The Most Dangerous Female Spy in U.S. History

For nearly 17 years, no one suspected a thing. Try https://brilliant.org/Newsthink/ and get 20% off your annual premium subscription. I highly recommend Jim Popkin’s book Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy―and the Sister She Betrayed https://a.co/d/fC0uXch Watch Newsthink videos on other spies: Robert Hanssen: The FBI Agent Who Lived a Double Life for 22 Years https://youtu.be/zP9ftISlsWI Aldrich Ames: The Most Damaging Mole in the CIA https://youtu.be/DP7x6Zs1gP0 Chapters: 0:00 The Day Ana Montes Was Caught 0:38 Childhood in a House of Fear 01:54 A Radical Worldview Takes Shape 02:40 Recruited by Cuba 03:39 Infiltrating U.S. Intelligence (DIA) 04:33 The Spy With an Incredible Memory 05:41 Deadly Consequences in El Salvador 6:06 Failing Up: DIA Background & Polygraph 6:30 Becoming the Queen of Cuba 6:57 First Suspicions: Brothers to the Rescue Incident 8:24 More Damage: MISTY Satellite & Suspicious FBI Van 8:04 How Her Sister’s FBI Work Triggered the Fall 10:04 The NSA Analyst Who Wouldn’t Let Go 11:16 Cracking the Clues & FBI Hesitations 12:22 The Love Life That Couldn’t Save Her 12:48 Tracking Down Her Toshiba Laptop 13:26 The Brilliant Purse Trap 14:27 The Arrest 15:29 Chilling Courtroom Speech 16:30 Life in a Maximum Security Wing 17:00 Her Sister’s Scathing Prison Letter 17:58 CIA's Psychological Profile of Ana Montes 18:21 Ana Montes Walks Free 18:31 Today’s Sponsor: Brilliant Newsthink is produced and presented by Cindy Pom https://x.com/cindypom Grab your Newsthink merch here: https://newsthink.creator-spring.com Support Cindy on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Newsthink Sources: Menninger Clock Tower: By Aaron Hall - https://www.flickr.com/photos/vitahall/9337193673/, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS): ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons 1983 Havana street images: By LBM1948 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Sony ICF 2010 shortwave radio: Chris D on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITYUJvVY2fg Cessna T337H: Dtom, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Iridium satellite: By Flickr user ideonexus - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ideonexus/2188119372/sizes/l/, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Embassy of Cuba, Washington: APK, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons Communist Party of Cuba Headquarters: By Marco Zanferrari - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Sony ICF 2010 shortwave radio: RadioHamGuy on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=824FNeFidsw Peter Lapp photo: PJ Lapp Consulting, LLC https://petelapp.com/about/CompUSA store: By Coolcaesar at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Office cubicle, circa 2001 by Ian Lamont, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr Phone cards: By Wil540 art - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons