Stella Rimington, author of "Illegal Action"

Originally broadcast: July 8, 2008

When Dame Judi Dench plays super-cool spy chief “M” in the James Bond movies, she’s tough as nails and has a woman’s intuition.

When Dame Stella Rimington took over Britain’s super-secret MI5 security service, she was the first woman ever to hold the top spy post — and a tough, cool player herself. Dench’s model, we’re told, for “M.”

Now Stella Rimington is out of the spy game, but still very much in the world, writing thrillers that catch the new tang of Russian oligarchs and post-Cold War skulduggery.

This hour, in an archive edition of On Point: Spy master turned novelist, Dame Stella Rimington.

- Tom Ashbrook

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Guests:

Dame Stella Rimington, former Director General of Britain’s MI5 Security Service, from 1992-1996, and author of the new novel “Illegal Action,” her third spy thriller featuring MI5 agent Liz Carlyle.

Andrew Cook, expert on the history of espionage and author of “M: MI5’s First Spymaster” and other books.

J. Edgar Hoover

They chased down Bonnie and Clyde, gunned down John Dillinger, and battled Al Capone. They stalked Martin Luther King, bugged war protesters, and missed 9/11.

This summer, the FBI and its agents across the country celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It’s a century jammed with criminals, characters and controversial moments that riveted public attention, from the Unabomber and the FBI’s own J. Edgar Hoover, to Waco and the wiretapping debate right now.

This hour On Point: the FBI at 100, where it’s been, and where it’s headed.

- Tom Ashbrook

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Guests:

Cartha D. Deloach, Former Deputy Director of the FBI and author of the book “Hoover’s FBI: The Inside Story by Hoover’s Trusted Lieutenant”

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, Professor Emeritus of American history at the University of Edinburgh and author of “The FBI: A History”

Eric Lichtblau, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times and author of “Bush’s War: The Remaking of American Justice.”

When America’s spy agencies issued a National Intelligence Estimate two weeks ago stating that Iran shuttered its nuclear weapons program in 2003, it was a blockbuster like few can recall.

The sigh of relief in Washington and around the world was audible. Only recently, President Bush had said a nuclear Iran might ignite “World War III.”

But behind the scenes, among intelligence and foreign policy experts, the reaction is more complicated. No one quite knows what to believe, or what the effect on U.S. policy should be.

This hour, On Point: Iran and the politics of intelligence.

-James Hattori

Guests:

Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times, and author of “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.”

Flynt Leverett, former senior director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, and analyst at the State Department and CIA. He is now director of the Geopolitics of Energy Initiative at the New America Foundation and author of “Inheriting Syria: Bashar’s Trial by Fire.”

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA Middle East specialist, is resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of “The Islamic Paradox: Shiite Clerics, Sunni Fundamentalists, and the Coming of Arab Democracy.”