“Havana Syndrome” – A Panel featuring Nicky Woolf, Marc Polymeropoulos, and Mark Zaid

This week’s episode is the result of a collaboration with The Sound, a recent limited series podcast exploring the so-called Havana Syndrome. The guests are host and investigative journalist Nicky Woolf (Twitter), former senior CIA operations officer and sufferer Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter), and attorney and advocate Mark Zaid (Twitter).

• What Havana Syndrome is
• Who it is affecting
• Theories to explain it
• The role of intelligence organizations

• The unending search for truth 
• Humanity in the intelligence field 

"There’s a betrayal I felt when the CIA didn't give me the medical attention that I needed. You know, if you're not feeling well and an employee comes to you, send 'em to the doctor. And they weren't able to do that. And to me, that's just a leadership fail for the ages." – Marc Polymeropoulos.

• The Past 75 Years: A History of the CIA with Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (2022)
• Dealing with Russia with Jim Olson (2022)
• One of the CIA’s Most Decorated Field Officers with Marc Polymeropoulos (2021)
• NatSec and the Law with Mark Zaid (2018)

• Havana Syndrome: What We Know, B. Tau and W. P. Strobel, The Wall Street Journal (2023) [Short article]
• What is the “Havana Syndrome?”, Brut America, YouTube (2022) [3 min. video]
• What is Havana Syndrome?, B. Cuffari, News Medical (2022) 

• Who or What is Behind Havana Syndrome?, Al Jazeera, YouTube (2022)
• Early Victims of ‘Havana Syndrome’ Speak Out About Ongoing Health Struggles, NBC News, YouTube (2021)

• Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, National Intelligence Council (2023)
• Anomalous health Incidents: Analysis of Potential Causal Mechanisms, IC Experts Panel (2022)
• Senate Hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, U.S. Senate (1978)
• Kissinger Telephone Conversation with Ambassador Dobrynin, National Security Archive (1975)
• Samuel Koslov Memorandum to the State Department, “Biomedical Phenomena,” National Security Archive (1965)

• Havana Syndrome is an example of a toponymic term in the medical field – A name that comes from a geographic place. For more on medical etymology, check out this article that shares the backstory of the name of 7 well-known conditions.