https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cold-war-s-secret-war-for-the-human--7041921enHistoryCopyright Tommyhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/4d4fc31e96e46e3ab575ed0246b2588c.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-cold-war-s-secret-war-for-the-human--7041921Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:57:06 +0000TommyTommyfeeds@spreaker.comDuring the Cold War, the battlefield was not only in the skies, oceans, or divided cities. It was also inside the human mind. In the shadows of classified programs, intelligence agencies, military researchers, and prison systems began exploring how...falseepisodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-hospital-where-patients-became-experiments--72365037
Sources

The Canadian Encyclopedia states that experiments at Montreal’s Allan Memorial Institute took place between 1957 and 1964, possibly beginning earlier, and were linked to CIA-funded MKULTRA research.
A 2023 scholarly article in History of Psychiatry describes Cameron’s work from psychic driving to MKULTRA and notes research involving drugs, consciousness, and covert administration.
The Guardian’s reporting on the Montreal experiments describes patients being subjected to electroshocks, drug-induced sleep, and large doses of LSD in the 1950s and 1960s.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72365037Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:43:04 +0000TommyThis episode returns to the Montreal experiments, one of the most disturbing chapters connected to MKULTRA. At the Allan Memorial Institute, psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron used methods including drug-induced sleep, intensive electroshock, sensory...
Sources

The Canadian Encyclopedia states that experiments at Montreal’s Allan Memorial Institute took place between 1957 and 1964, possibly beginning earlier, and were linked to CIA-funded MKULTRA research.
A 2023 scholarly article in History of Psychiatry describes Cameron’s work from psychic driving to MKULTRA and notes research involving drugs, consciousness, and covert administration.
The Guardian’s reporting on the Montreal experiments describes patients being subjected to electroshocks, drug-induced sleep, and large doses of LSD in the 1950s and 1960s.]]>227allan memorial institute,cia,cold war,dark history,documentary podcast,donald ewen cameron,human experimentation,mkultra,montreal experiments,psychiatry,psychic drivingfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-program-before-mkultra--72365033
Sources

CIA documents describe ARTICHOKE as the agency cryptonym for the study or use of “special” interrogation methods and techniques.
The National Security Archive notes that by 1952, CIA officials discussed ARTICHOKE not merely as interrogation research, but as work aimed at “means of control.”
Another National Security Archive document describes an internal memo involving ARTICHOKE interrogation of “an important covert operational asset.”]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72365033Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:42:24 +0000TommyThis episode explores Project ARTICHOKE, one of the CIA’s early Cold War behavior-control programs before MKULTRA became the better-known name. ARTICHOKE investigated “special interrogation” methods, including drugs, hypnosis, isolation, and other...
Sources

CIA documents describe ARTICHOKE as the agency cryptonym for the study or use of “special” interrogation methods and techniques.
The National Security Archive notes that by 1952, CIA officials discussed ARTICHOKE not merely as interrogation research, but as work aimed at “means of control.”
Another National Security Archive document describes an internal memo involving ARTICHOKE interrogation of “an important covert operational asset.”]]>217behavior control,cia,cold war,dark history,documentary podcast,hypnosis,interrogation,mind control,mkultra,project artichoke,secret programsfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-false-war-they-tried-to-write--72324810https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72324810Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:23:34 +0000TommyThis episode explores Operation Northwoods, a 1962 U.S. military proposal that suggested manufacturing pretexts to justify an invasion of Cuba. The declassified plan included scenarios involving staged attacks, fake provocations, and even the proposed...229cold war,cuba,dark history,declassified documents,false flag,joint chiefs of staff,kennedy era,operation northwoods,propaganda,secret government plansfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-city-used-as-a-biological-test--72324797https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72324797Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:22:58 +0000TommyThis episode tells the dark story of Operation Sea Spray, a secret U.S. military biological warfare test carried out over San Francisco in 1950. Bacteria believed at the time to be harmless were sprayed offshore to study how a biological attack might...214biological warfare,cold war,dark history,documentary podcast,human experimentation,operation sea spray,public consent,san francisco,secret tests,u.s. militaryfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-iran-deal-moment--72240358https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72240358Sat, 30 May 2026 05:22:56 +0000TommyToday’s brief looks at the uncertain U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal and why the Strait of Hormuz has become the center of the story. The episode explains what is on the table, why the decision matters for energy markets and regional stability, and what to...119ceasefire,daily brief,iran,middle east,oil markets,strait of hormuz,united states,world newsfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-three-names-that-split-one-life-apart--72223477https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72223477Fri, 29 May 2026 10:12:58 +0000TommyThis episode reviews The Names as a debut novel built on a brilliant question: can one name change the course of a life? Florence Knapp follows Cora, a mother trying to name her newborn son while trapped in the shadow of an abusive marriage, then...215abuse,book,choice,debut,domestic,drama,family,fate,fiction,florence,goodreads,knapp,literary,names,naming,novel,parallel,review,the,timelinesfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-life-told-through-letters-no-one-was-supposed-to-keep--72223465https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72223465Fri, 29 May 2026 10:09:56 +0000TommyThis episode reviews The Correspondent as a quiet but unexpectedly resonant novel about letters, aging, regret, solitude, and the strange intimacy of written words. Virginia Evans builds the story through Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer whose...2213,aging,awards,book,choice,correspondent,debut,epistolary,evans,fiction,forgiveness,goodreads,letters,literary,memory,minutes,novel,review,the,virginiafalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-book-that-refuses-comfortable-distance--72223430https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72223430Fri, 29 May 2026 10:07:07 +0000TommyThis episode reviews One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This as a furious, grieving, and morally direct work of nonfiction. Omar El Akkad writes from the wound of Gaza, but the book widens into a larger indictment of Western liberalism,...245against,akkad,always,award,been,book,day,el,everyone,gaza,have,national,nonfiction,omar,one,political,review,this,western,willfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-command-hidden-in-a-trance--72172327https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172327Tue, 26 May 2026 16:49:58 +0000TommyThis episode explores the Cold War fascination with hypnosis as a possible tool of control. Intelligence researchers wondered whether a person in a trance could be made more obedient, more suggestible, or even capable of acting against their own will....256behavior,cia,cold,control,dark,documentary,experimentation,history,human,hypnosis,interrogation,mind,mkultra,podcast,psychological,suggestibility,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-lie-behind-truth-serum--72172301https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172301Tue, 26 May 2026 16:47:40 +0000TommyThis episode explores the Cold War search for a “truth serum,” a drug that intelligence agencies hoped might force hidden information out of an unwilling mind. The idea sounded clean and almost magical: give someone a substance, lower their defenses,...286cia,cold,control,dark,documentary,experimentation,history,human,interrogation,mind,mkultra,pentothal,podcast,psychological,serum,sodium,truth,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-tapes-that-tried-to-rewrite-a-person--72172283https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172283Tue, 26 May 2026 16:45:41 +0000TommyThis episode explores psychic driving, one of the most unsettling ideas connected to the Montreal MKULTRA experiments. Instead of using silence, isolation, or a single drug, the method relied on repeated recorded messages played to patients in an...351behavior,brainwashing,cameron,cia,cold,control,dark,donald,driving,ethics,ewen,experimentation,experiments,history,human,medical,mkultra,montreal,psychic,warfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-silence-they-thought-could-break-you--72172253https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172253Tue, 26 May 2026 16:42:51 +0000TommyThis episode explores the Cold War fascination with sensory deprivation, the idea that the mind could be altered not only by adding drugs or commands, but by taking the world away. In dark rooms, quiet spaces, goggles, gloves, and controlled...316brainwashing,cia,cold,dark,deprivation,documentary,donald,experimentation,hebb,history,human,isolation,mcgill,mkultra,podcast,psychological,sensory,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-doctor-who-tried-to-erase-the-self--72172236https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172236Tue, 26 May 2026 16:41:01 +0000TommyThis episode explores the Montreal experiments led by psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute, one of the most disturbing chapters connected to MKULTRA. Cameron believed that damaged minds could be “depatterned” and rebuilt,...292allan,cameron,cia,cold,control,donald,driving,ethics,ewen,experimentation,experiments,human,institute,medical,memorial,mind,mkultra,montreal,psychic,warfalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rooms-where-consent-disappeared--72172209https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172209Tue, 26 May 2026 16:38:59 +0000TommyThis episode explores Operation Midnight Climax, one of the most disturbing subprojects connected to MKULTRA. In secret apartments, unwitting people were reportedly exposed to LSD and observed as part of the CIA’s search for tools of interrogation,...302cia,climax,cold,consent,control,dark,documentary,experimentation,experiments,history,human,lsd,midnight,mind,mkultra,operation,podcast,psychological,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-movie-that-made-mind-control-feel-real--72172194https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172194Tue, 26 May 2026 16:37:02 +0000TommyThis episode explores how The Manchurian Candidate turned Cold War fear into one of cinema’s most unsettling images: a soldier who comes home, but not entirely as himself. The film did not invent America’s fear of brainwashing, but it gave that fear a...295american,brainwashing,candidate,cinema,cold,control,dark,documentary,history,korean,manchurian,mind,podcast,political,psychological,the,thriller,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-voices-that-crossed-the-iron-curtain--72172166https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172166Tue, 26 May 2026 16:34:12 +0000TommyThis episode explores how radio became one of the Cold War’s most intimate weapons. Instead of tanks crossing borders, voices crossed them, carrying news, persuasion, hope, and political pressure into homes behind the Iron Curtain. In three minutes,...278america,cold,curtain,documentary,eastern,europe,free,information,iron,of,podcast,propaganda,psychological,radio,soviet,union,voice,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-word-that-frightened-america--72172149https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172149Tue, 26 May 2026 16:32:02 +0000TommyThis episode explores how one word, “brainwashing,” entered Cold War America and changed the way people imagined fear, loyalty, and the human mind. After the Korean War, stories of prisoners, propaganda, and ideological conversion made many Americans...263american,brainwashing,cia,cold,control,dark,documentary,history,korean,mind,mkultra,podcast,propaganda,psychological,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-cold-war-s-secret-war-for-the-human-mind--72172128https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72172128Tue, 26 May 2026 16:29:35 +0000TommyThis episode explores one of the darkest psychological frontiers of the Cold War: the fear that the human mind itself could become a battlefield. From public panic over “brainwashing” to secret CIA programs like MKULTRA, it follows how national...277brainwashing,cia,cold,control,dark,documentary,experiments,history,human,mind,mkultra,podcast,programs,psychological,secret,war,warfarefalsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-locked-rooms-of-the-cold-war--72054854https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72054854Mon, 18 May 2026 12:18:12 +0000TommyBeneath the vibrant surface of the 1960s’ cultural revolution lay a grim and hidden reality. Secret detention camps across Europe and Asia became sites where science was weaponized against political prisoners and marginalized groups. These clandestine...8331960s,abuses,asia,camps,clandestine,cold,counterculture,detention,ethics,europe,experiments,human,political,psychological,repression,rights,scientific,secret,torture,warfalsefull