logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
50m 12s

CLASSIC: The Control Group with Bret Woo...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

In the era of the Cold War, intelligence agencies on both sides of the iron curtain desperately raced to secure any possible technological advantage, even if it meant breaking the law along the way. Join the guys as they interview filmmaker Bret Wood, the creator of The Control Group podcast, about the real-life events that inspired the first fiction podcast by HowStuffWorks.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Today
CLASSIC: The Devil and The Rain: The Case of Don Decker
Here's the story: When Don Decker went on furlough to attend his abusive Grandfather's funeral, he experienced something extraordinary -- water fell upward from the floor of his hosts' home, he levitated, recoiled from religious symbols. Multiple witnesses and investigators, some ... Show More
1 h
Yesterday
Strange News: The FBI's Crypto Heist, 7 Seconds Without Gravity, Uncle Sam Hates Wind Power, and More
A former FBI agent stands accused of stealing almost 1 million dollars' worth of cryptocurrency. NASA assures people that Earth did not, in fact, lose gravity for seven seconds earlier this month. Uncle Sam (or, rather, powerful corporations) aggressively conspire to scuttle wind ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 22
From Skyline Drive: Organ Trail
Hey there, Conspiracy Realists! As a follow-up to our interview with Mangesh Hattikudur, we wanted to share an episode from Mangesh's podcast skyline Skyline Drive with you. Many powerful people—from world leaders to Silicon Valley billionaires—have been whispering about the poss ... Show More
1 h
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
38. CIA Mind Control: America’s Secret Cartel (Ep 4)
How did Cold War paranoia fuel the CIA's mind control experiments? What did popular films like The Manchurian Candidate have to do with the agency's secret programs? And did the CIA really help shape the counterculture of the 1960s? In the shadowy world of espionage, the line bet ... Show More
44m 2s
Apr 2025
35. ⁠CIA Mind Control: The Origin of MK Ultra (Ep 1)
What if the government knew how to control your mind? Could a secret program unlock the secrets of the human psyche? And how far would the CIA go to win the Cold War? In the shadowy world of espionage, the line between science and sinister experiments blurs. As the Cold War grip ... Show More
45m 14s
Mar 2020
Project MKUltra Pt. 1
During the height of the Cold War, the United States scrambled to compete with the Soviets. As paranoia over espionage and mind control festered, the C.I.A. decided to create their own "Special Interrogation" Program that inevitably led to testing hallucinatory drugs on unwitting ... Show More
52m 53s
Feb 2025
16.⁠ ⁠Crossing the Iron Curtain: Escape From the KGB (Ep 3)
How would you disguise a cyanide pill for a CIA spy in Moscow during the Cold War? What risks could Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles pose to Adolf Tolkachev’s mission against the Soviet state? And will the CIA’s mole in Moscow be discovered by the KGB? It’s 1985, and fo ... Show More
47m 1s
May 2021
Radio Frequency Identification Pt. 1
A spy device developed during the Cold War has evolved into ubiquity, used for everything from tracking cow medications to locating nuclear materials. But when companies began using the technology to gain intel on their customers, consumer and privacy groups sounded the alarm — i ... Show More
41m 56s
Feb 2022
CLASSIC: X-Rays, Songs and Soviets: The Stilyagi Story
<p>Caught between the conflicting ideologies of the Cold War, Soviet teens were banned from collecting Western music -- smuggled records could be both rare and expensive. The solution? Discarded X-rays, also known as 'bone recordings'. Join the guys as they explore the strange st ... Show More
35m 28s
Sep 2020
The Nuclear Superhighway | CIA
Undercover CIA agent James Olson takes Vanessa Kirby on a nail-biting mission behind the Iron Curtain. In the late 1970s, James was tasked with tapping an underground communications line between Moscow and a top-secret nuclear weapons facility. Under constant surveillance from th ... Show More
49m 43s
Apr 2025
37. CIA Mind Control: Sex, Drugs, and Mysterious Deaths (Ep 3)
From LSD-fuelled hallucinations to medically-induced comas, the CIA explored every avenue in their search for mind control. But how did they justify these gross violations of human rights? And what does it reveal about the hidden history of the Cold War? In the clandestine world ... Show More
48m 29s
Jan 2025
15. Crossing the Iron Curtain: The Cold War’s Most Valuable Spy (Ep 2)
Was it possible to avoid KGB surveillance in Moscow as a CIA agent at the height of the Cold War? What motivates someone to spy on their country for an opposing power? And how did Adolf Tolkachev manage to smuggle out the top secret documents the CIA needed to defeat the USSR? ... Show More
45m 58s
Feb 2025
17. ⁠Crossing the Iron Curtain: Revenge in Russia (Ep 4)
Will Tolkachev fall at the final hurdle and land in the hands of the KGB? How do the CIA go about protecting their assets in the field? And, does it really take a spy to catch a spy? As we reach the final instalment of the story of Adolf Tolkachev, the plot reaches its dramatic ... Show More
43m 58s