With the cold war over, we're making friends with old enemies. So what's a poor undercover agent to do? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, debating the future of the CIA as it turns fifty. Also, spy stories from former CIA and KGB agents in Berlin. And top secret recipes from CIA families.

SEGMENT 1

Tim Weiner is a reporter for the washington bureau of the New York Times. Loch Johnson teaches political science at the University of Georgia. They talk with Judith Strasser about the CIA as it marks its fiftieth anniversary, and assess the state of the spying game in the post cold-war world.

SEGMENT 2:

Sergei Kondrashev was the head of the KGB's section in Berlin; David Murphy was his counterpart at the CIA. Together (with George Bailey) they have written "Battleground Berlin: CIA vs KGB in the Cold War." They tell Steve Paulson why Berlin was so important after the second world war and describe the various operations they ran against eachother.

SEGMENT 3:

Washington Post editor David Ignatius is enjoying a second career as an author of espionage thrillers. His new one, "A Firing Offense," concerns the ethical implications of using journalists to futher the ends of intelligence agencies. Ignatius tells Jim Fleming that there used to be a much fuzzier line between reporting and spying than there is now. Also, CIA wives Susan and Barbara (no last names, please! Their husbands are still with the Agency.) tell Jim Fleming stories from their cook book - "Spies, Black Ties and Mango Pies: Stories and Recipes from CIA Families All over the World."

Distribution dates:

• week of 09/14/97 - hour 1