Project MKUltra, a CIA program aimed at mastering mind control, secretly started on 13th April, 1953, supposedly to combat Soviet brainwashing. It soon evolved into a bizarre mix of government-sponsored LSD experiments and psychological torture.

Led by Sidney Gottlieb, a chemist with a penchant for poisons, the program dosed often unwitting subjects—including CIA agents, prisoners and sex workers— with the aim of creating truth serums, erasing memories, and turning people into real-life Manchurian candidates. They even tried to spike Fidel Castro with LSD, hoping it would make him look ridiculous in public.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the tragic death of Frank Olson eventually led to the practices being exposed; reveal the origins of the term ‘brainwashing’; and discover how, despite widening public outrage, no-one ever faced legal consequences for the abuses they conducted in the name of keeping America safe…

CONTENT WARNING: torture, drugging, suicide.

Further Reading:

• ‘What We Know About the CIA's Midcentury Mind-Control Project’ (Smithsonian, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-we-know-about-cias-midcentury-mind-control-project-180962836/

• ‘MK-Ultra, The Disturbing CIA Project To Master Mind-Control’ (All Thats Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mk-ultra

• ‘MK-Ultra: The shocking Cold War experiments hidden by the CIA’ (BBC REEL, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_-ek5CsTGc

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

#Strange #ColdWar #50s #Mystery

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