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 American Civilians.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com ... Show More
Oct 7
Panic in the Streets: The War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast
On Halloween Eve, 1938 Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds aired on CBS radio. It detailed an alien invasion so realistic that, according to legend, it caused widespread panic among listeners. People really believed aliens were invading Earth. The mass hysteria is an important pa ... Show More
47m 40s
Sep 30
Did a Psych Experiment Turn Ted Kaczynski into the Unabomber?
On April 3, 1996, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski – better known as the Unabomber – was arrested, ending a 17-year-long bombing spree that left 3 dead and 23 injured. He promised to end his campaign of terror only after outlets published his 35,000-word manifesto; in his view, technolog ... Show More
42m 36s
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
Aug 2025
CONSPIRACY THEORIES: MK-Ultra
Mind control. LSD. Government cover-ups. In this episode, "Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes" investigates Project MK-Ultra, the CIA program that secretly tested drugs and psychological torture on U.S. citizens. Find out why decades later we still don’t know the full truth. Co ... Show More
39m 14s
Apr 2023
Project - Project Alpha Part I
The Cold War is on, the threat of nuclear annihilation is constant. In a world of fear, a social contagion breaks out: the belief in psychic powers. Military, government and academia take it so seriously they spend millions to find people who can demonstrate these feats. Amidst t ... Show More
42m 22s