Scott Moyers is a veteran executive of the publishing industry. Today he is Vice President and Publisher of Penguin Press. He has acquired and edited countless bestsellers – including many authored by Cipher Brief experts. He was also director of the New York office of the Wylie Agency – one of the most prominent and influential literary agencies in the U.S. We talk with him about his insights about publishing books touching on the national security, foreign policy and intelligence arenas – both fiction and non-fiction. We also ask about do’s and don’t for aspiring authors, changes in the publishing industry – and what does someone who reads for a living – read for pleasure?

Thriller writer Jack Carr didn’t just serve 20 years in the elite Navy SEALS teams – retire and write a book about his experiences. He retired from a career of service (as a sniper) and then followed his ‘other’ passion – writing. His first book, The Terminal List is now an Amazon Prime television series starring Chris Pratt. Since then, he’s written six more novels and has co-authored a non-fiction book called Targeted Beirut, about the 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Story of the War on Terror. Cover Stories talked to Jack about his journey from SEAL teams to author and he has some advice for others making similar transitions from military to civilian life.

From 2007 – 2012, the Pentagon secretly funded a small program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program tasked with investigating reports of military encounters with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. In 2020, the Defense Department launched a new unit called the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force led by the U.S. Navy. And in 2022, the Pentagon created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office – meant to identify, track and better share information with Congress and the public about the events they could not explain and looking at those events through the lens of national security. But Navajo Ranger Stanley Milton, Jr. was way ahead of them in terms of tracking and sharing information he was gleaning during his three decades working as a law enforcement officer in the Navajo Nation. So what does he want you to know about UFOs?

Long-time CIA officer Marty Petersen is an acknowledged expert on Asia. He is a current Cipher Brief exert who writes frequently on Asian matters. But rather than focusing on modern day China policy for once, he has just published his first novel: City of Lost Souls which is set in 1932 Shanghai and tells of a private detective who helps a young woman search for her missing brother. We’ll ask him about what attracted him to writing fiction and particularly this region and era. We’ll also discuss how writing a novel requires a different skill set from that required of a top Asia analyst for the CIA and if there are lessons and insights that can be derived from his novel that can be applied to current U.S. - China relations. After listening to the podcast – be sure an check out the review of City of Lost Souls in The Cipher Brief.

Admiral Jim Stavridis (Ret.) is out with his fourteenth book, The Restless Wave - a tale of historical fiction taking place during World War II. Cover Stories co-host Suzanne Kelly caught up with the retired Admiral for a Cipher Brief Book Club virtual meeting to talk about just how much of ‘himself’ was written into his main character – about what inspired his writing and then, she couldn’t help but ask about those love scenes.

Tom Straw is a former Top 40 radio disc jockey, TV weathercaster, and someone who has written and executive produced prime time and late night TV shows. He is also a best-selling writer of crime novels (under the pseudonym “Richard Castle,”) so friends like to say he can’t keep a job. For his latest gig he has served up a spy novel called “The Accidental Joe”about a maverick celebrity chef whose travel TV series ends up as cover for a dangerous CIA espionage mission. Former CIA officer Rodney Faroan’s review of the book for The Cipher Brief called it a “refreshing, rip-roaring tale of a spy operation gone awry.” We talk with Straw about his multifaceted career, his process of cooking up tasty plots – and how writing spy thrillers differs from detective novels and TV comedies.

We talk with retired Navy Rear Admiral Mike Studeman about his book “Might of the Chain: Forging Leaders of Iron Integrity about why trust in leaders in the public and private sector has sunk to all-time lows and his formula for restoring and keeping that trust.Drawing on his naval experience (and heritage) Studeman explains how every person in an organization must pull their share of the load – because one weak link may sink the enterprise.The book has great value for sailors and non-sailors alike, giving readers insights on how to harden their own leadership mettle.

Jack Downey was an up and coming young Yale student. When he graduated in 1951, like a surprising number of his fellow Elis, he signed up to work for the CIA looking to serve and for adventure. A little more than a year later, during the Korean War, he found himself on a transport airplane attempting an “agent extraction” over China. The plane was shot down and Downey spent the next 21 years in captivity – the longest serving prisoner in an undeclared war in U.S. history. But his story does not end with his release in 1972. Downey went to law school, married a Chinese-American classmate and became a juvenile court judge in Connecticut. We will talk with author Barry Werth whose new book: Prisoner of Lies: Jack Downey’s Cold War has just been published. After listening to the podcast: check out The Cipher Brief’s review of the book.