📚 1 Books mentioned in "Amaryllis Fox: “What Does This New Version of Mutually Assured Destruction Look Like?”| Episode 24" of People I (Mostly) Admire
Podcast: People I (Mostly) Admire
Episode: Amaryllis Fox: “What Does This New Version of Mutually Assured Destruction Look Like?”| Episode 24
Published on January 20, 2023
Here’s a list of all the books mentioned in this episode. Click on the links to watch specific excerpts on YouTube and feel free to purchase the books if they caught your interest!
Life Undercover
Buy Life Undercover by Amaryllis Fox on Amazon
Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the bestselling book, Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA.
In this segment, host Steve Levitt introduces Amaryllis Fox, noting her extensive background as a CIA operative. He highlights her bestselling book, 'Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA,' which captures her unique experiences in the agency.
It's so clear from how you talk and the way you describe yourself that you are very attuned to the pain of others, whether it's the suffering of the Burmese people or the deep shock and pain you felt over 9/11, which you describe in your book.
In this segment, the host mentions the guest's book, 'Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA', highlighting that the guest's empathy is a central theme discussed in it.
It's called Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, and that doesn't really strike me as a typical recipe for success as a CIA operative, being extremely empathetic, or am I wrong about that?
In this segment, host Steve Levitt mentions the book title, 'Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA'. He raises a question about how empathy relates to success as a CIA operative, tying this inquiry to the themes explored in the book.
A second thing that I found really surprising about your book was the suggestion that a lot of terror groups have close to—or within reach of—some kind of nuclear capabilities.
In this segment, the host highlights a surprising aspect of Amaryllis Fox's book, specifically discussing the suggestion that many terror groups may have access to nuclear capabilities.
I think I read in the book about leaving on the last day and what my mentor had told me, which was like, 'When you leave, however much you think you did good work here and you have relationships and you did something important and you got these exceptional performance awards and la-di-da, when you leave, it’s like getting out of a swimming pool—the water will close in behind you, and no one will ever be able to see that you were here.'
In this segment, Steve Levitt discusses a poignant piece of advice regarding leaving the CIA, which he recalls from Amaryllis Fox's book 'Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA'. Fox's mentor indicated that upon leaving the agency, all the accomplishments and relationships built will be obscured, much like the ripples in a pool after someone has exited.
I think you don't explicitly talk about it in the book, but there's such a brutality somehow associated with the career path you were on this year: you give up everything from your past, you spend all day masquerading as something you're not, and when you leave, as you described, you're gone and it disappears.
In this segment, Steve Levitt discusses Amaryllis Fox's book 'Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA', highlighting how it addresses the harsh realities and emotional toll of her career in the CIA.
A lot of young women read this book and reach out to me, and I think that on a personal level, if I were just their friend or their mom, there’s not a lot of personal happiness to be had on the simple deep personal level doing this work.
Steve Levitt mentions the book "Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA" by Amaryllis Fox, noting that many young women read it and connect with her.