What if I told you Stranger Things wasn’t just inspired by the 80s - it was inspired by actual government experiments on unwitting citizens?

Project MKUltra was the CIA’s decades-long program testing mind control, psychic abilities, and psychological torture on people who never consented. We’re talking LSD dosing, sensory deprivation, electroshock therapy, and attempts to create actual telepaths.

This isn’t conspiracy theory bullshit - this is documented, declassified, admitted-to-by-the-government history.

Join me as we dive into the real Hawkins Lab, explore why the Duffer Brothers were obsessed with this story, and uncover just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Spoiler: it’s way darker than anything Netflix showed you. Are we ready? Let’s get into some truly creepy shit.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of non-consensual human experimentation, psychological torture, suicide, and government abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

Sources Referenced:

∙ Church Committee Hearings (1975)

∙ Declassified MKUltra documents (available via FOIA)

∙ “The Search for the Manchurian Candidate” by John Marks

∙ Testimony of CIA Director William Colby

∙ Frank Olson case files