Simon Willmetts (@swillmetts) 's Twitter Profile
Simon Willmetts

@swillmetts

Cultural historian of secrecy and intelligence. @swillmetts.bsky.social

ID: 2361233696

calendar_today25-02-2014 15:12:43

5,5K Tweet

1,1K Followers

2,2K Following

Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi (@arturojimenezb) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Here is my latest article with Luca Trenta for the NatlSecurityArchive on the U.S. role in the 1963 coup and assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm. We included some eye-popping documents in this one. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/…

The Stuart Hall Foundation (@stuarthallfdn) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The Stuart Hall Essay Prize is reopening to submissions. New entries will be accepted until 5pm, 3rd November 2025. Open to submissions from UK-based entrants aged 18-30 inclusive, the prize invites new writing that connects with Hall’s ideas and impacts broad public discourse.

The Stuart Hall Essay Prize is reopening to submissions. New entries will be accepted until 5pm, 3rd November 2025. 

Open to submissions from UK-based entrants aged 18-30 inclusive, the prize invites new writing that connects with Hall’s ideas and impacts broad public discourse.
The International Spy Museum (@intlspymuseum) 's Twitter Profile Photo

A new SpyCast episode is out! 🚨🎧 In 1988, during a routine polygraph exam, CIA officer Tracey Ballard told her examiner, "I'm a lesbian." At a time when being gay could end your career, especially in intelligence, Tracey's honesty launched her into uncharted territory. Her

A new SpyCast episode is out! 🚨🎧

In 1988, during a routine polygraph exam, CIA officer Tracey Ballard told her examiner, "I'm a lesbian." At a time when being gay could end your career, especially in intelligence, Tracey's honesty launched her into uncharted territory. Her
Foreign Affairs (@foreignaffairs) 's Twitter Profile Photo

“While publicly claiming that its actions are meant to depoliticize U.S. intelligence agencies, the Trump administration has in fact politicized them further,” argue David Gioe and Michael Hayden. foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

Dr. Dan Lomas (@sandbagger_01) 's Twitter Profile Photo

"the F.B.I. has asked senior employees whether they have said anything negative about Mr. Patel, according to two people with knowledge of the questions and others familiar with similar accounts". share.google/Cv5bz6H2wjHB5a…

Foreign Affairs (@foreignaffairs) 's Twitter Profile Photo

“Trump is not a born intelligence consumer,” write David Gioe and Michael Hayden. “Trump seems to value intelligence only when it validates his own instinct; he does not look to it to challenge his beliefs or to help him consider different angles.” foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

Cátedra Inteligencia (@catedraint) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Descubriendo las debilidades de la KGB y la CIA. Tres nuevos libros analizan diferentes puntos ciegos de los servicios de inteligencia. economist.com/culture/2025/0…

Derek Thompson (@dkthomp) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.

Yes. 

Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking.

Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.
Robert Morton (@robert4787) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The firing of NSA’s top lawyer after attacks in conservative media shows Trump’s priority- loyalty over expertise. That kind of purge weakens the very intel agencies meant to protect us. #NSA #Intelligence #Politics politi.co/4or2Ygy

The Atlantic (@theatlantic) 's Twitter Profile Photo

William J. Burns spent three and a half decades as a career diplomat. Now the former director of the CIA and deputy secretary of state has watched as the Trump administration has discarded his colleagues. “This is not about reform,” he writes. “It is about retribution.”

William J. Burns spent three and a half decades as a career diplomat. Now the former director of the CIA and deputy secretary of state has watched as the Trump administration has discarded his colleagues. “This is not about reform,” he writes. “It is about retribution.”
Dr. Dan Lomas (@sandbagger_01) 's Twitter Profile Photo

⁉️ Earlier this year we saw Blaise Metreweli selected as the next "C". But how do you appoint a Classified? In this Diplomacy and Statecraft article, we use archival material to study the process and the role of officials in picking "C". Free to read, 🧵 later tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

⁉️ Earlier this year we saw Blaise Metreweli selected as the next "C". But how do you appoint a <a href="/ChiefMI6/">Classified</a>?

In this <a href="/diplostatecraft/">Diplomacy and Statecraft</a> article, we use archival material to study the process and the role of officials in picking "C".

Free to read, 🧵 later

tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…