CIA Whistleblower Has Played Angry Birds Every Day for Almost 9 Years

CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou has made the surprising reveal that he has played Angry Birds every single day for the past nine years. Angry Birds has blossomed into a full franchise, but Kiriakou has been specifically dedicated to the mobile games that made Angry Birds such a popular phenomenon in the first place.

For those who are unfamiliar with John Kiriakou’s history, he is most well-known as the whistleblower who was responsible for revealing that the CIA was using torture methods to interrogate suspected terrorists during the War on Terror. In recent years, he has become an author and a prominent guest on podcasts like This Past Weekend and even has his own called John Kiriakou’s Dead Drop. Despite being so busy, that hasn’t stopped him from keeping up with one of the most influential mobile games of all time.

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CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Has Almost Spent an Entire Decade Playing Angry Birds

During a recent interview, Kiriakou confessed that he hasn’t missed a day of playing Angry Birds for nine years. He specifically enjoys Angry Birds 2. He admitted that he’s “obsessive” about the game and that he devotes a lot of his free time into making sure that all his birds are at the same level. His love for Angry Birds goes so deep that he even wakes up a full hour earlier than he usually would just so he can set aside some time to play it. The Angry Birds games may no longer have the hold on pop culture that they once did, but that hasn’t stopped Kiriakou from enjoying spending an ample amount of time with the series.

Guess the games from the emojis.

Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)

There was once a time when Angry Birds was everywhere. The 2010s saw a lot of great mobile games pop up and take the spotlight as the capability of smartphones became more impressive. Angry Birds‘ status as a viral video game made it become something even bigger over the years.

Other popular mobile games like Flappy Bird spiked in popularity and then fizzled out, but Angry Birds managed to become a full-blown franchise. The success of the games even sparked a film series with the Angry Birds movies. Kiriakou’s impressive playing streak is a reminder of just how much of an impact Angry Birds has had on mobile gaming culture. He admitted during the interview that he wasn’t exactly sure what his ranking within the Angry Birds 2 community currently is, but he at least knows that it’s pretty high compared to the average player.

What’s That Weapon?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

What’s That Weapon?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Since Angry Birds launched in 2009 and Angry Birds 2 revamped the gameplay in 2015, mobile gaming has reached an even larger audience. Mobile strategy games like Clash of Clans and Plague Inc. have been popular choices over the years, and the iPhone 15 Pro marked a big moment for the product in 2023 when Apple confirmed that games like the Resident Evil 4 remake could even be played on the device. Mobile gaming is a really common pastime for a lot of people, and John Kiriakou’s streak is a reminder that they can even be appealing to ex-CIA agents.