# I should have gone to film school

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "I should have gone to film school," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/i-should-have-gone-to-film-school/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*One of the two answers John Kiriakou gives when asked whether, knowing what he knows now, he would join the CIA again. He is candid that he has answered the question differently over the years, sometimes yes, because the agency can only be changed from inside, and sometimes that he should have gone to film school, which he insists is not a joke.*

- **The question:** Would you join the CIA again?
- **Answer one:** Yes, the only way to change the CIA is from the inside
- **Answer two:** "I should have gone to film school"
- **His caveat:** "It may have sounded like a joke, but I'm serious"
- **His one regret:** That he waited as long as he did to blow the whistle

**"I should have gone to film school"** is one of two answers [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) gives to the question he is asked most often by strangers: knowing what he knows now, would he join the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) again.

## Two answers

Kiriakou is unusually open about the fact that he has not answered it consistently. Sometimes he says yes, that the only way to change the CIA is from the inside, that nobody else blew the whistle on the torture programme, and that had he not, perhaps there would still be torture.[1]

In other interviews he has given the other answer, and he does not want it taken lightly: *"I should have gone to film school. Um, I don't know. I I've I've told all of my children … it may have sounded like a joke, but I'm serious."*[1]

What he has told his children is the harder version of the same thought: that he absolutely, positively never wants to hear the words *I want to work for the CIA* come out of any of their mouths. He thanks God that they do not.[2]

## Where he lands

Pressed to settle it, he comes down on the side of doing it again, with one change. He would not have waited as long as he did to blow the whistle.[3]

His stated reason is that somebody had to say something about *"a disgusting disgraceful crime against humanity that we were committing with smiles on our faces"*, and that he is glad it was him, and sorry that he waited.[3]

## See also

- [The Kiriakou Children](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kiriakou-children)
- [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside FBI Recruiting, CIA Secrets & Human Behavior (2026-07-03), at 20:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkAf70JgQBI&t=1211s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-03-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-fbi-recruiting-cia/
2. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside FBI Recruiting, CIA Secrets & Human Behavior (2026-07-03), at 20:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkAf70JgQBI&t=1241s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-03-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-fbi-recruiting-cia/
3. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside FBI Recruiting, CIA Secrets & Human Behavior (2026-07-03), at 21:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkAf70JgQBI&t=1303s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-03-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-fbi-recruiting-cia/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/i-should-have-gone-to-film-school/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt