EPISODE · Apr 8, 2026 · 25 MIN
Daniel Defoe, writer and spy
from Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast · host Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Daniel Defoe, the writer of 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Moll Flanders', was a spy in Scotland in the early 1700s, sending information to England, to help England end Scottish independence, and form a parliamentary union. The spy craft he used was possibly the first known example of deploying surveillance, espionage and propaganda to achieve political outcomes. Guest: Marc Mierowsky, author of 'A spy amongst us: Daniel Defoe's Secret Service and the plot to end Scottish Independence' (Yale University Press) Lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne, where he researches seventeenth- and eighteenth-century literature and intellectual history. Producer: Ann Arnold
What this episode covers
Daniel Defoe, the writer of 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Moll Flanders', was a spy in Scotland in the early 1700s, sending information to England, to help England end Scottish independence, and form a parliamentary union. The spy craft he used was possibly the first known example of deploying surveillance, espionage and propaganda to achieve political outcomes. Guest: Marc Mierowsky, author of 'A spy amongst us: Daniel Defoe's Secret Service and the plot to end Scottish Independence' (Yale University Press) Lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne, where he researches seventeenth- and eighteenth-century literature and intellectual history. Producer: Ann Arnold
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Daniel Defoe, writer and spy
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