The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution | Liberty and the Pursuit of Intelligence | 1
6/23/202641 min
It’s 1775 and after years of rising tensions, rebellion is about to break out in British North America. The 13 rebel colonies want to shake off rule from London and form a new nation: The United States of America. But with their Patriot army no match for the might of the British Empire, they need to even the odds by turning to espionage.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlice Levine0:00
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Raza Jaffrey· Host0:08
[tense music] April 22nd, 1775, New Haven, Connecticut, British North America. [sword clinking] Benedict Arnold straps on his sword and checks his reflection in a hallway mirror. Looking back at him is a broad-shouldered man in his mid-30s, with his dark hair neatly tied back in the fashion of the day. He straightens his back, aware that today destiny calls. [door opening] He steps out from his house and into the morning light. Gulls wheel overhead. In the harbor, ships sway gently in the breeze. The air smells of salt, tar, wood smoke, and the day's trade, fish just landed, molasses in the warehouses, and mud from the tidal flats. Arnold is a merchant, a smuggler, and the richest man in New Haven. He's also a senior figure in the local branch of the Sons of Liberty, a clandestine network of men who oppose British taxes and rule. People stare as Arnold strides through the streets. He rounds a corner and sees the green at the center of town ahead, packed with members of the Sons