Jonna Mendez: A day in the life of a master of disguise

VPM | By Manoush Zomorodi, Katie Monteleone and Katie Simon

Published August 26, 2022 at 12:22 PM EDT

Updated May 26, 2023

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Incognito.

Dr. Scholl’s foot powder, tin foil, dead rats—former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez used them all to conceal agents and secret messages. She shares stories about getting creative undercover.

About Jonna Mendez

Jonna Mendez is a retired CIA intelligence officer. She was recruited to the agency in 1966, and retired in 1993 from her role as the Chief of Disguise in the CIA’s Office of Technical Service.

Mendez worked abroad from cities including Havana, Beijing and Moscow.

After her retirement, she has worked as an author, lecturer, teacher and consultant on intelligence matters. She and her late husband, former CIA officer Antonio Mendez, cowrote several books about spies and espionage, including Spy Dust: A True Story of Espionage and Romance, Argo and The Moscow Rules.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and edited by Katie Simon. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

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Manoush Zomorodi

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

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