader with a well a long-term view. Xi Jinping?

[25:28] Oh, a strong leader with an even longer long-term view. IRGC? I am of the belief that the IRGC is a terrorist organization. Okay. The most moral army in the world as they themselves purport to be, the IDF? One of the worst criminal organizations at work in the world today. Joe Rogan? I like Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan gave me a big boost being on his show. I I hope to do it again.

[26:00] Patrick Bet-David? You can plead the fifth if you want. Yeah, I think I'll generally plead I like Patrick. He's a nice guy, but I think otherwise I'm going to plead the fifth. >> Okay. Tucker Carlson? >> I love Tucker Carlson. He's been a good friend to me. And uh I think he would be a brilliant president of the United States. King Leonidas of Sparta? >> [laughter] >> One of the greatest figures in history. >> Right. Somebody of whom we should all be

[26:32] proud. Mhm. Especially us the Greeks. >> Especially. Another great Greek. Well, I shouldn't be commenting. Alexander the Great? >> Yeah, the greatest the greatest of of all Greeks who ever lived. >> You're going to have problem with your girlfriend. 1821, those who know know. Greek War of Independence. >> Yeah. One of the most important events in global history. It you know, just reading about the heroes of the revolution, it makes me so

[27:03] proud to be Greek. And when you look at how they Oh, this is rapid fire. But anyway, yeah, it's this is something that should be studied in schools all around the world. Vinyl records. Did you say that one again? >> Vinyl records. >> records. I I buy them all the time. And I'm very happy that my kids my kids have discovered vinyl. And they in fact my youngest one time was singing along in the car with a a classic rock song

[27:34] from the early 70s. And I said I said, "Charlie." His name is Kiriakos. I said, "Charlie, how do you know this song?" And he said, "Are you kidding me? You play it all the time." >> [laughter] >> Astrophotography. Oh, I'm actually Well, of course, you probably saw that. I I work constantly. I have no hobbies. And I decided for my own health, I needed to develop a hobby. And so I took up astrophotography. And I'm kind of good at it. Mhm. I've seen the photos. >> [laughter]

[28:05] >> Book a book or a books you're reading right now? Yeah, [snorts] well >> to start reading? >> Your husband just gave me a wonderful book written Well, it's not written by, but it's the words of Vaios Baiseos. And uh I'm going to start it today. Yeah, he just gave it to you. He just got back from Mount Sinai, Ayon Oros. He gifted it to you too. >> Yes. I can't wait to get into it. Last few ones. Potatoes. I'm a long time fan of potatoes, but I can't eat them anymore. >> I'm throwing it out especially considering the story behind the name

[28:36] Kiriago being linked to a stolen potato. >> [laughter] >> Right, my great my great great grandfather was arrested in Rhodes for stealing a potato. He was starving. And he stole a potato and he was arrested. Our family name was was Christodoulou. And when he went to court, they asked him, "Didn't Antonomasas?" He said, "Marcos Marcos D Marcos D Kiriakou." And they wrote Marcos Kiriakou and he never fixed it. That means Marcos the

[29:06] son of Kiriakou. >> The son of Kiriakou's, right? And so we have one branch of the family that's Christodoulou and one branch of the family that's Kiriakou. And it just was never corrected. Christos and Stella, your parents? >> My parents, wonderful wonderful parents. I was blessed to have You know, it's funny. I thought that everybody had great parents like that when I was growing up and it just wasn't the case. Greece? My my homeland. When I got in trouble, the Greek

[29:38] ambassador called me and said, "How can we be helpful?" And I said, "You can give me citizenship." Oh. And they did. That's how. And all five of my children. Oh, wow. >> Mhm. I'm proud to be a Greek citizen. Very proud. But how about Cyprus? You just did the DNA test. You need to tell the viewers. We're very proud. >> Yeah, I'm very proud of this. I was asked to speak at the uh the uh Cypriots of the diaspora uh conference in Limassol and around the same time that the invitation came, I did a DNA test. And it turned out I'm

[30:09] 24% Cyprus and a Cypriot and I told my cousin Mark Kiriakou. I said uh I said, "Papou always said that we were from Crete originally." And he said, "Not Crete, Cyprus." I said, "No, he didn't say Cyprus. He said Crete." Well, it was Cyprus. And I I I'm sure that you are from Cyprus originally because the surname Kiriakou you don't find it often in Greece. It's a very common surname in Cyprus. >> It's true. But you have to say that the 24% Cypriot is the most percentage of of

[30:42] any country >> of any Yeah, because otherwise it's divided between Greek Islands and the Black Sea and >> got more Cyprus in you than Greece. >> Yeah. So you're a Cypriot. >> I'm a Cypriot. Yep. Greek Orthodoxy. Oh, Orthodoxy is one of the most important things in my life. I I never take off my stavro, never. I've been to Ayion Oros, I've been to Jerusalem. I keep a picture of Ayios Nektarios in my wallet right here. Yeah. So yeah, it's very very important

[31:13] to me. >> And were you visited when you were in prison by members of the Greek uh Not Not only did a did a priest come regularly to give me communion, Father Michael Calor, a wonderful, kind gentleman, but His Eminence Metropolitan Savvas came Really? dressed in a as a bishop with a hat and everything. And then even even one of the guards said to me You always laughing. >> [laughter] >> You always stop laughing. Well, the guard said to me "Who is that guy?" And I said, "He's the

[31:44] archbishop." >> [laughter] >> Who is that guy? They They thought it was Halloween for them. >> They were very impressed. >> Yeah. Like he had his staff and everything. Yeah. He came >> Yeah, he came prepared. >> Yeah, yeah. He did that twice. He came twice to visit me and gave me communion. Uh-huh. So you got the Greek citizenship before you went to prison. >> Yes. And you were visited by Wow. Yes. That's important. So, ending. You've just spent the last couple of days here with me in Cyprus walking through the old town of Nicosia

[32:16] inside the Venetian walls showed you our Statue of Liberty >> Yes. taking you to the green line that separates us from our occupied lands headed up to the Troodos Mountains uh sharing souvla, bulguri, kleftiko [laughter] >> It was so good. and lamb liver. Yes, we eat it and it's delicious and we love it. >> It's It's quite delicious, although it requires lemon. It does. And visiting the 1,000-year-old Saint um John Lambadistis Monastery still standing in remarkable condition and

[32:47] protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and met today uh with Nicosia's mayor, Brountzos. With a final day of activities planned for tomorrow, how would you describe your experiences here in Cyprus, your second second homeland, those are >> Yes. to our American viewers? It's been wonderful here. I've only come to Cyprus once before and it was 34 years ago. 30 Yeah, 4 years ago. I'm I'm embarrassed that so many years have passed. It's a completely different country.

[33:18] But I think I had forgotten how powerful it is to see the green line and the occupation forces and settlers on the other side with their very provocative actions. I don't I don't I'm not trying to make the situation between Cyprus and and the Turkish occupiers worse than it is. But it's so much of it is done just in order to humiliate and to to rub it in where

[33:49] they they have the one of the biggest flags in the world on the side of the mountain and it's lit up at night. >> So we see it every day and >> see it every day and every night. You know? And we're reminded of the occupation this way, 52 years. 52 years of occupation. The call to prayer pointed at the at the Greek neighborhoods of the city. You know, it's just it's very frustrating. It's clear. It's clear to me that the Turks are not interested in in a settlement. They like the status quo just the way it is and that's not

[34:20] acceptable. Uh and your meeting today with the mayor that I helped facilitate. Meet meeting today with the mayor, very exciting. Yeah, he showed you around. Yep. The bird's-eye view. >> He did. He took us up to the to the roof of the municipality. And as he said, it's only 70 m from uh from the gate leading into the Turkish occupied sector of the city. Uh it's it's very powerful. Very

[34:50] powerful. And then, you know, you see on the one side, you see you see the Greek part of the city. And it's modern and it's first world and it has tall buildings and an an economy that's moving. And then you look at the Turkish occupied side. And it's there's nothing happening there. It's like out of the early '60s. There's literally nothing happening there. So, um did I get to ask you questions, the personal questions, not these this

[35:21] last one on Cyprus, that you didn't get to be asked so far by other podcasters? >> Yeah. Okay. So, well done. >> That did you know John Sector will resonate with the viewers and they get to know more things about you. Even though they think they know you, they get to know more things about you. You know, that's actually a funny thing and you probably get that here in Cyprus, too. But people some people think that because they see you on YouTube or Tik Tok or whatever that they know you. >> Mhm. And and that's fine. It's fun. I I love to take selfies with people. I do

[35:51] it every day, no matter where I am in the world. I'm I always say yes. The answer is always yes. But then there's some people who fantasize a relationship with you. Mhm. And that becomes not fun. Okay. We don't want that. No. Okay. So, if the viewers have valued this conversation, tap the bell, subscribe, like and share, and help this channel, this independent voice from the Eastern Mediterranean, reach audiences in the West. And John, thank you again. He left

[36:22] his stall. Thank you. For coming here. My pleasure. >> spending these last few days with family. you for everything. Your final thoughts for viewers? Yeah, as I said in the last episode this is the the biggest, the most important woman-run political commentary in the Eastern Mediterranean. Geopolitical commentary. Geopolitical commentary in the Eastern Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. So, if you haven't

[36:53] subscribed liked, shared, do it now. We need more commentary like this. Thank you, John. Thank you. Thanks for being here. >> [music] [music]
