Virginie Girod SEASON 2022 - 202315h15h03, April 2023, <>

Listen to the story of J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, told by historian Virginie Girod. At the head of the service for no less than 48 years, his name is inseparable from the history of the FBI, the federal police of the United States. Powerful and feared by the greatest political figures, J. Edgar Hoover is the one who "bugged America". As early as the Second World War, he developed the practice of intelligence to target Nazi sympathizers and communists. In this new episode of the podcast "Au cœur de l'Histoire" produced by Europe 1 Studio, historian Virginie Girod tells the story of the rise of an ambitious civil servant, J. Edgar Hoover, from the Department of Justice to the BOI, the ancestor of the FBI.

Topics covered: Federal crimes – history of the FBI – history of profiling – Theodore Roosevelt – fight against organized crime – anti-terrorism – intelligence service – homeland security – nazis

Historian Virginie Girod tells the story of J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI for almost half a century. A pampered child, Hoover becomes an ambitious young man convinced that anything is possible. To pay for his law studies at the University of Washington, he landed his first job that allowed him to get a foothold in the world of politics, at the Library of Congress. It is in this position that he learns very early to cross-check information and to make maximum use of his memory... This story is a Europe 1 Studio production.

At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast.

Writing and presentation: Virginie Girod

- Producer: Adèle Humbert

- Artistic direction: Adèle Humbert and Julien Tharaud

- Director: Clément Ibrahim

- Original music: Julien Tharaud

- Additional music: Julien Tharaud and Sébastien Guidis

- Communication: Kelly Decroix

- Distribution and writing: Eloise Bertil

- Visual: Sidonie Mangin

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