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- [00:00]
Indra Varma
Wondery plus subscribers can binge full seasons of the Spy who early and ad free on Apple podcasts or The Wondery app. September 2000 the FBI Field Office, Washington, D.C. dIA Counterintelligence Officer Scott Carmichael and his colleague Gator are in a windowless meeting room. Sitting opposite them, nursing a coffee in a polystyrene cup, is their FBI counterpart, Steve McCoy. Steve, Gator and I have got some intel and we think it's going to blow your mind. He waits for him to react, but the FBI man seems more interested in his colleague's nickname. Gator, as in investigator. Gator looks offended. No, Gator as an alligator. My dad was a game warden in Louisiana. I had one as a pet. McCoy looks amused, but Carmichael stresses the serious purpose of their visit. Also, Gator, as in sharp teeth, ready to close in on its prey. We asked for this meeting because we've identified Agent S. The Cuban spy you've been looking for. McCoy sits up. Hold on. How do you two know about Agent S? We were given a tip off that Agent S had access to safe. That's our internal system. And if there's a mole in our building, it's our job to investigate. With respect, there's an ongoing FBI investigation which could be compromised if word gets around the dia. Who told you about this? With respect, the information we have is more important than where it came from. If you want to catch your spy, you need to hear what we came here to say. Have it your way. Besides, I've got a pretty good idea where the leak came from, so tell me what you've got. Carmichael chooses his words carefully. He needs to tread the line between protecting the DIA's source and showing McCoy that their evidence is sound. We know Agent S works within the dia and we know they visited Guantanamo. We checked our systems and there's only one name that fits. Go on. Ana Montez. Ana? A woman? You're way off the mark. The agent we're looking for is a man. Have you considered that you might be looking the wrong way? Maybe. The Cubans described Agent S as a man in their communications to cover her tracks. Listen here. We checked the Guantanamo Bay visitor stay logs and there's no record of an Ana Montes overnighting there. But our database shows she did. McCoy looks at his watch and stands. Listen, I appreciate you and umm, Gator taking the time to drop by, but I'm not at liberty to discuss our investigation further. And I would appreciate it if you did the same. For if word gets out that we're looking for a Spy. Then our target might hear about it and hot foot it to Cuba before we can catch them. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. Carmichael leaves feeling defeated. The FBI is the only intelligence agency with the power to arrest. Without them on board, Carmichael's hands are tied. Montes is free to keep passing state secrets to Cuba. And thanks to her high level security clearance, many of America's most important military secrets are vulnerable. And the implications of that don't bear thinking about.
- [03:50]
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- [04:43]
Indra Varma
From Wondery. I'm Indravama and this is the spy who colluded with Castro in the last episode. Ana Montez blew the COVID of America's multi billion dollar spy satellite program. Misty. Her handler Ernesto, cut off face to face contact following the arrest of a Cuban spy ring in Miami. And National Security Agency analyst Elena Valdez alerted the DIA to the mole within its ranks. This is episode three, ready to September 2000. Carmichael's office inside DIA headquarters, Washington, D.C. on a secure line, Carmichael calls Elena Valdez. She's the NSA officer who tipped him off about the spy and his agency. Elena, it's Scott Carmichael. Listen, I've got some difficult news. Gator and I met with the FBI, but they don't seem to be taking this thing seriously. We're going to need you to give us more details of your intercession. I can't do that. I appreciate that it puts you in a difficult position. No, you don't understand. The FBI showed up here yesterday and read me the riot act. If I tell you anything more, I could lose my job or go to prison. Listen, I'm sorry. No, you listen. I'M sorry, but I shouldn't even be talking to you. I have to go. A month later the FBI field office Washington, D.C. carmichael nervously enters the office of McCoy's supervisor, Diane Cressman. She eyes him warily. Mr. Carmichael, please sit. Do you want to tell me what this is about? Frustrated that McCoy has had his report on Montes for several weeks and done nothing, Carmichael is going over his head. Breaking the chain of command could ruin his career. But he can't see an alternative. Well, Ms. Cressman, I believe there's a spy working in my organization. I don't need to tell you the implications of that for US national security. Okay, let's hear what you've got. Carmichael goes through the intel he shared with McCoy and the additional evidence he's dug up since then. McCoy told me the FBI found no record of Montes staying on the naval base at Guantanamo. Well, that's because she stayed at a nearby hotel. I found a record of that. Being in the right place at the right time is not enough to make a case. We know that the Cubans were sending shortwave messages to Agent S when Montes was on vacation outside the usa. That suggests that she's not our spy. But what if she is? I'm sorry. I've reviewed your evidence and there is nothing concrete in it. You can't just point the finger at someone and ask us to place them under surveillance. That's not how we operate. We have to convince a judge to approve any surveillance operation. And no judge would approve one based on this evidence. The following WEEK DIA Offices clarendon, VIRGINIA Carmichael arrives at his desk to find the message light blinking on his landline phone. He spent the weekend in turmoil. His efforts to convince the FBI to investigate Montes have hit a wall. It's his job to protect the DIA from spies. But now there's a spy stealing secrets from inside his own organization, and he can't stop them. He slumps into his chair and dials the number to check his voicemail. You have one message. Message one. Hi, Scott. It's Steve McCoy of the FBI here. Carmichael's heart sinks. By now he'll know about his meeting with his boss. But then McCoy says something unexpected. Listen, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I've read your report and there are several things in it I'd like to follow up. I'm hoping you might be free to come in for another meeting. Carmichael's face breaks into a broad grin. The FBI are listening at last. A few months later Grand Cayman Island THE Caribbean Montes sits on the balcony of her hotel room overlooking the sea. Ostensibly, she's here for a holiday, but she's really here to meet the Cuban handler who's sitting beside her. Sitting? He turns to her. You said you had something important to discuss. Montes fiddles with a strap of her wristwatch and looks at the beach. There's a man about to dive from the rocks into the water. She takes a deep breath and dives in herself. I want out. She registers the look of dismay on her handless face, but she's determined to say her peace. I've done my bit for Cuba. I've lived my entire adult life serving your country. But I can't carry on leading a double life forever. What's brought this on? Are you in trouble? No. Nothing like that. The opposite, in fact. I've fallen in love. I don't want to have to keep secrets. I want a chance to live a normal life. But Anna, you are our greatest asset. You are making history. Cuba needs you. Without you, we become more vulnerable to America's bullying. There must be someone else. Montes takes a sanitizing hand wipe out of her purse and cleans her hands as she speaks. I can't do this forever. Having to pretend to be one thing and being another and not being able to talk to anyone, not even my therapist. It's too much. I'm losing sleep and I find it hard to concentrate. I'm afraid I'll slip up. I need to stop. The handler takes another sip of his beer and looks at her. What happens if you need us to get you out of the country? If you stop working for us, there is nothing we can do to protect you. Where would you go if what you've been doing for the past 16 years ever came to light? I don't know. Montez stares at the sea. She realizes she's trapped. Maybe she's been trapped ever since the day she signed the biography she wrote for the Cubans in 1984. Her nerves are stretched, but she can't afford to let them snap. She takes another hand wipe out of her bag and wipes her palms clean for the second time in the past two minutes. Five months later Washington, D.C. in a secret room in the heart of the Justice Department, an FBI official gives evidence to a foreign intelligence surveillance. COURT JUDGE we believe there is enough evidence to warrant extensive surveillance of the suspect. The FBI now agrees that Montes could be the DIA spy, but they need this judge's permission to put her under surveillance. They want to intercept her mail, tap her phone, install recording devices in her apartment and car, go through her garbage, and keep tabs on her, both at work and in her own home. The FBI official thinks he's presented a solid case, but the judge is unconvinced. This is weak. What you describe as evidence is largely circumstantial. The word Guantanamo came up on an intercept, and your suspect visited the base. The word safe was mentioned, and that's the name of a computer system used in the dia. All of which could just be coincidence. None of this will stand up in a court of law. Which is why we need a warrant. So you can search her home for a shortwave radio. That's hardly evidence of espionage. And neither is owning a Toshiba laptop. I imagine thousands of the citizens in Washington own one. And this particular citizen has served her country well for over a decade and received numerous commendations for her work. Which is why we can't simply ignore what we know. Montes has access to a wealth of national security secrets. We know that Cuba sells these secrets on. If our enemies gain access to some of the things Montes has access to, then the security of the whole country is at risk. I'll give you 90 days, and you report back to me at the end of that time. If you haven't got anything better than this by then, then I'm shutting you down. The FBI official nods. He's got little choice but to accept the judge's ruling. 90 days doesn't give the team long, but at least it gives them a chance to do the only thing that will settle this case once and for all. To catch Ana Montez in the act of spying Wherever you go.
- [14:17]
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Whatever they.
- [14:17]
Indra Varma
Get into, from chill time to everyday adventures, protect your dog from parasites with Cridellio Quattro. For full safety information, side effects and warnings, visit credelioquatrolabel.com consult your vet, or call 1-888-545-5973. Ask your vet for Cordelio Cuatro and visit quattrodog.com spring 2001 a week later, a gym in Washington, D.C. montes pounds the treadmill after work. Her evening workouts are about the only things that constitute a social life. She switches the treadmill up a level and runs faster, attracting a look from the man jogging on the machine next to hers. Whoa. Take it easy. Montes ignores him the way she ignores just about everyone. These days, spying for Cuba has isolated her from her friends, family and colleagues. And with the Cubans unwilling to let her go because they still need her help. She's accepted that this is her life and thrown herself into her mission harder than ever. She still sees her boyfriend Roger, when time allows, at his home in Miami or when he visits one Washington. But she can't see how they can ever live together now. It would be impossible to keep her covert activity from him if they were under the same roof. Thirty minutes later McComb Street, Washington, D.C. montes arrives at her apartment in the Cleveland park area of the city. Her hair is still wet from her post run shower. She looks at her watch, switches on her shortwave radio. She extends the antennae and tunes it to 7887kHz, the frequency of the number station that her Cuban spymasters use to send her messages. Then she sits, pen in hand with a sheet of water soluble paper on the table in front of her, waiting for the robotic voice from her Havana to begin. Montes writes down the numbers. When the broadcast ends, she deciphers her latest instructions. Then she heads to the bathroom, drops the decoded messages in the toilet and watches as they dissolve. Montes switches on the shower and looks in the mirror at the gym honed, short haired and tense looking woman gradually being eclipsed by the steam from the shower. She turns away, undresses, takes one of the many bars of soap stored under the sink, gets in the shower and for the second time in as many hours, begins to scrub her body clean. A MONTH LATER Montes APARTMENT BLOCK FBI agent Peter Lapp steals into the building with a small team of men. They move quickly but quietly up the stairs to the second floor and to apartment 20, the home of Ana Montez. Carefully, he opens the apartment door using a copy of the keys. Montes is in Miami visiting Roger for the weekend. And this is the FBI's chance to search her apartment. Lapp bends down, removes his shoes and signals to the others to do the same. Montez's neighbours may know she's away and if they hear anything, they'll call the cops. Make a note of where everything is before you move it. I want not even a dust ball left out of place. Now let's find her radio and laptop. Lapp makes careful steps across the living room, taking in the contents. There are books everywhere. And then. You're kidding me. There, straight ahead, right in front of the window, is a shortwave radio, its antennae still up, ready to receive. Sloppy, Montes, very sloppy. He switches the radio on, but it's not tuned to a numbers station. Ok, not so sloppy. If it had been tuned into a Cuban numbers station, it might have constituted hard evidence. But possession of a shortwave radio is not a crime. The team checks the closet, but there's nothing aside from the clothes and handbags. Lapp goes into the bedroom and looks under her bed. There's a black backpack. He pulls it out. The bag's heavy. He opens it. Bingo. Inside is a Toshiba 405 CS, the exact laptop the Cubans told Agent S to buy. One of the team links it up to an external hard drive and copies the contents. Lapp returns the laptop and the team creeps back out of the apartment, making sure everything is exactly where they found it. A few days later, DIA headquarters in a secure meeting room, FBI agent Steve McCoy updates DIA director Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson on the progress of their investigation into Montes. Her laptop's hard drive had been wiped using software provided by the Cubans. But that software wasn't much good. There are still traces of the deleted documents on there, and almost all of them are intelligence reports. Here's a list of the topics. McCoy hands the vice Admiral the list. The Admiral scans the list, his expression darkening as he does. Misty's on this list. That surveillance program cost billions. If she gave the Cubans this, it's compromised and we've been pouring taxpayers money down the Straits of Florida. All intelligence those satellites have gathered could be complete junk. That's it. I want this woman out of my organization. When are you arresting her? We still don't have enough evidence. What's all this then? He waves the list at McCoy. It's information in her possession. We have no evidence that she's passing it to Cuba and we don't know how she does that. We're following her every move, but we haven't seen her meet anyone. She's not making dead drops, but she does keep using payphones. We think she's sending encrypted messages to a pager. Let me get this straight. You're saying she's using payphones to communicate with Cuba and you can't do anything about it? We first need to find the cipher she's using to encrypt her messages. Our guess is that she keeps it in her purse, which she keeps on her at all times. So to get at it, we need your help. A few days later DIA headquarters on the sixth floor of the DIA head office McCoy stands at one of the cubicles and pretends to check the computer. He's posing as an IT technician and has swapped his usual suit and briefcase for jeans, button down shirt and a large backpack. He puts the backpack on the floor next to the computer chassis that's underneath the desk. As he does, he steals a glance at the next cubicle where Montes is busy working. He opens the backpack, takes out a screwdriver set and pulls the computer chassis out from under the desk. While listening for Montes to receive a phone call. Ana Montez McCoy asked Vice Admiral Wilson to arrange for her to be called away to a meeting at short notice. She sounds annoyed by this. In three minutes. I'm in the middle of something here. Okay, I'll come now. But this better not take too long. Montes puts the phone down, gets up and storms past McCoy. To his relief, just as he hoped, he sees that she hasn't taken her purse with her. But he doesn't have much time. McCoy dives under Montes his desk. If anyone spots him, he'll say he's looking to isolate the power supply. He grabs her purse, sticks it in his backpack and gets ready to leave, offering a brief word of explanation to anyone who cares to listen. I need to pick up another drive from the basement. I'll be back in 10 minutes. McCoy heads out of the office and slips into a room further down the corridor, where his colleague Lapp is waiting. You've got the purse? Yes, but we need to be quick. She went to the meeting, insisting she didn't have much time to spare. Lapp goes through Montes purse, driving license, credit cards. Nothing unusual. Hang on. What's this? He passes a payphone card to McCoy. Who uses phone cards these days besides drug dealers? It's evidence, but it's still circumstantial. What they really need is the cipher. McCoy checks his watch. We need to hurry. I am. Check this. He holds up a scrap of paper. There's a number written on it. Looks like a telephone area code. Also, the paper feels strange. Could be water soluble. Okay, if there's nothing else, I need to get the purse back. Put everything back as it was. Shit. What? I didn't know which card was where. The two FBI agents exchange glances. Not only has their audacious purse snatch not yielded any concrete evidence, but Lapp's error could alert Montez to the fact that the FBI are onto her. A month later September 11, 2001 DIA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. ana Montes and all of her colleagues are staring out of the window of their office across the Potomac river to the Pentagon. Plumes of black smoke are billowing out of the building. Holy shit. Montes looks from the Pentagon back to a nearby TV screen. On it is footage of the Two planes that smashed into the Twin Towers in New York less than an hour ago. She looks back out the window again. Moments earlier, a passenger plane crashed into the Pentagon building. Several of their DIA colleagues would have been inside. Everyone in the office is nervous and no one is sure what's going on. They're saying there's a Force plane heading towards Washington. What if it's aimed for the White House? What if it's heading for us? Montes's cell phone rings. She sees her mother's number and answers. Mom. Oh, thank goodness. Anna, you're safe. I've just seen that a plane hit the Pentagon. Where are you? Are you okay? I'm okay, Mom. I wasn't in the Pentagon, and I doubt whoever's behind this will strike this area again. There'd be no point. Oh, well, I hope you're right. Do you know who could be behind this dreadful attack? I don't know, Mom. We've done so many people so much wrong. I can't guess which of them might be doing this to us today. Anna, how can you be so unemotional? This is awful. Montes is only half listening now. She can hear snippets of a conversation between her colleagues, and she wants to hear that. I've got to go now, Mom. She ends the call and joins a group discussing the potential ramifications of the attacks. This calls for a military response. It won't be long before we're at war with whoever's behind this. My money's on the Middle east or maybe Afghanistan. Montes cuts in. What about Cuba? Do you think we'll retaliate against Cuba? Her colleagues stare at her. What? Oh, yeah, sure, sure, Ana. The Cubans are bound to be behind this. Montes doesn't notice her colleague's smirk and takes his words at face value. She knows America would love to weaken Cuba's military. These attacks could be the excuse it needs. If that's the case, she needs to warn them. Three days later DIA headquarters FBI investigator Steve McCoy is back in the secure meeting room with the head of the DIA. McCoy's barely through the door before he feels the force of Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson's anger. I've just been told that Ana Montez's boss, has been moved to the army and she's now acting branch chief in response to the 911 attacks. The the US is preparing to attack Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan. And guess what, McCoy? Her new remit is to process the target lists for Afghanistan. So how is your investigation going there? Haven't been Any significant developments since we last spoke? We haven't got time to wait for any developments now. The world's changed, McCoy. We're about to go to war. And we're in a position where our battle plans will likely be fed straight to Osama bin Laden, right via the Cubans. We're monitoring her all hours. And if we can catch her doing that now, in the wake of everything that's happened, then no jury would forgive her. But. But since the flights have been grounded, her boyfriend has been unable to leave DC which means contacting Cuba is going to be much harder for her. But given time. Your Time's up, McCoy. I'm not going to war with a spy in our organization. If you do not have that woman in cuffs by the end of the week, then I'm firing her. McCoy leaves feeling defeated. The vice Admiral is right. Montes position is no longer tenable. But if she loses her job, he will lose his chance to catch her passing state secrets to the enemy. Two days later, outside Montes apartment building, McComb street, an elderly woman pushes her shopping trolley down the road and pauses to rest across the street from where Montez lives. Moments later, she sees Montez leave her apartment and stride in the direction of the National Zoo. The elderly woman is actually an FBI surveillance officer. As soon as Montes is in out of earshot, she radios back to base. Blue Wren is on the move. Five minutes later, Connecticut Avenue. A skateboarder performs a jump, then wheels down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street to Montez. The skater also works for the FBI. Target approaching National Zoo. A few minutes later, the entrance to the National Zoo. Montez clocks a skateboarder passing her as she heads for the row of payphones. It's the same guy she saw yesterday. She wonders if she's being tailed. No, she mustn't be paranoid. This is her chance to alert Cuba to the danger it's in. The US Is ready to retaliate, and any country that it thinks colludes with Al Qaeda is at risk. And as far as she's concerned, that could include Cuba. No, I can't do that. Thursday. How about Friday? She strides towards the payphone booths, passing a man talking on a cell phone. As she nears the payphones, she hears him speak again. She's heading for the payphone. Now she knows she's not being paranoid. The suspicions that someone had been inside her flat and meddled with her purse. She thought the pressure was getting to her, but no. She's being watched. Montez does A brief circuit of the payphones, giving herself time to think. If the game's up, the the Cubans will get her out of the country. But thanks to 9 11, there are few flights to catch and airport security checks are strict. And if she takes anything from her flat or runs, her boyfriend Roger will alert the authorities. Still, the Cubans trained her for this. She needs to act normally. To do otherwise would confirm that she's a spy. But Cuba needs her right now. Now it's in danger, and only she, Ana Montes, has the information that can protect it from US aggression. She heads to the payphone. She dials the pager number the Cubans gave her and taps in her encrypted message. The decoded message spells out two words. Danger Pearl. The pearl is Cupid, the Pearl of the Caribbean. Five DAYS LATER DIA HEADQUARTERS Montes makes her way to a meeting with her boss in the conference room on the seventh floor. She enters the room to find that he's not there. Instead, she's greeted by two men she's never met. Ana Montez, I'm Steve McCoy from the FBI, and this is my colleague, Peter Lapp. Take a seat. Montes sits. She feels the back of her neck prickle. So this is it. She stares at McCoy, watching him speak without taking in much of what he's saying. We know what you've done. We copied the hard drive of your laptop. That white program the Cubans gave you was useless, so we don't need you to cooperate. But if you don't, we're going to visit your brother and sister and end their FBI careers. Your life as you know it is as good as over. But you can stop theirs being ripped apart. And Rogers, too. Montes touches her neck. She can feel a rash forming. She needs to stay cool. She knows what they're doing. They're threatening her family to scare her into talking. She needs to maintain the upper hand. Am I under investigation? Yes, you are. Then I need to speak with an attorney. Just as soon as we get you to the station. She tries to steady her breathing as the two men move towards her. McCoy reads her her rights. Lapp snaps on handcuffs. Then she's up and being marched out of the building. She passes colleagues who gawp as she goes. She stares straight ahead, glancing up briefly at the bright September sun as they head out the back of the building to the waiting police car. Just over a year later. The U.S. district Court, Washington, D.C. lucy Montes sits beside her mother, watching as her elder sister, Ana, is led to the stand. Dressed in a grey and white striped prison jumpsuit. Earlier in the year, Ana struck a plea bargain. In return for her cooperation and a guilty plea, she will be spared the death penalty. But now she's about to receive her sentence. Lucy looks at Judge Ricardo Urbina. He's allowing Anna to address the court before passing sentence. Maybe if she shows remorse, he will be lenient. Lucy watches as Anna takes the stand and begins to speak. I am here before you because I obeyed my conscience rather than the law. Our government's policy towards Cuba is cruel and unfair. I felt morally obligated to help Cuba defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it. Lucy sees her mother shake her head and wipe away a tear. Why is she saying this? It will only make things worse for her. My way of responding to our Cuba policy may have been morally wrong. I can only say that I did what I thought right to counter a grave injustice. Lucy watches her sister's grand duration in disbelief. She's about to be sentenced and instead of showing remorse, she's behaving like some sort of hero. After all the damage she's done to her country and to her family too. The judge looks unimpressed. He addresses Anna. Today is a very sad day for you, Ms. Montes. For your family, for your loved ones. For every American who suffers from the betrayal of their country. If you can't love your country, you should at least do it. No harm. Lucy reaches out her hand and takes her mother's, watching her sister's impassive face as she waits for the sentence to be passed. Ana Montes was sentenced to 25 years prison, followed by five years parole and 500 hours of community service. In January 2023, after 20 years in a maximum security prison in Fort Worth, Texas, she was released and moved to Puerto Rico. Under the conditions of her release, she is not allowed to contact foreign agents or work for the US government without permission. She continues to criticize US policy towards Cuba. Shortly after Montes pleaded guilty, Marte Velazquez, the friend who introduced her to the Cubans, moved to Sweden. She was later indicted in the US for recruiting Montes. If arrested and convicted in the US she could face life in prison. But Sweden does not extradite people accused of spying. Cuba remains a one party communist dictatorship. It also remains subject to a comprehensive U.S. trade embargo. The current status of the Misty spy satellite program is classified. Join us in the next episode as we delve deeper into the intriguing life of Ana Montez with insights from author Jim Popkin in conversation with comedian and writer Charlie Higson. Jim looks into the psychology of becoming a top level spy whilst the family all around you works against your cause the damage that Ana could have inflicted had she not been caught and examine whether her treatment by the Cubans was just Wondery subscribers can binge full seasons of the Spy who early and ad free on Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. Have you got a spy story you'd like us to tell? Email your ideas to the spy whoandry.com from Wondery this is the third episode in our season the Spy who Collaborated with Castro A quick note about our dialogue we can't know everything that was said or done behind closed doors, particularly far back in history, but our scenes are written using the best available sources, so even if a scene or conversation has been recreated for dramatic effect, it's still based on biographical research. We used many sources in our research for this season including True Believer by Scott Carmichael, Codename Blue Wren by Jim Popkin and Queen of Cuba by Peter Lapp. The Spy who is hosted by me, Indra Varma. Our show is produced by Vespucci with writing and story editing by Yellowant for Wondery. For Yellow Ant. This episode was written by Lizzy Enfield and researched by Louise Byrne with thanks to Marina Watson. Our managing producer is Jay Priest for Vespucci. Our senior producer is Ashley Clivery. Our sound designer is Alex Port Felix Natalia Rodriguez is the supervising producer. Music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Frissonsync. Executive producers for Vespucci are Johnny Galvin and Daniel Turkan. Executive producer for Yellowant is Tristan Donovan. Our senior producer for Wondery is Theodora Luludis. Executive producers for Wondery are Estelle Doyle and Marshall Louie.