36. CIA Mind Control: Fighting Communism with LSD (Ep 2)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Who was the eccentric chemist at the heart of the CIA's most controversial experiments? What happened when Langley was turned into a testing ground for mind-altering drugs? And how did the quest for a truth serum lead to a psychedelic free-for-all? Inside the CIA, the search for a mind control breakthrough took a bizarre turn. Driven by the relentless pursuit of Sidney Gottlieb, LSD was introduced into the daily lives of unsuspecting officers. From laced coffee to drug-fuelled office parties, the agency's experiments pushed the boundaries of both science and sanity. Listen as Gordon and David expose the shocking truth about the CIA's top-secret experiments with LSD, the devastating consequences, and the enduring legacy of MK Ultra. ------------------- Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, via this link. ------------------- Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.nordvpn.com/restisclassified It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! Email: [email protected] Twitter: @triclassified Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Senior Producer: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by 20th Century Studios, The Amateur. Now, Gordon, we have seen the
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0:14.6	classified. It's about a CIA officer, Charlie Heller, who's a desk agent and he's on a high-risk mission to avenge his wife
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1:24.6	Within the agency, Dr Gottlieb found time to lead the chemists of the technical services staff on a series of increasingly daring experiments with LSD.
1:29.3	They spiked each other's coffee and liquor they spreaded on their food.
1:33.3	They tripped out in their offices and in safe houses in Washington and beyond in the Maryland countryside.
1:39.3	They were stoned for days at a time.
1:42.3	There were moments of black comedy, a hallucinating scientist
1:45.7	suddenly decided that he was Fred Astaire and grabbed the nearest secretary, convinced she was
1:50.9	Ginger Rogers. Dr Gottlieb regarded such incidents as the usual hiccups in searching for the magic
1:57.2	technique he was convinced the communists were using.
2:05.6	His sixth sense convinced Dr Gottlieb that there might be no quick answers.
2:11.5	The only certain way to arrive at the one which mattered success was to continue experimenting. He encouraged his staff to go in search of how to take possession of a man's mind,
	...

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