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This is a "behind the scenes" interview with Geoffrey Fowler, the creator and first editor of the CIA's World Intelligence Review (WIRe). Geoff sat for the "From Tragedy to Transformation" interview series nearly a year ago. His contributions were instrumental to telling the Analytic Transformation story. However, his career experiences stood on their own and we felt deserved the full Unredacted treatment. In this episode, Geoff tells us about how his career changed after the attacks on September 11th, his time in the White House assisting with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and why he was eventually tapped to create the WIRe. Geoff gives an incredibly candid recounting of the agency's fractured intelligence production posture and the reforms he instituted to raise the quality of CIA's customer service. Along the way, he shares some leadership lessons and insights on what you need to do to make sure your initiatives survive contact with bureaucracy. Music by Gramatik from the album #Digitalfreedom If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] Thank you to Dragon Forge Consulting for sponsoring this episode!

Brian Drake invites you to attend a special live recording of The Unredacted Podcast on 6 October. The Unredacted Podcast has partnered with AFCEA and Carahsoft to record a live event to cap-off the conversation. The primary question we are asking is, "Did it matter?" After all the change was installed, did we see a change in the Intelligence Community? Did those changes contribute to an improvement in how the community does business? Can we point to tangible mission successes from these programs? The event is free and we will have refreshments. Space is limited, so get your tickets now! REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-recording-of-from-tragedy-to-transformation-tickets-2000606850946

We give our interviewees some time and space to talk about the challenges they foresee in intelligence. What are the most pressing problems? How can we think about solutions? How will technologies like artificial intelligence change the intelligence business? Is there a future for open source intelligence? Are there opportunities to affect change for the better? What will it take? If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

While Dr. Fingar has written several books on the topic, we ask our interviewees to share their lessons from this time of tremendous change. We talk about everything from leadership lessons, to how to assemble a highly effective team, the promise and perils of technology, and how to affect change under the worst of conditions. All of these gems of knowledge have been assembled here for current and future national security leaders. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property. Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Feel by Skarlett Riot, https://t.lickd.co/l/MJBy1WaaBmn

After many long-fought battles, the Analytic Transformation Program is closed. This week, we summarize the achievements of the program. You will hear from folks who ran the most and least successful programs in the portfolio and how they think about their time in Analytic Transformation. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

In this episode, we dive deep into two of the most controversial programs in the Analytic Transformation portfolio. The Summer Hard Problem Program (SHARP) and the Rapid Analytic Support and Expeditionary Response (RASER) training program. Both were designed in Washington DC, but operated in the far-flung corners of the world. While each bore their fair share of criticism, they also hoisted-up many successes for finding solutions to tough problems and intelligence officer development. We get to hear both sides of the story from those who had first-hand knowledge. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

The flagship program of Analytic Transformation: A-Space. A special enclave reserved for intelligence analysts to share information freely and collaborate on products. Who could argue with the value of that? Well . . . as it turns out . . . a lot of people. In this episode, we hear from many voices involved in conceptualizing, deploying, and running the A-Space program. Now known as i-Space, and open to more than just analysts, we gain an appreciation for what the Analytic Transformation team was trying to accomplish and assess its success. Or at least, hear about whether President George W. Bush thought if it was a success. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

Today, blogging is considered passe. We forget blogs were the precursor technology to all of the social media platforms deployed on the Internet. In the Intelligence Community (IC) in 2005, blogging was viewed as nearly subversive. The Intelink Blogging platform created a space for change agents to communicate directly to their peers, discover research on key intelligence questions, test analytic hypotheses, and build communities of interest. In this episode, we hear from some of the most popular bloggers in the IC giving a graduate-level course on how to respectfully undermine authority and make change happen. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

Wikipedia defines Intellipedia as "an online system for collaborative data sharing used by the United States Intelligence Community." This description belies the immense amount of pain, suffering, and the many mission victories behind the deployment of the most successful information sharing platform in intelligence history. In this episode, we hear from the people who built, used, and protected Intellipedia from those who did not want to see it succeed. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

The Need-to-Know culture gives way to the Responsibility-to-Provide future. Analytic Transformation takes on the discovery of what customers want, what intelligence products have been produced, and who knows something about everything all the time. In this episode, we hear about three programs: the Analysis Resource Catalogue, the Library of National Intelligence, and the National Intelligence Priorities Framework. And you will be astounded how anything got done in intelligence without them. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

With the team built and the contours of a plan, the Analytic Transformation Team took their show on the road. What better place to unveil the full slate of programs than Chicago? Armed with some marketing material, Tom Fingar and Michael Wertheimer host an event open to the public to iron-out the most pressing issues facing the community and solicit answers. Facing resistance from highly respected senior analysts, such as Mark Lowenthal, the very basic suppositions of the Analytic Transformation program are challenged. In this episode we hear from these voices as they look back over 20 years. Will their perspectives have changed? If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property. Copyrighted music licensed from Lickd. https://lickd.co Sweet Home Chicago by Steve Goodman, https://t.lickd.co/l/pBJo5kOyVej

With the wind at his back, Tom Fingar is tapped to build the Office of Analysis in the Director of National Intelligence. He needed a team of reform-minded individuals representing a wide swath of Intelligence Community (IC) interests. With only a vague idea of what they were going to do and not knowing if they could even do it, they joined forces to transform the IC. These are the inside stories of what the selection process was like and how they started to think about the initiatives reshaping the community. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

There is always a gap between how Hollywood depicts the intelligence business and reality. After 9/11, it was shockingly clear how little investment had been funneled to the Intelligence Community (IC) since the end of the Cold War. Siloed, fragmented, understaffed, and technically behind, there was a lot of catching up to do. We recount the stories of new and experienced IC professionals who began to take inventory of this technical debt. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

Angry and scared, the American public demands the Intelligence Community be reformed. While the creation of an independent orchestrator of national intelligence had been discussed for years, there was widespread resistance; even after the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on 9/11. Nevertheless, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act establishing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Our interviewees recount what the political environment was like and give us a behind the scenes look at how the ODNI was created. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected] The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.

Every generation has a touchstone historical tragedy. For some it was the Kennedy assassination. For others it is the Challenger disaster. If you were born before 2001, you probably have been asked. “Where were you on 9/11?” It was a singular event which reshaped a nation and thrust America into the twenty-year Global War on Terrorism. This episode reminds us of the events of that day and introduces us to our interviewees for the series. If you have a question or a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at: [email protected]   The Unredacted Podcast is a production of Dragon Forge Consulting. With the exception of the content provided under license or with the permission of the creator, all content, including but not limited to, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and any associated materials of The Unredacted Podcast are the exclusive property of DRAGON FORGE and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. DRAGON FORGE is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to this Intellectual Property.