What if the most powerful secrets shaping our world were hidden in plain sight?

Annie Jacobsen is America’s most fearless investigative journalist. A seven-time bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, she’s spent decades uncovering the truth behind the CIA, covert military operations, nuclear war planning, and the government’s deepest classified programs - from Area 51 to assassination missions you were never meant to know about.

Annie pulls back the curtain on stories that challenge what we think we know about power, secrecy, and war. She shares what it’s like to earn the trust of the world’s most dangerous men - and why the truth is often stranger, and scarier, than fiction.

You’ll learn:

• How Annie went from earning $0 as a writer to breaking into national security reporting
• The advice that changed her life — and how it led to bestselling investigations
• What it takes to gain the trust of CIA operatives and intelligence insiders
• Why “alpha individuals” survive — and what their psychology reveals about resilience
• How secrets stay buried despite being technically declassified
• Why U.S. ICBMs don’t have the range to hit North Korea without flying over Russia
• The chilling truth behind the 72-minute nuclear war scenario
• How a single miscommunication between the U.S. and Russia could trigger World War III

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to High Net Purpose

00:24 Meet Annie Jacobsen: Master of Government Secrets

02:45 Annie’s Purpose: Telling Astonishing True Stories

05:13 From Struggling Writer to National Security Reporter

09:31 Billy Waugh: The CIA’s Most Legendary Spy

16:31 Inside the Shadow World of Espionage

22:02 The Secrets Behind Intelligence and Covert Ops

25:49 The CIA’s First Hunt for Bin Laden

26:23 Clinton, Bin Laden, and the Mission That Didn’t Happen

27:59 Disguises, Deception & Espionage Tactics Revealed

29:05 From Field Reporting to Bestseller Author

29:53 The Lucky Break That Led to Area 51

30:58 Nuclear War Planning: Too Real to Ignore

36:56 NATO, Russia, and the Future of Global Security

42:12 Writing About Dangerous Truths: The Personal Risks

45:56 Staying Grounded in a World of High-Stakes Secrets

49:51 Final Words for Future Truth Tellers

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