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b'Philadelphia is often referred to as the birthplace of a nation, but it would also be fair to say that it was the birthplace of American espionage.

Today\\u2019s guests, Keith Melton and Robert Wallace, author of Spy Sites of Philadelphia, discuss the city\\u2019s secret history from the nation\\u2019s founding to the present.

Throughout the Revolutionary War, Patriot leaders included intelligence operations as a crucial element of the new government. George Washington was America\\u2019s first spymaster, deploying his agents to overcome the advantages of the British force. After the war, spy activity centered around the city\\u2019s port facilities and manufacturing plants. As political, diplomatic, and economic activity shifted from Philadelphia to New York and Washington, DC in the second half of the 20th century, the city remained a target first for Chinese and Soviet industrial spying and, later, for Islamic jihadist recruitment operations.

Spies in Philadelphia have been putting their lives at risk to uncover enemy secrets and undertake deadly missions of disruption and sabotage for over two centuries.'