Former CIA Chief of Disguise Answers Spy Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED

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Published 2023-04-04
Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, answers the internet's burning questions about spying. How many CIA assets are in Ukraine right now? Do spies get acting lessons? How do spies get recruited? Do spies get to choose their own code names? Jonna answers all these questions and much more!

For more info about the world of espionage, check out the International Spy Museum: www.spymuseum.org/

Producer/Director: Lisandro Perez-Rey
Director of Photography: Eric Bugash
Editor: Louville Moore
Expert: Jonna Mendez

Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producers: Paul Gulyas, Samantha Vélez
Production Manager: Eric Martinez
Production Coordinator: Fernando Davila

Camera Operator: Mike Audick
Audio: Elijah Sutton
Production Assistant: Will Hoffinger

Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Additional Editor: Paul Tael

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All Comments (21)
  • @xena2shoes
    If this is what she CAN tell us, imagine all the stuff she CAN’T
  • @elijahizere
    I love that some answers are like: "Have you seen Argo?" 👵"Ahh yes, Ben Affleck played as my Husband, the protagonist" "There's a cool position called Cheif of Disguise" 👵"Ahh yes, I was Chief of Disguise for a few years"
  • @kingace6186
    I love her sense of humor. Unironically, the way it casually blends with her seriousness is hilarious.
  • @hagggle3727
    she’s one of the best guests this has had. Also RIP to her late husband who was a legend in his own right
  • @bug688
    This woman could literally looks like any ordinary grandma I walk by in my day to day life. But she’s probably witnessed murders, gone undercover in major missions, it’s honestly astonishing.
  • WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO HAVE HER BACK?!?!? This is unacceptable! She’s absolutely incredible.
  • Her body language at about 5:45, rubbing her neck, wiping her hands on her pants, looking aside for a few moments right before looking to the interviewer and saying " ... and I do know that cyanide really really works" gave me chills. I just know she was thinking about someone, many someones?
  • She was on an episode of To Tell the Truth. Her disguise (and lying ability) was so incredible that she came back as a liar and fooled the contestants into picking her later in the episode on a second panel.
  • Interesting that she mentioned how you have to bring charisma in with you if you want to be a spy. She definitely has that. You listen to her speak and she comes off as an authoritative figure, but one that you can trust and open up to, one you'd like to be friends with.
  • @Ripper_RS
    Such a wealth of knowledge even after retiring so many years ago. Imagine what she'd know now if she never retired
  • @ronbeaubien
    Back when I was a student at the University of Michigan, the CIA recruited there every year. I was in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. I heard that they were naturally quite interested in people who could speak Korean, Chinese, and Russian, which were taught at our school. It seems that they would also be particularly interested in those of use who, in addition to those languages, had also studied nuclear engineering or chemistry too.
  • @himboprince
    She’s so well spoken and informative. I could hear her talk to me about anything and everything all day. Adding visiting the spy museum to my bucket list too!
  • @qhubbles
    It's always a delight to listen to this woman.
  • @samu6874
    She has a very unique way to tell stories. Its short, prezise, to the point but colorfull, detail oriented and entertaining. Her speaking is so focused. No hms, filling words, pauses. It would be interesting to hear her being someone else, talking as someone else.
  • @erwinchan6077
    One of things I still regret to this day is low little time we spent at the Spy Museum. We walked in about a couple hours before closing thinking it was more than enough and it totally wasn't. You had to read every single item on display because there was so much history and hidden details (I mean, it's just a shoe until you realize that there's a poisoned blade in it and it was used in this history context). It was all fascinating and I wish I had 4-6 more hours!
  • Something about "...and I do know that cyanide really, really works" is one of the most equally terrifying and enjoyable sentences ever uttered.
  • @timothy4664
    Joanna still flexing "if it was our lighter. It would actually light" that killed me.
  • @nunyabiz6952
    Such cool stuff. "Spy Support" should be a channel by itself.
  • @jillianmaloney3798
    “A lot people came to the booth just to see what my husband looked like.” 😹She is fun to listen to. Wired has the best questions content, hands down. I always enjoyed reading the magazine too.
  • @Tekdruid
    I remember an ex KGB operative saying in an interview that the perfect disguise to infiltrate a government office would be that of a nondescript bureaucrat, much like the CIA "little gray man", carrying an armful of documents, appearing busy and preoccupied, and making what he called "dead fish eyes", or a look of disinterest and mild irritation, at anyone who tried to approach him.