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Fifty-One Percent
51%

‘Spitfires’ and Spies

By Jesse King
Published July 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM EDT
Bloomsbury Publishing/Citadel
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On this week’s 51%, we speak with journalism Becky Aikman about her new book, Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II. Desperate for pilots in 1942, Great Britain recruited 25 American women to ferry bombers, fighter planes, and damaged craft between air bases. Drawing from diaries, letters, and personal interviews, Aikman tells the story of the first American women to ever command military aircraft, and how they still struggled to find piloting work in the U.S. after the war. We also speak with former CIA intelligence officer Christina Hillsberg about her book, Agents of Change, and why she feels women make better spies.

Guests: Becky Aikman, Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II; Christina Hillsberg, Agents of Change: The Women Who Transformed the CIA

 
51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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51% SpitfiresAmerican Women PilotsAgents of Change
Jesse King
Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
See stories by Jesse King
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