Today's the first of four horror (or quasi-horror) films for CrackpotoberFest 2022 - Girl, Interrupted, both the memoir and the film. I discuss Susanna Kaysen and her father, a very interesting figure. I talk about McLean Hospital, Jim Watson, spies at McLean, and Kaysen's later career.

Then, I go over some interesting themes that Girl, Interrupted the film injects into the narrative - some potentially spurious, some maybe not. To wrap up, I discuss the history of MKULTRA projects at McLean and the general area. CrackpotoberFest only gets weirder from here.

Note: I make two mistakes in this episode. I think I conflate bipolar disorder and BPD which is not the fault of the film or memoir, and I also say that one of the characters kills herself to Downtown when it's a different song. My bad.

Songs:

Knockin’ Round the Zoo by James Taylor

White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

Downtown by Petula Clark

Angel Baby by Rosie & the Originals

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked because I discuss Jeffrey Dahmer in the episode. 

Yes, Ira Levin and William Peter Blatty were both spies, but What Does It Mean? I go through the careers of both authors and flag the times they worked for US intelligence, then how perhaps their writing was affected by that fact, and then the reverberations their work has had on society. With Levin, we meet the Ayn Rand circle, Malachi Martin, the weirdness of Rosemary's Baby, the Stepford Wives, the Boys From Brazil, Son of Rosemary, and so on.

With Blatty, we discuss USIA, the Groucho Marx connection, the Ninth Configuration, the Exorcist, Mark David Chapman, the Zodiac, the Exorcist III, Dahmer, and I cite the great pd187 and Christopher Knowles on the Exorcist film.  To wrap it up, I discuss the "less well-known" David St. John, who weirdly corresponds with Candy Jones, and how the saga of Tom Dooley III shows that religious psyops are not exactly new. And the songs are pretty great this episode too, lol.

Songs:

Black Sabbath by Coven

Pact with Lucifer by Coven

Wicked Woman by Coven

excerpts from the Exorcist soundtrack

Room 213 by Church of Misery

Today I attempt to understand one of rap's most recent tragedies, the murder of Young Dolph, through his music, through his life, and through his environment.

Along the way, I discuss Memphis and Shelby County law enforcement and its controlling interests - Memphis realty and big business. We're talking the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, Authorization of Agency, the Multi-Gang Agency Unit, and multi-million dollar urban revitalization development projects.

I speculate on Young Dolph's rap beefs, such as they are, and discuss the many facets of Dolph's life, as well as the police investigation into his murder. More importantly, I discuss the frankly anomalous treatment that one of his murderers received over and over from the Shelby County court system. I explain the uses and abuses of criminal informants in the local, state, and federal judicial systems, and attempt to come to a conclusion about who may have ordered Young Dolph to be killed.

Memphis Truth Commission:

https://memphistruth.org/

Songs:

Fuck It - Young Dolph

Talking to My Scale - Young Dolph

100 Shots by Young Dolph

Get Paid - Young Dolph

Preach - Young Dolph

Major - Young Dolph

Track Hawk - Straight Drop

Blood All On It - Gucci Mane feat. Young Dolph and Key Block

Large Amounts - Young Dolph

I’m Assuming - Blac Youngsta

Long Live Dolph - Gucci Mane

Patreon/Merch:

https://www.patreon.com/ProgrammedToChill 

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked from the Patreon feed in order to lay the groundwork for upcoming episodes.

In this episode, I discuss the rise of the US Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, going through the Azusa Street Revival, the story of Oral Roberts, the Kansas City Prophets, William Branham, the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, the Kardashians, Moral Rearmament, and how MKULTRA subproject 84 studied the trance states which these religious movements created. In relation to this, I discuss William Sargant and the early career of Jim Jones.

Re Jones, I focus on Dan Mitrione and police snitching, Father Divine, and Invesco S.A. Ultimately, I argue that Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple was, among many things, the weaponization of Pentecostal states studied by MKULTRA.

Songs:

Unchained Melody performed by Elvis Presley

Links:

https://www.patreon.com/ProgrammedToChill 

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Today I'm joined by Laihall to discuss Indigenous history as parapolitics, or as Laihall pointed out, parapolitics is indigenous history. We talk about chaos magick, surrealism, and the theft of Indigenous artifacts, Terra Nullius, trading companies as massive corporate operations, and many other topics.

In particular, Laihall links Indigenous oppression to reasons grounded in capitalist expansion, and links this to the dark history of the Residential schools. Along the way, we discuss Indian metal and even talk skinhead oi. Finally, we discuss when Indian workers have led and fought together with other workers, and a potential path forward.

I made a donation to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, and I encourage my listeners who can to do so here:

https://www.irsss.ca/

Songs:

Gyitwaalkt by Gyibaaw

Gisigwilgwelk and Diitk by Gyibaaw

St'at'imc Constitution song

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Today I'm joined by William Ramsey to discuss his book on the Order of the Nine Angles. We go through the origins of the group, their Esoteric Nazi black magic ideology, several of their terms, and the classic question - op or not? Along the way we get into the Smiley Face Killers and other topics of mutual interest. 

Links to Mr. Ramsey's books and podcast:

https://www.williamramseyinvestigates.com/

Song:

Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Today I compare and contrast actual Japanese National Socialism to Japanese ultranationalism by looking at the life and work of Motoyuki Takabatake. Then, I look at the Shōwa Research Association and the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, both of which studied socialism in order to integrate and subvert it. Then I go through Masao Maruyama's framework for fascist development in Japan.

After that, I go through the life of Sōgen Ōmori whose life puts on full display several of the themes I've been tracing throughout the Imperial Japan series. Finally, I conclude with a few interesting facts I learned about Toyama and the Black Dragon Society at the end of my research - things which tie into sexpionage honeypot type operations.

Song:

Song of Shōwa Restoration

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

In this episode, I go through the history of Zenkyo as well as the armed resistance era of the JCP, from roughly 1929 to 1930, leading to the arrest of nearly everyone. I discuss the nature of police repression and Nikolai Bukharin's expulsion and purging from the Party and accompanying changes to the Comintern. I explain the rise of Japanese nationalism and the effective end to the prewar JCP. Then, I review several scholars' attempts to write an obituary to the prewar JCP.

Songs:

Dat Stick by Rich Brian

平和を守れ - Defend Peace

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Today we talk about the Rice Riots of 1918 and the potentially revolutionary conditions in Japan, the Peace Preservation Laws, and the Comintern Conference of 1922. I lay out the JCP's program as of 1922 and compare it to existing political parties of the era. I discuss Hitoshi Yamakawa and his faction, Nikolai Bukharin's theses of 1927, and the Kazuo Fukumoto faction. I trace the rough trajectory of the Yamakawa faction in the coming years, and discuss police repression. 

Song:

Listen! Workers of the World

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/ProgrammedToChill

Today I discuss the various groups and influences that led to the creation of the Japanese Communist Party, and its first theorist, Katayama Sen. I discuss his life, the 1922 Comintern Conference, and track the functional end of the Japanese anarchist movement, leading us to discuss Masahiko Amakasu. I talk about Amakasu's role in Manchuria, the Manchukuo Film Association, and his production of China Nights aka Shanghai Nights (1940), and hate on another academic for a bit. Luckily, the story of Masahiko Amakasu as a good ending.

Song:

The Internationale (in Japanese)