John Kiriakou Analyzes Spy Movies

During the recent long weekend, I felt it was time for a shift in programming. I hope semperloquitur doesn’t mind me venturing into John Kiriakou’s critiques, as I step into the realm of Sunday movie features.

I began to take notice of Kiriakou a while back while he co-hosted Deprogrammed with Ted Rall. Additionally, I watched an extensive interview he had with Tucker Carlson, and I came across his earlier insights into the U.S. torture program. Two months ago, Rall provided an update in A Funny Thing Happened to John Kiriakou:

John Kiriakou wasn’t in dire straits, but he faced significant challenges.

Not only was he financially struggling, but he was also burdened with looming legal fees from the attorneys who defended him against the federal government’s pursuit…. He found himself relying on food stamps. Whether this was due to his age (61) or being blacklisted by the U.S. government is hard to determine….

John Kiriakou is the whistleblower who revealed the CIA’s torture program during the Bush administration, infamous for methods like waterboarding. Instead of receiving the recognition he deserved, he was sentenced to federal prison for nearly two years—punished for exposing harsh truths. This ordeal shattered his marriage, seized his pension, and cast him in a negative light.

Now, he has become a meme. In fact, there are hundreds of memes out there. If you’ve been online recently, it’s likely you’ve encountered some version of CIA John, as young folks call him, repeatedly.

“I didn’t know how to reverse my situation” after being released, John shared with me. “So, I decided to say yes to every podcast invitation. If a 17-year-old has a podcast for his high school friends, my answer is yes. About two years ago, invites started rolling in for larger podcasts.” John filled his days appearing on numerous podcasts. He was busy but still struggling to make a living.

Then one of his stories went viral on TikTok.

“My niece called and said, ‘Uncle John, you’re blowing up online!’ I asked, ‘Why?’ She replied, ‘There are these hilarious shorts of you.’ I went on TikTok and recognized clips from the ‘Diary of a CEO’ podcast. A kid had taken that interview, edited it into shorts, altered my voice to sound like ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ and then to a deep ogre’s voice, and even added laser beams shooting from my eyes.”

“It skyrocketed to the point where I’m nearing a billion views. It’s surreal. The next day, while filming a documentary with a German crew on the 25^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I was at the Pentagon for three hours and had 10 people stop me for selfies…”

Has John’s life changed… forever? That remains uncertain.

What’s clear is that thanks to TikTok and the podcast episode that sparked the craze, John’s commitment to truth-telling has catapulted him from relative obscurity—unlike figures like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, he wasn’t initially a household name—to international fame.

One of life’s greatest luxuries is the ability to grow into who you were meant to be. The grave injustice of Kiriakou being the sole individual prosecuted for the U.S. torture program seems to have paved the way for his transformation. Yet, few possess the intelligence, resilience, and charisma to shift their lives in such a meaningful way. He conveys an earnest desire to connect without appearing desperate or overly eager. To me, his voice resonates with a hero’s tenor, reflecting spirit and the Japanese concept of yaruki—often translated as “can-do spirit.”

Kiriakou has mentioned that North by Northwest is his favorite spy movie (even while admitting that many might not categorize it as such), and he’s watched it at least 100 times.

Below, Kiriakou shares insights on various aspects of tradecraft, with more discussions on similar topics available on YouTube.

Enjoy!