True Stories from a Soviet Spy | Jack Barsky | EP 412

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson speaks with ex-KGB spy, author, and podcaster, Jack Barsky. They discuss Jack's upbringing under the communist utopian dream, following the motivating sentiment of “freedom for the oppressed,” how he embedded himself in American society, what brought him into contact with the FBI, and how he was able to walk away.

Jack Barsky (born Albrecht Dittrich, Jack being at first an American alias) is a German-American author, IT specialist and former sleeper agent of the KGB. He spied on the United States from 1978 to 1988, and was exposed after the Cold War. Barsky then became a resource for U.S. counterintelligence agencies, which secured his citizenship. His autobiography, “Deep Undercover,” was published in 2017.

This episode was recorded December 9th, 2023

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- Links -

2024 tour details can be found here

For Jack Barsky:

Psychology Podcast website

Deep UndercoverMy Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America (Book)

Jack’s personal website

On Linkedin

On Instagram

On Facebook

- Chapters -

(0:00) Tour dates 2024

(0:40) Coming up

(1:15) Intro

(2:49) Raised on the communist dream

(6:10) When we started hating

(11:39) Intellectual pride and utopian presumption

(13:40) Early interest as a student

(17:32) A reasonable combination

(22:29) An easy choice

(26:16) Joining the Communist party

(29:33) From Communist to KGB

(34:18) 1 in 3 were informants, oblivious to the fragmenting culture

(37:19) “Let’s meet” introductions

(40:33) Mentorship, credibility, and early training

(43:06) The offer

(48:08) West Berlin, necessary skills for impossible circumstances

(54:23) Moscow, dropping the accent

(57:09) Montreal, procuring a real birth certificate

(1:00:13) Sneaking into the United States

(1:03:14) What was the Soviet goal for Barsky’s assignment?

(1:06:24) Why the assignment failed

(1:07:40) Coming to the attention of the FBI

(1:10:05) How a spy resigns, and why

(1:18:35) Becoming a true American

(1:22:45) Regrets and conclusions

(1:27:29) How a communist came to love God

(1:30:20) Love is the strongest emotion

(1:32:30) Why young people are drawn to left wing utopianism

(1:35:08) Applied Spycology

// LINKS //

Tour Locations

// COURSES //

Discovering Personality

Self Authoring Suite

Understand Myself (personality test)

// BOOKS //

Beyond Order12 More Rules for Life

12 Rules for LifeAn Antidote to Chaos

Maps of MeaningThe Architecture of Belief

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