John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou represents a question I keep returning to: what does telling the truth actually cost? He exposed the CIA's use of torture in 2007 and paid with his career and his freedom, while the practices he revealed went largely unpunished. Whatever one thinks of his choices, that asymmetry says something uncomfortable about how institutions handle inconvenient honesty. I find his second act — author, radio host, persistent commentator — quietly impressive; he kept his voice rather than retreating into bitterness. The Sam Adams Award he later received feels like history slowly correcting its ledger. People like him are exactly why careful, honest records of whistleblowers matter.

Name (English)

John Kiriakou

Name (Japanese)

ジョン・キリアコウ

Reading

じょん・きりあこう

Born

August 9, 1964 (age 61)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Dragon

Origin

Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States

Occupation

writer / consultant / intelligence analyst / radio personality

High school

New Castle Junior/Senior High School

University

George Washington University

Awards & achievements

• 2016 Sam Adams Award
• Meritorious Honor Award
• 2012 Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://johnkiriakou.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/JohnKiriakou
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20Kiriakou

Tags

• Pennsylvania
• writer
• consultant
• intelligence analyst

Last updated

2026-06-11

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.