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These Hidden Figures Cracked an Impossible Soviet Code

Season 2 Episode 6 | 9m 56s

In the 1940’s, the US government had a mission: find Soviet spies that had infiltrated their nuclear program. To do that, they needed to find a way to decode Soviet messages, notorious for being “unbreakable.” So they turned to the Venona Project. This group of talented mathematicians, consisting largely of women, went on to expose spies in nearly every agency in the federal government.

Aired: 12/06/23
Funding for ROGUE HISTORY is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Extras
A network of traveling merchant-spies were essential to the expansion of the Aztec Empire.
The largest enslaved insurrection in US history was planned for 1856– and then called off.
Ninjas are famous in popular culture, but behind the stereotypes lie a legendary history.
Chevalier d’Eon was a spy, fencer, and gender identity trailblazer who blackmailed a King.
“I wanted to start a personal war with Hitler. And I wanted to fight with my imagination.”
This musician spied on Black socialists then criticized the government for being racist.
A year into the Civil War, the Union Army unveiled their secret weapon: spy balloons.
One pirate’s tale of buried treasure led to generations of treasure hunting.
Sea Lords were as vital to medieval Japan as samurai, so why were they called “pirates?”
Though often overlooked, the Barbary pirates played a huge role in U.S. and world history.
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A network of traveling merchant-spies were essential to the expansion of the Aztec Empire.
The largest enslaved insurrection in US history was planned for 1856– and then called off.
Ninjas are famous in popular culture, but behind the stereotypes lie a legendary history.
Chevalier d’Eon was a spy, fencer, and gender identity trailblazer who blackmailed a King.
“I wanted to start a personal war with Hitler. And I wanted to fight with my imagination.”
This musician spied on Black socialists then criticized the government for being racist.
A year into the Civil War, the Union Army unveiled their secret weapon: spy balloons.
One pirate’s tale of buried treasure led to generations of treasure hunting.
Sea Lords were as vital to medieval Japan as samurai, so why were they called “pirates?”
Though often overlooked, the Barbary pirates played a huge role in U.S. and world history.