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

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!


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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[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"

[xenashoes]

If this is what she CAN tell us, imagine all the stuff she CAN’T

[kingace]

I love her sense of humor. Unironically, the way it casually blends with her seriousness is hilarious.

[hagggle]

she’s one of the best guests this has had. Also RIP to her late husband who was a legend in his own right

[timothy]

Joanna still flexing "if it was our lighter. It would actually light" that killed me.

[oliomphalos]

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.

[cor]

6:45 “but if it was a CIA lighter it would actually light” omg the shade

[CanIGoHomeNowPlease]

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?

[bug]

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.

[cruisinguy]

WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO HAVE HER BACK?!?!? This is unacceptable!

She’s absolutely incredible.

[chickenmaster]

9:50 "They did that successfully" she sounds so disappointed in Germany

[scottshinbaum]

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.

[Ripper_RS]

Such a wealth of knowledge even after retiring so many years ago. Imagine what she'd know now if she never retired

[samu]

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.

[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.

[thwilbury]

Something about "...and I do know that cyanide really, really works" is one of the most equally terrifying and enjoyable sentences ever uttered.

[qhubbles]

It's always a delight to listen to this woman.

[wishingonthemoon]

I watch every interview with her. She has so much knowledge.

[devilinthebelfry]

I know an FBI agent who is a photographer. He always has a camera case on him, even when we go out to eat. The camera case has a loaded 45 in it and it never leaves his side.

[erwinchan]

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!