The Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast

For this episode of the Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast, our host Shane Vander Hart discusses with Michele Rigby Assad her book Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me About What’s Worth Fighting For.

Before that conversation, Shane talks about a disturbing survey from Lifeway Research that shows how prevalent the prosperity gospel is in American churches. 

Also, what is with the collective freak-out over 3D printed guns recently? Then Shane has a nerd moment and has to complain about changes with Facebook.

Later, Shane and Michele discuss her time in the CIA, how God prepared her for that career, and her experience with helping resettle Iraqi Christians displaced because of persecution from ISIS. 

Here is a little about Michele's background. She was an undercover officer in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations. Trained as a counterterrorism specialist, Michele served her country for ten years, working in Iraq and other secret Middle Eastern locations.

Upon retirement from active service, Michele and her husband Joseph, who is also a former agent, joined a group of Americans who wished to aid persecuted Christians. Their efforts resulted in the evacuation of a group from northern Iraq featured on ABC’s 20/20 in December 2015.

Michele holds a master’s degree in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown University. Today she serves as an international security consultant, splitting her time between the Middle East, Florida, and Washington, D.C.

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The Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast can only exist due to the generosity of our sponsor.

This show is sponsored in part by American Principles Project, a conservative political think tank in Washington, D.C. American Principles Project believes that human dignity should be at the heart of public policy. They work in all 50 states and in Washington, D.C. to promote life, religious freedom, local control over education, authentic economic progress for working Americans, and a return to constitutional principles, such as federalism. Want to help American Principles Project? Visit their website today. Sign up for e-mail updates, send a small (or large) donation their way, help them out. They are a great group.