John Kiriakou: podcast appearances and interviews

John Chris Kiriakou is an American former Central Intelligence Agency officer, author, and whistleblower. He joined the CIA in 1990 as an analyst and later served as an operations officer for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. Kiriakou also held the position of chief of counterterrorist operations in Pakistan following the September 11 terrorist attacks, leading the capture of Abu Zubaydah, who was then believed to be a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member. He left the CIA in 2004 and subsequently worked in the private sector before rejoining government service in 2009 as a U.S. Senate investigator under John Kerry. In 2007, Kiriakou publicly confirmed the use of waterboarding in CIA interrogations during the war on terror, making him the first US government official to do so openly. In 2012, he was indicted and convicted for passing classified information to a reporter, resulting in a prison sentence of 30 months, which he completed in 2015. After his release, Kiriakou has been active as an advocate on issues related to intelligence, whistleblowing, prison reform, civil liberties, covert foreign policy, and national security. He has received multiple awards recognizing his whistleblowing efforts, including the PEN First Amendment Award and the Sam Adams Award. Kiriakou has also engaged in podcasting, initially with Russian state-owned Sputnik and later with his own shows. His appearances on podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience and The Diary of a CEO have gained viral attention online.