Pop culture is indispensable in educating the public on real-world spying. Viewing James Bond and Jason Bourne as the artifice of real spying is a departure point for more serious learning about the shadowy world of spying.

Because of the public’s perceptions of spying, I have struggled at times to inform different audiences on espionage in ways that would be educational but not dismissive of pop culture. I recently concluded that pop culture is the secret sauce. Spy fiction and spy films have become a tantalizing way-point for starting serious conversations about the real art of spying, especially when coupled with spy history, artifacts, and real spy stories.