YouSaid · the spoken record

Alex Younger

lines on the record

54

first

2025-05-04

most recent

2025-05-04

sittings or episodes

1

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podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

1. “And actually, when I joined SR, I was tested psychometrically. And the guy came out and rather worryingly said to me, you're perfect. And I said, what do you mean? I'm perfect. You said, you're an introvert pretending to be an extrovert. That's exactly what we want. I suppose obvious reasons. Interestingly, my wife's and her family who are workmen incredibly centered people. The effect has rubbed off on me and I was tested when I left, and I have become an extrovert. It's a lovely story. It's a redemptive story.”

   2025-05-04 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 132. Former Head of MI6: Russia, China, and Trump (Sir Alex Younger) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

2. “First of all, she was completely right. Let's be clear. You know, I'm naturally a mildly introverted person. I'm British. I'm male. I'm middle class. We're not renowned for our communication skills generally. She is none of those worlds. She's not that type of person. And I think it was reasonable perhaps to try to challenge this. And when she discovered that I hadn't even told my closest kit and kin that I was a spy, then as you say, that was it. She was keen. that I put that right. So we went to see my mum and we said I did a lot of sort of Hugh Grant style beating around the bush and eventually spat it out like I was actually a spy. And she looked at me and said, yes, darling, so was I. And it was one of the best moments, really, of my life because to look on my wife's face just sort of says it all what we should getting involved in.”

   2025-05-04 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 132. Former Head of MI6: Russia, China, and Trump (Sir Alex Younger) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

3. “And the third was that there was, albeit imperfect, a difference between peace and war. Digitalization fundamentally upended the whole concept of secrecy and therefore our operating model, and increasing our enemies were employing what we call hybrid techniques across the spectrum, which completely transformed us and kind of put us in the middle of things in a way that we never were before”

   2025-05-04 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 132. Former Head of MI6: Russia, China, and Trump (Sir Alex Younger) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

4. “We looked thanks, Ranks, Alistair. It's great to be here. You've both become rock stars, so there's a slightly intimidating interaction. But I will do my best. And it's a great question, Rory, because whilst the MI6 that I joined in 91 would have been Insofar as how it operated, pretty well familiar to someone who joined in the 1940s or 50s. The SIS that I left was entirely unrecognizable as compared to the one that I joined. When I joined, three things were true, which weren't true when I left. The first was that democracy had triumphed, the second was that secrecy was a thing, that you could use a false name and adopt a cover story and pay in cash, and get away with it.”

   2025-05-04 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 132. Former Head of MI6: Russia, China, and Trump (Sir Alex Younger) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source