FILE 008 - CIA's Analytic Chief on the Tradecraft Behind the Agency's Assessments

In this episode of The Langley Files, Deputy Director of CIA for
Analysis, Linda Weissgold, joins Dee and Walter to discuss what
makes a good CIA analyst, the unusual working hours required to
be the President's briefer, and the importance of the Agency's
apolitical assessments. Along the way, she shares lessons from
her decades-long career with CIA - and what it's like delivering
bad news to the most powerful person on the planet.



Look Inside FILE 008



Want to dive deeper into today’s episode? Here's a look into
Langley's (unclassified) files:
 
Overview of CIA’s Directorate of Analysis and the analytic
positions available at the Agency


 


Is perhaps the most exclusive publication in the world still
delivered on paper? Check out the evolution of the President’s
Daily Brief (PDB)


 


Curious about the women OSS members Linda mentioned? Read stories
from the “Sisterhood of Spies”


 


See the iconic words inside the final President’s Intelligence
Checklist (PICL) ever produced by CIA


 


Want to try your hand at searching out the answer to today’s
trivia question? Head over to the CIA World Factbook—where that
information, and much more, awaits.