48 Heart-Pounding Minutes With a Globe-Trotting Spy: Join our LIVE VIDEO CHAT with Shawnee Delaney
Ever wonder what it's like to wear a wig and recruit foreign assets in war zones? Or how about going head to head with Chinese agents pilfering America's corporate secrets? Find out Tuesday at 2 ET.
*Editor’s note: This live video chat has already taken place; you can watch a full replay of the conversation here.*
Haters wrote her off as a wannabe Lara Croft who wouldn’t get far in the sexist, hyper-masculine world of international espionage. But Shawnee Delaney, military spy turned corporate spook, continues proving them wrong — and now she’s ready to share her stories and secrets with all of us in Narratively’s first-ever live video chat. Join us this coming Tuesday, September 24, at 2 p.m. Eastern for a freewheeling conversation between Shawnee and me, Narratively founder Noah Rosenberg. In honor of our chat — which is free and open to everyone — we’ve removed the paywall on Amy Bond’s riveting recent profile of Shawnee. I highly encourage you to give it a read and I hope you’ll join us, whether you plan to eavesdrop sleeper-agent-style or lend me a hand by posting a question during the chat.
Substack’s live-video feature was just rolled out this past week, and for now it’s only available in the Substack app on mobile. If you’re interested in attending, make sure to download the app and turn on notifications in advance, so you’re alerted as soon as we go live at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. You’ll also receive an email notification with a link to join the chat when we’re live.
We won’t have the live link until the chat begins, but we’ve created a reminder for you:
And here again is Amy’s now-unpaywalled piece on Shawnee if you want to give it a read in advance of the live chat (and we think you should!):
🔥 NEW STORY🔥: The Secret Lives of a Military Spy Turned Corporate Spook
Shawnee Delaney sits quietly, breathing into her belly to slow her heart rate as the Afghan security officer circles her car and promptly starts “beating the shit out of the windows with the butt of his rifle.” Running through her mind as she prays that the officer won’t hit the un-armored rear window is the fact that just a few years prior, Al-Qaeda had issued a $1 million bounty for anyone who captured a known Western intelligence officer. Hands shaking, Shawnee pulls out her burner phone and calls a human intelligence contact. He promises to send someone to the car ASAP, but Shawnee knows she needs to buy time, and fast.
“I’m going to kill you!” the security officer screams.
Just then, a truck rolls up and parks itself in front of Shawnee’s car, blocking them in. The security officer walks to the truck and takes something out of the back.
“It looks like he’s grabbing an RPG,” Luis says to the group, referring to a rocket-propelled grenade. “Wait, oh god, there are two RPGs!”
Thank you, as always, for your support, and I hope to see you on Tuesday! I’m really excited to test out this completely new way for you to connect with the extraordinary subjects of Narratively’s true stories.
Group Thinkers with Eagle Scout Merit Badges.