https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/goverment-experiments-exposed--7307851
This is a narrated documentary podcast, no host, no interviews, just a full story reconstructed episode by episode from case files, court records, and the paper trails governments tried to bury. Each episode follows one classified program from its quiet beginning to the moment it broke into the open, tracing the names, the memos, and the bodies left behind. You get the timeline, the people who signed off, and the ones who paid for it.

The show digs into human experiments conducted under military and medical cover, the secret experiments run in institutions that answered to no one, and the classified experiments that treated consent as an inconvenience. Some episodes trace a single death, like twelve children killed by a bottle of medicine that should never have left the shelf, no crime ever filed, just silence and a grave. Others follow a program for decades, watching how these experiments kept running while bureaucracies protected themselves long after the science stopped making sense. The throughline is always the same question: who decided these experiments were acceptable, and who decided no one would ever be told.

New episodes drop regularly, each one a self-contained story with its own ending, so you can start anywhere and still walk away with the full weight of what happened. Subscribe to Classified Experiments and follow the paper trail from the first quiet decision to the moment the truth about these experiments finally surfaces.]]>enScience FictionCopyright OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENThttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/c1bf826bcd4d0d7e081a283c015e06f9.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/goverment-experiments-exposed--7307851Sat, 12 Sep 2026 08:03:12 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTOBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTcreators@obomedia.comClassified Experiments opens with a mayonnaise jar sitting on a laboratory shelf, a preserved brain floating inside it, and a pathologist's signature on the label like it was nothing unusual at all. This is a narrated documentary podcast, no host, no...
This is a narrated documentary podcast, no host, no interviews, just a full story reconstructed episode by episode from case files, court records, and the paper trails governments tried to bury. Each episode follows one classified program from its quiet beginning to the moment it broke into the open, tracing the names, the memos, and the bodies left behind. You get the timeline, the people who signed off, and the ones who paid for it.

The show digs into human experiments conducted under military and medical cover, the secret experiments run in institutions that answered to no one, and the classified experiments that treated consent as an inconvenience. Some episodes trace a single death, like twelve children killed by a bottle of medicine that should never have left the shelf, no crime ever filed, just silence and a grave. Others follow a program for decades, watching how these experiments kept running while bureaucracies protected themselves long after the science stopped making sense. The throughline is always the same question: who decided these experiments were acceptable, and who decided no one would ever be told.

New episodes drop regularly, each one a self-contained story with its own ending, so you can start anywhere and still walk away with the full weight of what happened. Subscribe to Classified Experiments and follow the paper trail from the first quiet decision to the moment the truth about these experiments finally surfaces.]]>falsed48ace5b-f7d5-5970-b1ea-8a430875a976episodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-scrubber-filters-were-switched-off-and-the-air-was-released--74835272
The scrubber filters were switched off - and the air was released

In this episode, we lay out the sequence of decisions, technical choices, and local settings that produced the Green Run and the hours-long airborne release over eastern Washington. We follow who planned and ran the test, how the fuel and scrubbers were handled, and the immediate scope of the plume - but we leave open what that meant for the people downwind.

Event: Green Run
Date: December 2, 1949
Location: Hanford Site, eastern Washington
Person: Jack Healy; Carl Gamertsfelder; Air Force Lieutenant W. E. Harlan
Duration: 12-17 hours

- Technicians at Hanford’s T Plant deliberately deactivated the scrubber filters before starting the run.
- The fuel processed had cooled for only sixteen days instead of the standard 83-101 days.
- Military aircraft flew low over communities that night to sample the air while the release occurred.
- Planners described the fuel as “green” to indicate it was undercooled and highly volatile.
- A 1992 reanalysis estimated about 11,000 curies of iodine-131 entered the atmosphere, roughly double original projections.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835272Sun, 13 Sep 2026 08:00:02 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTMilitary planes sampled eastern Washington skies while Hanford engineers processed uranium and turned off scrubbers - what did they release? The scrubber filters were switched off - and the air was released In this episode, we lay out the...
The scrubber filters were switched off - and the air was released

In this episode, we lay out the sequence of decisions, technical choices, and local settings that produced the Green Run and the hours-long airborne release over eastern Washington. We follow who planned and ran the test, how the fuel and scrubbers were handled, and the immediate scope of the plume - but we leave open what that meant for the people downwind.

Event: Green Run
Date: December 2, 1949
Location: Hanford Site, eastern Washington
Person: Jack Healy; Carl Gamertsfelder; Air Force Lieutenant W. E. Harlan
Duration: 12-17 hours

- Technicians at Hanford’s T Plant deliberately deactivated the scrubber filters before starting the run.
- The fuel processed had cooled for only sixteen days instead of the standard 83-101 days.
- Military aircraft flew low over communities that night to sample the air while the release occurred.
- Planners described the fuel as “green” to indicate it was undercooled and highly volatile.
- A 1992 reanalysis estimated about 11,000 curies of iodine-131 entered the atmosphere, roughly double original projections.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1011falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-autoganzfeld-computer-randomized-the-targets-and-one-log-never-matched--74835270
The autoganzfeld computer randomized the targets-and one log never matched

In this episode, we follow the rise of the ganzfeld protocol from a simple sensory‑deprivation setup to an automated experiment that promised to remove human error. We outline how Honorton sought to answer skeptics by automating target selection and logging, and we ask what a single mismatched log revealed about fifty years of controversy.

Person: Charles Honorton
Person: Susan Blackmore
Date: 1979
Location: Princeton (Psychophysical Research Laboratories)
Topic: autoganzfeld protocol and a mismatched computer log

- A receiver reclined with halved ping‑pong balls over his eyes, a red light filling his visual field and white noise in his headphones during thirty‑minute sessions.
- A sender in another room viewed a randomly chosen image and the receiver later picked from four images; chance performance was 25 percent.
- Charles Honorton created the autoganzfeld: a computer‑driven system that randomized targets and logged selections to remove human intervention.
- Ray Hyman audited forty‑two prior ganzfeld studies and found at least one serious methodological flaw in each, prompting Honorton to automate the protocol.
- Susan Blackmore observed a 1979 session that she could not explain, a single episode that took her eight years to publish and that fed a long, unresolved debate.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835270Sat, 12 Sep 2026 08:00:04 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA receiver with ping-pong halves over his eyes watches a computer pick targets for a telepathy test-so what went wrong with the log? The autoganzfeld computer randomized the targets-and one log never matched In this episode, we follow the rise...
The autoganzfeld computer randomized the targets-and one log never matched

In this episode, we follow the rise of the ganzfeld protocol from a simple sensory‑deprivation setup to an automated experiment that promised to remove human error. We outline how Honorton sought to answer skeptics by automating target selection and logging, and we ask what a single mismatched log revealed about fifty years of controversy.

Person: Charles Honorton
Person: Susan Blackmore
Date: 1979
Location: Princeton (Psychophysical Research Laboratories)
Topic: autoganzfeld protocol and a mismatched computer log

- A receiver reclined with halved ping‑pong balls over his eyes, a red light filling his visual field and white noise in his headphones during thirty‑minute sessions.
- A sender in another room viewed a randomly chosen image and the receiver later picked from four images; chance performance was 25 percent.
- Charles Honorton created the autoganzfeld: a computer‑driven system that randomized targets and logged selections to remove human intervention.
- Ray Hyman audited forty‑two prior ganzfeld studies and found at least one serious methodological flaw in each, prompting Honorton to automate the protocol.
- Susan Blackmore observed a 1979 session that she could not explain, a single episode that took her eight years to publish and that fed a long, unresolved debate.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>915falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-placebo-given-to-pregnant-women-that-still-let-1-000-babies-be-infected--74835266
The Placebo Given to Pregnant Women That Still Let 1,000 Babies Be Infected

In this episode, we lay out a chain of documented medical experiments across Africa where vulnerable populations were offered experimental medicine or nothing. We trace patterns from colonial-era sterilizations to military and clinical trials to ask how consent and power shaped who received care.

Person: Harriet A. Washington
Date: 1994
Location: Zimbabwe
Topic: Medical experiments on vulnerable populations

- 17,000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe were enrolled in a 1994 trial; half received a placebo despite an existing regimen to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.
- Early 1900s German anatomist Eugen Fischer conducted sterilization experiments on Herero women in German South-West Africa and published racial science that influenced institutions.
- In 1970s Rhodesia, Black women on white-run farms were given Depo-Provera under coercive conditions before the drug was approved in the United States; Zimbabwe banned it in 1981.
- Between 1971 and 1989, the South African Defence Force subjected soldiers and some women to coercive psychiatric methods, electric shock, and forced surgical procedures aimed at eliminating homosexuality.
- In 1996, during a meningitis outbreak in Kano, Nigeria, Pfizer tested Trovan on children without documented parental informed consent and without Nigerian government authorization, enrolling 200 children.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835266Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA trial in 1994 gave half of 17,000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe a placebo while a proven HIV prevention existed, leaving a generation at risk. The Placebo Given to Pregnant Women That Still Let 1,000 Babies Be Infected In this episode, we lay out...
The Placebo Given to Pregnant Women That Still Let 1,000 Babies Be Infected

In this episode, we lay out a chain of documented medical experiments across Africa where vulnerable populations were offered experimental medicine or nothing. We trace patterns from colonial-era sterilizations to military and clinical trials to ask how consent and power shaped who received care.

Person: Harriet A. Washington
Date: 1994
Location: Zimbabwe
Topic: Medical experiments on vulnerable populations

- 17,000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe were enrolled in a 1994 trial; half received a placebo despite an existing regimen to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.
- Early 1900s German anatomist Eugen Fischer conducted sterilization experiments on Herero women in German South-West Africa and published racial science that influenced institutions.
- In 1970s Rhodesia, Black women on white-run farms were given Depo-Provera under coercive conditions before the drug was approved in the United States; Zimbabwe banned it in 1981.
- Between 1971 and 1989, the South African Defence Force subjected soldiers and some women to coercive psychiatric methods, electric shock, and forced surgical procedures aimed at eliminating homosexuality.
- In 1996, during a meningitis outbreak in Kano, Nigeria, Pfizer tested Trovan on children without documented parental informed consent and without Nigerian government authorization, enrolling 200 children.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1204falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-recorded-message-that-rewired-patients-and-no-favourables-were-obtained--74835264
The recorded message that rewired patients-and no favourables were obtained

In this episode, we lay out the facts of a prolonged experiment at the Allan Memorial Institute and the background of the psychiatrist who ran it. We describe who the patients were, what was done to them, and the institutional and funding context that enabled it - leaving open the question of accountability.

Person: Anonymous female patient
Duration: 101 days
Location: Allan Memorial Institute, Montreal
Person: Donald Ewen Cameron
Event: Continuous audio-loop therapy, induced comas, high-intensity electroshock, paralytic drugs

- A patient was kept in a room while a recorded voice played the same message around the clock for 101 days.
- The supervising psychiatrist, Donald Ewen Cameron, later wrote in clinical notes: “No favourable results were obtained.”
- Cameron was founding director of the Allan Memorial Institute and later president of multiple psychiatric associations, including the World Psychiatric Association.
- Treatments documented include induced comas, electroshock delivered at up to forty times normal intensity, paralytic drugs, and prolonged audio loops.
- Funding and institutional support included Rockefeller Foundation money and a donated mansion used as the institute’s building.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835264Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA patient endured 101 days of nonstop audio loops at a Montreal psychiatric institute while a famed psychiatrist sought to “rewire” minds. The recorded message that rewired patients-and no favourables were obtained In this episode, we lay out...
The recorded message that rewired patients-and no favourables were obtained

In this episode, we lay out the facts of a prolonged experiment at the Allan Memorial Institute and the background of the psychiatrist who ran it. We describe who the patients were, what was done to them, and the institutional and funding context that enabled it - leaving open the question of accountability.

Person: Anonymous female patient
Duration: 101 days
Location: Allan Memorial Institute, Montreal
Person: Donald Ewen Cameron
Event: Continuous audio-loop therapy, induced comas, high-intensity electroshock, paralytic drugs

- A patient was kept in a room while a recorded voice played the same message around the clock for 101 days.
- The supervising psychiatrist, Donald Ewen Cameron, later wrote in clinical notes: “No favourable results were obtained.”
- Cameron was founding director of the Allan Memorial Institute and later president of multiple psychiatric associations, including the World Psychiatric Association.
- Treatments documented include induced comas, electroshock delivered at up to forty times normal intensity, paralytic drugs, and prolonged audio loops.
- Funding and institutional support included Rockefeller Foundation money and a donated mansion used as the institute’s building.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>964falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-lsd-spiked-cointreau-that-unraveled-the-cia-s-story--74835261
The LSD‑spiked Cointreau that unraveled the CIA's story

In this episode, we follow the weeks before a scientist's fatal fall to trace his work, travels, and a secretive CIA retreat where a drugged drink changed everything. The episode asks what Olson knew, who dosed him, and how his final days unfolded.

Person: Frank Olson
Date: November 28, 1953
Location: Hotel Statler, New York City
Event: Covert dosing with LSD at Deep Creek Lake retreat; fall from 13th story
Topic: US biological weapons research and CIA interrogation programs

- Olson was a bacteriologist who rose to acting chief of the Special Operations Division at Fort Detrick.
- He worked on operations like Harness and Sea‑Spray, testing aerosolized agents on populations and environments.
- In May 1952 he joined the Project Artichoke committee, linked to interrogation research.
- In late July 1953 he toured European CIA sites and returned profoundly changed, according to colleagues.
- On November 19, 1953, Sidney Gottlieb and Robert Lashbrook covertly dosed a bottle of Cointreau with LSD at a Deep Creek Lake retreat.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835261Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA government bacteriologist is dosed with LSD at a CIA retreat; days later he plummets from a New York hotel window-what really happened? The LSD‑spiked Cointreau that unraveled the CIA's story In this episode, we follow the weeks before a...
The LSD‑spiked Cointreau that unraveled the CIA's story

In this episode, we follow the weeks before a scientist's fatal fall to trace his work, travels, and a secretive CIA retreat where a drugged drink changed everything. The episode asks what Olson knew, who dosed him, and how his final days unfolded.

Person: Frank Olson
Date: November 28, 1953
Location: Hotel Statler, New York City
Event: Covert dosing with LSD at Deep Creek Lake retreat; fall from 13th story
Topic: US biological weapons research and CIA interrogation programs

- Olson was a bacteriologist who rose to acting chief of the Special Operations Division at Fort Detrick.
- He worked on operations like Harness and Sea‑Spray, testing aerosolized agents on populations and environments.
- In May 1952 he joined the Project Artichoke committee, linked to interrogation research.
- In late July 1953 he toured European CIA sites and returned profoundly changed, according to colleagues.
- On November 19, 1953, Sidney Gottlieb and Robert Lashbrook covertly dosed a bottle of Cointreau with LSD at a Deep Creek Lake retreat.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1022falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-records-for-bz-vanished-so-what-did-it-do--74835258
The records for BZ vanished - so what did it do?

In this episode, we lay out how a classified Army human-testing program recruited enlisted men, dosed them with hundreds of chemical agents, and left gaps in the official record. What did those exposed to the anticholinergic BZ experience, and why are the files gone?

Person: James Ketchum
Person: Alsoph H. Corwin
Event: Medical Research Volunteer Program (1956-1975)
Topic: BZ anticholinergic exposures
Location: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland

- Four men entered a contaminated room in 1957 to clean it after each had been dosed with LSD.
- Between 6,700 and 7,120 U.S. servicemen were exposed to up to 254 chemical substances under the program.
- Tests included psychoactives (LSD, PCP, early cannabinoids, BZ) alongside nerve agents and mustard compounds.
- Volunteers performed operational tasks-radar interpretation, weapon operation, meteorological calculations-while under drug effects.
- The Government Accountability Office reported in 2004 that exact participant numbers and some records, notably for BZ subjects, may never be known.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835258Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTFour soldiers stand in a contaminated room in 1957 after being dosed with LSD - the missing medical records for BZ are the silence that follows. The records for BZ vanished - so what did it do? In this episode, we lay out how a classified Army...
The records for BZ vanished - so what did it do?

In this episode, we lay out how a classified Army human-testing program recruited enlisted men, dosed them with hundreds of chemical agents, and left gaps in the official record. What did those exposed to the anticholinergic BZ experience, and why are the files gone?

Person: James Ketchum
Person: Alsoph H. Corwin
Event: Medical Research Volunteer Program (1956-1975)
Topic: BZ anticholinergic exposures
Location: Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland

- Four men entered a contaminated room in 1957 to clean it after each had been dosed with LSD.
- Between 6,700 and 7,120 U.S. servicemen were exposed to up to 254 chemical substances under the program.
- Tests included psychoactives (LSD, PCP, early cannabinoids, BZ) alongside nerve agents and mustard compounds.
- Volunteers performed operational tasks-radar interpretation, weapon operation, meteorological calculations-while under drug effects.
- The Government Accountability Office reported in 2004 that exact participant numbers and some records, notably for BZ subjects, may never be known.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1277falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-red-cross-kept-a-contaminated-factor-viii-and-seven-children-were-infected--74835255
The Red Cross kept a contaminated Factor VIII and seven children were infected

In this episode, we trace the decisions, timelines, and institutional gaps that let contaminated blood products reach patients. We lay out the warnings ignored, the tests delayed, and the inquiry launched to understand how trust and structure broke down.

Person: Justice Horace Krever
Organization: Canadian Red Cross Society
Event: Contaminated Factor VIII batch refused removal
Period: 1980s-1990s
Cases: Seven children infected from that batch

- The Canadian Red Cross ran the national blood supply as a charity with near-total autonomy and set its own safety rules.
- American banks used surrogate HIV testing in 1984; the Red Cross delayed adopting HIV antibody screening until November 1985.
- A hepatitis C screening test existed in 1986 but the Red Cross did not implement it until 1990, a four-year gap.
- In 1986 the Canadian Hemophilia Society demanded removal of a specific Factor VIII batch; the Red Cross refused to pull it.
- Justice Krever’s public inquiry (opened February 1994) took 474 witnesses and concluded that most hepatitis C infections traced to the blood system were preventable.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835255Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:04 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA trusted charity kept a contaminated Factor VIII batch in circulation and seven children were infected - how did Canada's blood system fail? The Red Cross kept a contaminated Factor VIII and seven children were infected In this episode, we...
The Red Cross kept a contaminated Factor VIII and seven children were infected

In this episode, we trace the decisions, timelines, and institutional gaps that let contaminated blood products reach patients. We lay out the warnings ignored, the tests delayed, and the inquiry launched to understand how trust and structure broke down.

Person: Justice Horace Krever
Organization: Canadian Red Cross Society
Event: Contaminated Factor VIII batch refused removal
Period: 1980s-1990s
Cases: Seven children infected from that batch

- The Canadian Red Cross ran the national blood supply as a charity with near-total autonomy and set its own safety rules.
- American banks used surrogate HIV testing in 1984; the Red Cross delayed adopting HIV antibody screening until November 1985.
- A hepatitis C screening test existed in 1986 but the Red Cross did not implement it until 1990, a four-year gap.
- In 1986 the Canadian Hemophilia Society demanded removal of a specific Factor VIII batch; the Red Cross refused to pull it.
- Justice Krever’s public inquiry (opened February 1994) took 474 witnesses and concluded that most hepatitis C infections traced to the blood system were preventable.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>904falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-three-words-that-admitted-eight-sane-people-to-asylums--74835252
The three words that admitted eight sane people to asylums

In this episode, we follow the Rosenhan experiment: eight people with no psychiatric history who reported hearing a voice using one of three specific words, were admitted to hospitals and then acted normally to see what would happen. The episode traces how they were admitted, what they experienced inside, and why a later journalist struggled to verify the original participants' identities.

Person: David Rosenhan
Participants: eight pseudopatients
Words used: "empty," "hollow," "thud"
Hospitals: twelve across five states
Average stay: nineteen days

- Rosenhan recruited eight volunteers from varied professions, including psychologists, a pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a painter, a housewife, and himself.
- Each volunteer phoned a hospital, reported hearing a voice, and used one of the three preselected words before being admitted.
- Admissions occurred at twelve hospitals with diverse settings; none of the callers were turned away and diagnoses were quickly assigned.
- Inside, pseudopatients behaved normally, reported the voices had stopped, kept notes, and encountered staff interpretations that framed ordinary actions as symptoms.
- Rosenhan planned contingencies like a retained lawyer and documented stays ranging from seven to fifty-two days while questioning how labels shaped care.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835252Sun, 06 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA psychologist and seven volunteers use three meaningless words to get admitted to psychiatric hospitals - can clinicians tell sane from insane? The three words that admitted eight sane people to asylums In this episode, we follow the Rosenhan...
The three words that admitted eight sane people to asylums

In this episode, we follow the Rosenhan experiment: eight people with no psychiatric history who reported hearing a voice using one of three specific words, were admitted to hospitals and then acted normally to see what would happen. The episode traces how they were admitted, what they experienced inside, and why a later journalist struggled to verify the original participants' identities.

Person: David Rosenhan
Participants: eight pseudopatients
Words used: "empty," "hollow," "thud"
Hospitals: twelve across five states
Average stay: nineteen days

- Rosenhan recruited eight volunteers from varied professions, including psychologists, a pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a painter, a housewife, and himself.
- Each volunteer phoned a hospital, reported hearing a voice, and used one of the three preselected words before being admitted.
- Admissions occurred at twelve hospitals with diverse settings; none of the callers were turned away and diagnoses were quickly assigned.
- Inside, pseudopatients behaved normally, reported the voices had stopped, kept notes, and encountered staff interpretations that framed ordinary actions as symptoms.
- Rosenhan planned contingencies like a retained lawyer and documented stays ranging from seven to fifty-two days while questioning how labels shaped care.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1031falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-twenty-two-year-old-notebook-predicted-who-would-get-alzheimer-s--74835249
A twenty‑two‑year‑old notebook predicted who would get Alzheimer's

In this episode, we trace how a longitudinal study linked early‑adult autobiographies to late‑life cognition and postmortem brains. The episode follows the study’s setup, the archival discovery, and the method that turned casual sentences into predictive data - but what does that signal actually mean?

Person: David Snowdon
Topic: Nun Study, idea density analysis
Date: 1986 (study launch); autobiographies written ~age 22 decades earlier
Location: School Sisters of Notre Dame convent archives
Sample: 678 elderly women, all at least 75 at enrollment, all consenting to annual exams and brain donation

- A researcher drove to a convent in 1986 and requested physical brain donations from 678 elderly sisters.
- The convent archive contained autobiographies written by entrants around age 22 and filed away for decades.
- The cohort shared controlled life variables: same community, housing, diet, reproductive history, and daily schedule.
- The team developed "idea density" coding: trained coders counted discrete ideas per ten words in early autobiographies.
- Early analysis showed a stark split: low idea density linked to a much higher incidence of later Alzheimer’s diagnoses.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835249Sat, 05 Sep 2026 08:00:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA young nun’s 22‑year‑old notebook predicts Alzheimer’s risk decades later - can a researcher prove it? A twenty‑two‑year‑old notebook predicted who would get Alzheimer's In this episode, we trace how a longitudinal study linked early‑adult...
A twenty‑two‑year‑old notebook predicted who would get Alzheimer's

In this episode, we trace how a longitudinal study linked early‑adult autobiographies to late‑life cognition and postmortem brains. The episode follows the study’s setup, the archival discovery, and the method that turned casual sentences into predictive data - but what does that signal actually mean?

Person: David Snowdon
Topic: Nun Study, idea density analysis
Date: 1986 (study launch); autobiographies written ~age 22 decades earlier
Location: School Sisters of Notre Dame convent archives
Sample: 678 elderly women, all at least 75 at enrollment, all consenting to annual exams and brain donation

- A researcher drove to a convent in 1986 and requested physical brain donations from 678 elderly sisters.
- The convent archive contained autobiographies written by entrants around age 22 and filed away for decades.
- The cohort shared controlled life variables: same community, housing, diet, reproductive history, and daily schedule.
- The team developed "idea density" coding: trained coders counted discrete ideas per ten words in early autobiographies.
- Early analysis showed a stark split: low idea density linked to a much higher incidence of later Alzheimer’s diagnoses.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1063falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-biopsy-taken-without-her-knowing-that-kept-her-cells-alive--74835246
The biopsy taken without her knowing that kept her cells alive

In this episode, we trace the early life of the woman whose cells became the first immortal human cell line and the medical moments that set that transformation in motion. What happened in a Johns Hopkins exam room on January 29, 1951, and why did no one tell her family for decades?

Person: Henrietta Lacks
Date: January 29, 1951; October 4, 1951; 1920 (birth)
Location: Johns Hopkins Hospital; Clover, Virginia; Turner Station, Baltimore
Diagnosis: Malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix
Researcher: George Otto Otto

- She sought care at Johns Hopkins after feeling a "knot" following childbirth and saw Dr. Howard W. Jones.
- Two tissue samples were taken that same day-one from the tumor and one from a healthy margin-while she remained unaware.
- The samples were sent to George Otto Otto's lab where assistant Mary Kubicek prepared the cultures.
- Otto had developed a roller-tube method to keep cells alive longer, a technique previously successful with animal tissue but not human.
- Instead of dying, the cancer cells from her biopsy multiplied, surviving in culture in a way researchers had never seen.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835246Fri, 04 Sep 2026 08:00:04 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA biopsy from a woman at Johns Hopkins is kept alive in a lab without her knowing - who owns her tissue and consent? The biopsy taken without her knowing that kept her cells alive In this episode, we trace the early life of the woman whose cells...
The biopsy taken without her knowing that kept her cells alive

In this episode, we trace the early life of the woman whose cells became the first immortal human cell line and the medical moments that set that transformation in motion. What happened in a Johns Hopkins exam room on January 29, 1951, and why did no one tell her family for decades?

Person: Henrietta Lacks
Date: January 29, 1951; October 4, 1951; 1920 (birth)
Location: Johns Hopkins Hospital; Clover, Virginia; Turner Station, Baltimore
Diagnosis: Malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix
Researcher: George Otto Otto

- She sought care at Johns Hopkins after feeling a "knot" following childbirth and saw Dr. Howard W. Jones.
- Two tissue samples were taken that same day-one from the tumor and one from a healthy margin-while she remained unaware.
- The samples were sent to George Otto Otto's lab where assistant Mary Kubicek prepared the cultures.
- Otto had developed a roller-tube method to keep cells alive longer, a technique previously successful with animal tissue but not human.
- Instead of dying, the cancer cells from her biopsy multiplied, surviving in culture in a way researchers had never seen.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1301falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-injection-that-officials-said-was-vitamin-and-never-consented-to--74835244
The injection that officials said was "vitamin" and never consented to

In this episode, we lay out a chain of medical decisions and institutional records showing how radiation experiments were conducted on vulnerable people across decades and countries. What choices turned hospitals and research centers into sites for secretly measuring human bodies?

Person: Ebb Cade
Date: April 10, 1945
Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Topic: Human radiation experiments
Institution: Manhattan Project

- A car accident brought 53-year-old Black construction worker Ebb Cade to a Manhattan Project hospital where he was injected with 4.7 micrograms of plutonium without being told or asked.
- Doctors collected Cade’s urine, feces, and removed fifteen teeth to measure plutonium retention as part of efforts to determine the “tolerance dose.”
- Records show the practice predates the bomb: in 1927 ten children in Indiana were irradiated for supposed ringworm treatment, including five-year-old Vertus Hardiman who suffered a skull wound.
- Selection favored the institutionally vulnerable-Black patients, children, prisoners, pregnant poor women, orphans, soldiers-people unlikely to refuse or be believed.
- One point six million pages of federal records document experiments, doses, and subjects, yet many files were classified or hidden for decades.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835244Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:00:04 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA Black construction worker in Oak Ridge is injected with plutonium without consent - who decided his body would be data? The injection that officials said was "vitamin" and never consented to In this episode, we lay out a chain of medical...
The injection that officials said was "vitamin" and never consented to

In this episode, we lay out a chain of medical decisions and institutional records showing how radiation experiments were conducted on vulnerable people across decades and countries. What choices turned hospitals and research centers into sites for secretly measuring human bodies?

Person: Ebb Cade
Date: April 10, 1945
Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Topic: Human radiation experiments
Institution: Manhattan Project

- A car accident brought 53-year-old Black construction worker Ebb Cade to a Manhattan Project hospital where he was injected with 4.7 micrograms of plutonium without being told or asked.
- Doctors collected Cade’s urine, feces, and removed fifteen teeth to measure plutonium retention as part of efforts to determine the “tolerance dose.”
- Records show the practice predates the bomb: in 1927 ten children in Indiana were irradiated for supposed ringworm treatment, including five-year-old Vertus Hardiman who suffered a skull wound.
- Selection favored the institutionally vulnerable-Black patients, children, prisoners, pregnant poor women, orphans, soldiers-people unlikely to refuse or be believed.
- One point six million pages of federal records document experiments, doses, and subjects, yet many files were classified or hidden for decades.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>989falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-visible-marshmallow-made-waiting-impossible--74835241
The visible marshmallow made waiting impossible

In this episode we present the original Stanford marshmallow experiment and the experiments and follow-ups that turned a single preschool test into a claim about willpower and future success. We trace the setup, the behaviors, and the questions researchers later asked about what the test actually measured.

Person: Walter Mischel
Location: Bing Nursery School, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Date: began in 1970; follow-ups in 1988 and 1990; related studies cited through 2013 and 2012
Topic: marshmallow experiment; delay of gratification; visibility of rewards
Method: children aged four alone in a bare room with one visible treat and a bell to summon the researcher

- The original test placed one treat on a table and instructed a four-year-old to wait fifteen minutes for a second treat while the researcher left the room.
- Early results showed children waited less when the reward remained visible, contradicting the idea that seeing the treat would motivate self-control.
- Mischel expanded the design by 1972 to fifty children across five conditions, varying whether immediate and delayed rewards were visible and which treats were used.
- Parents later reported that long-delaying children seemed more competent and confident as teenagers, prompting follow-up studies and widespread claims.
- Subsequent work linked long delay behavior to adult brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and low-delay activity in reward regions, while newer studies began probing trust and environmental factors.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835241Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:31:15 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA four-year-old with a marshmallow at Stanford - wait fifteen minutes and get two, but will the visible treat make waiting impossible? The visible marshmallow made waiting impossible In this episode we present the original Stanford marshmallow...
The visible marshmallow made waiting impossible

In this episode we present the original Stanford marshmallow experiment and the experiments and follow-ups that turned a single preschool test into a claim about willpower and future success. We trace the setup, the behaviors, and the questions researchers later asked about what the test actually measured.

Person: Walter Mischel
Location: Bing Nursery School, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Date: began in 1970; follow-ups in 1988 and 1990; related studies cited through 2013 and 2012
Topic: marshmallow experiment; delay of gratification; visibility of rewards
Method: children aged four alone in a bare room with one visible treat and a bell to summon the researcher

- The original test placed one treat on a table and instructed a four-year-old to wait fifteen minutes for a second treat while the researcher left the room.
- Early results showed children waited less when the reward remained visible, contradicting the idea that seeing the treat would motivate self-control.
- Mischel expanded the design by 1972 to fifty children across five conditions, varying whether immediate and delayed rewards were visible and which treats were used.
- Parents later reported that long-delaying children seemed more competent and confident as teenagers, prompting follow-up studies and widespread claims.
- Subsequent work linked long delay behavior to adult brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and low-delay activity in reward regions, while newer studies began probing trust and environmental factors.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>895falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-jars-on-the-shelf-hid-eight-pounds-of-his-body--74835239
The jars on the shelf hid eight pounds of his body

In this episode, we trace what happened after a 1958 criticality accident at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and how a pathologist handled the victim’s remains without the family’s knowledge. What decisions were made inside a sealed Cold War town and what questions did those choices leave unanswered?

Person: Cecil Kelley
Date: December 31, 1958
Location: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Person: Clarence Lushbaugh
Topic: removal and storage of brain, spinal cord, and organs in jars

- A mixing tank at Los Alamos went critical on December 30, 1958, producing a flash of Cherenkov blue light and a lethal dose of radiation to Cecil Kelley.
- Kelley absorbed about 36 gray and died thirty-five hours after the exposure; his family was told he died in a nuclear accident.
- Clarence Lushbaugh, Los Alamos pathologist and Assistant District Health Officer, removed Kelley’s brain, spinal cord, and viscera-more than eight pounds-and placed them in glass mayonnaise jars.
- The jars were stored on a shelf in the biomedical laboratory for decades, without the family’s knowledge or consent.
- Lushbaugh used data from Kelley’s tissues to test plutonium accumulation models and as a model for a program that sampled dozens more bodies over twenty years.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835239Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:31:11 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA Los Alamos pathologist kept eight pounds of a coworker’s organs in mayonnaise jars after a 1958 plutonium accident - who authorized it, and why? The jars on the shelf hid eight pounds of his body In this episode, we trace what happened after a...
The jars on the shelf hid eight pounds of his body

In this episode, we trace what happened after a 1958 criticality accident at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and how a pathologist handled the victim’s remains without the family’s knowledge. What decisions were made inside a sealed Cold War town and what questions did those choices leave unanswered?

Person: Cecil Kelley
Date: December 31, 1958
Location: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Person: Clarence Lushbaugh
Topic: removal and storage of brain, spinal cord, and organs in jars

- A mixing tank at Los Alamos went critical on December 30, 1958, producing a flash of Cherenkov blue light and a lethal dose of radiation to Cecil Kelley.
- Kelley absorbed about 36 gray and died thirty-five hours after the exposure; his family was told he died in a nuclear accident.
- Clarence Lushbaugh, Los Alamos pathologist and Assistant District Health Officer, removed Kelley’s brain, spinal cord, and viscera-more than eight pounds-and placed them in glass mayonnaise jars.
- The jars were stored on a shelf in the biomedical laboratory for decades, without the family’s knowledge or consent.
- Lushbaugh used data from Kelley’s tissues to test plutonium accumulation models and as a model for a program that sampled dozens more bodies over twenty years.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1092falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-bar-drink-that-agents-dosed-and-no-follow-up-was-ever-logged--74835218
The bar drink that agents dosed - and no follow-up was ever logged

In this episode, we trace how a classified CIA program moved from Swiss chemistry to covert bar experiments, following documents, witnesses, and declassified reports to map the program's methods and reach. What choices and institutions led agents to dose civilians in ordinary bars?

Program: MKULTRA
Person: Sidney Gottlieb
Date: 1954-1963
Event: covert bar dosing with LSD
Source: Church Committee findings

- Agents under MKULTRA entered American bars, ordered drinks, and slipped LSD into civilians' food and beverages.
- Surviving documentation totals about twenty thousand pages; 152 files were shredded in 1973.
- MKULTRA grew from earlier projects (Project CHATTER, BLUEBIRD/ARTICHOKE) and prioritized behavioral manipulation over therapy.
- Subjects included volunteers, prisoners, mental patients, and civilians who were given drugs without consent.
- The program's origins trace back to Albert Hofmann's 1938 synthesis of LSD and its psychiatric interest at Sandoz Laboratories.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835218Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:31:07 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA CIA program slipped LSD into bar patrons' drinks in cocktail lounges - a man left dosed; what happened next? The bar drink that agents dosed - and no follow-up was ever logged In this episode, we trace how a classified CIA program moved from...
The bar drink that agents dosed - and no follow-up was ever logged

In this episode, we trace how a classified CIA program moved from Swiss chemistry to covert bar experiments, following documents, witnesses, and declassified reports to map the program's methods and reach. What choices and institutions led agents to dose civilians in ordinary bars?

Program: MKULTRA
Person: Sidney Gottlieb
Date: 1954-1963
Event: covert bar dosing with LSD
Source: Church Committee findings

- Agents under MKULTRA entered American bars, ordered drinks, and slipped LSD into civilians' food and beverages.
- Surviving documentation totals about twenty thousand pages; 152 files were shredded in 1973.
- MKULTRA grew from earlier projects (Project CHATTER, BLUEBIRD/ARTICHOKE) and prioritized behavioral manipulation over therapy.
- Subjects included volunteers, prisoners, mental patients, and civilians who were given drugs without consent.
- The program's origins trace back to Albert Hofmann's 1938 synthesis of LSD and its psychiatric interest at Sandoz Laboratories.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>991falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-written-50-7-marked-negative-and-five-organs-went-through--74835215
The written "50.7" marked negative - and five organs went through

In this episode, we tell the documented account of a single midnight telephone call, the national transplant system that processed it, and the chain of decisions it set in motion across hospitals. How did one interpretation gap in a system designed for speed send five organs into surgery?

Person: Coordinator who recorded the result
Person: Technologist who read "fifty-six point seven" and said "reactive"
Person: Ko Wen-je, designer of the transplant coordination system
Date: August 23, 2011
Event: Five organs transplanted within thirty-six hours after a result was marked negative

- A technologist in Taipei read a numeric lab value ("fifty-six point seven") and said the test was "reactive" on a phone call after midnight.
- The on-site coordinator wrote the number exactly as spoken but recorded the HIV result as negative before relaying it onward.
- The coordination system Ko Wen-je built prioritized speed and low cost, relying on phone relays and no mandatory cross-check with hospital computers.
- The donor had died after falling from a building; the family consented to donation without knowledge of the donor's HIV status.
- More than five thousand donations had been processed by the system before this incident without this type of failure, highlighting a structural gap rather than obvious negligence.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835215Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:31:03 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA coordinator in Hsinchu writes "56.7" then marks HIV negative on a midnight call-what caused that split in the system? The written "50.7" marked negative - and five organs went through In this episode, we tell the documented account of a single...
The written "50.7" marked negative - and five organs went through

In this episode, we tell the documented account of a single midnight telephone call, the national transplant system that processed it, and the chain of decisions it set in motion across hospitals. How did one interpretation gap in a system designed for speed send five organs into surgery?

Person: Coordinator who recorded the result
Person: Technologist who read "fifty-six point seven" and said "reactive"
Person: Ko Wen-je, designer of the transplant coordination system
Date: August 23, 2011
Event: Five organs transplanted within thirty-six hours after a result was marked negative

- A technologist in Taipei read a numeric lab value ("fifty-six point seven") and said the test was "reactive" on a phone call after midnight.
- The on-site coordinator wrote the number exactly as spoken but recorded the HIV result as negative before relaying it onward.
- The coordination system Ko Wen-je built prioritized speed and low cost, relying on phone relays and no mandatory cross-check with hospital computers.
- The donor had died after falling from a building; the family consented to donation without knowledge of the donor's HIV status.
- More than five thousand donations had been processed by the system before this incident without this type of failure, highlighting a structural gap rather than obvious negligence.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1302falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-super-glue-tubes-that-kept-a-revoked-surgeon-operating--74835212
The super-glue tubes that kept a revoked surgeon operating

In this episode, we follow the path that led two men, desperate for elective amputations tied to BIID, to seek surgery from a doctor barred from hospitals and labeled by TV as “the worst.” What drove them to cross borders and find a surgeon with a revoked license and a long, controversial history?

Person: Patient Philip Bondy
Person: Patient Gregg Furth
Person: Surgeon John Ronald Brown
Date: May 10, 1998
Topic: Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID)

- Detectives found hundreds of tubes of super glue next to surgical instruments in a San Ysidro ground-floor apartment.
- Philip Bondy, 79, traveled to Tijuana and paid for an amputation he requested; he died of gas gangrene the next day.
- John Ronald Brown had his medical license revoked in 1977 for gross negligence and continued operating without hospital privileges.
- Brown operated in offices, motel rooms, his garage, and across the border, serving patients denied by mainstream medicine.
- Brown previously performed gender-affirming surgeries when few providers would, claiming roughly 600 procedures though without independent verification.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835212Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:31:00 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA revoked surgeon in Tijuana kept operating with hundreds of super-glue tubes beside him as patients crossed borders for elective amputations. The super-glue tubes that kept a revoked surgeon operating In this episode, we follow the path that...
The super-glue tubes that kept a revoked surgeon operating

In this episode, we follow the path that led two men, desperate for elective amputations tied to BIID, to seek surgery from a doctor barred from hospitals and labeled by TV as “the worst.” What drove them to cross borders and find a surgeon with a revoked license and a long, controversial history?

Person: Patient Philip Bondy
Person: Patient Gregg Furth
Person: Surgeon John Ronald Brown
Date: May 10, 1998
Topic: Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID)

- Detectives found hundreds of tubes of super glue next to surgical instruments in a San Ysidro ground-floor apartment.
- Philip Bondy, 79, traveled to Tijuana and paid for an amputation he requested; he died of gas gangrene the next day.
- John Ronald Brown had his medical license revoked in 1977 for gross negligence and continued operating without hospital privileges.
- Brown operated in offices, motel rooms, his garage, and across the border, serving patients denied by mainstream medicine.
- Brown previously performed gender-affirming surgeries when few providers would, claiming roughly 600 procedures though without independent verification.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1004falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-sex-worker-he-infected-uncovered-that-soldiers-weren-t-infected-willingly--74835208
The sex worker he infected uncovered that soldiers weren't infected willingly

In this episode, we follow the creation and operation of a public health program that funneled infected sex workers into military barracks and other institutions. It outlines who built the project, how patients were moved through the system, and the ethical questions that follow - what happened next?

Person: Juan María Funes Fonseca
Date: 1946-1948
Location: Guatemala City
Topic: Deliberate infection with syphilis, gonorrhea, chancroid
Institution: Venereal Diseases Training and Research Center

- Funes proposed and managed use of the government inspection dispensary to supply sex workers for the program.
- Sex workers were pre‑inoculated with pathogens and then sent into a military barracks to transmit infections.
- U.S. researchers and institutions including the Staten Island Venereal Diseases Research Center and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau approved or funded the project.
- The Venereal Diseases Training and Research Center operated as a regional public health facility while running a covert process to move people through experiments.
- There are no consent forms or documentation showing sex workers, soldiers, prisoners, psychiatric patients, or children were informed of risks.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835208Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:56 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA Guatemalan doctor used state‑regulated sex workers to infect soldiers and other vulnerable people with syphilis; who authorized it and why? The sex worker he infected uncovered that soldiers weren't infected willingly In this episode, we...
The sex worker he infected uncovered that soldiers weren't infected willingly

In this episode, we follow the creation and operation of a public health program that funneled infected sex workers into military barracks and other institutions. It outlines who built the project, how patients were moved through the system, and the ethical questions that follow - what happened next?

Person: Juan María Funes Fonseca
Date: 1946-1948
Location: Guatemala City
Topic: Deliberate infection with syphilis, gonorrhea, chancroid
Institution: Venereal Diseases Training and Research Center

- Funes proposed and managed use of the government inspection dispensary to supply sex workers for the program.
- Sex workers were pre‑inoculated with pathogens and then sent into a military barracks to transmit infections.
- U.S. researchers and institutions including the Staten Island Venereal Diseases Research Center and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau approved or funded the project.
- The Venereal Diseases Training and Research Center operated as a regional public health facility while running a covert process to move people through experiments.
- There are no consent forms or documentation showing sex workers, soldiers, prisoners, psychiatric patients, or children were informed of risks.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1200falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-diet-that-matched-europe-s-rations-failed-to-teach-how-to-feed-the-starving--74835206
The diet that matched Europe's rations failed to teach how to feed the starving

In this episode, we follow the University of Minnesota study that recruited thirty-six conscientious objectors to undergo a year-long experiment in controlled starvation and measurement. The episode covers how the team designed the rations, monitored bodies and minds, and adjusted diets week by week - but raises the urgent question of whether laboratory findings could guide relief efforts for starving civilians after the war.

Person: Ancel Keys
Date: November 19, 1944 (study start) and February 12, 1945 (ration change)
Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Topic: Controlled starvation study using "European rations"
Group: 36 male volunteers from Civilian Public Service

- Selection: 36 men chosen from over 400 applicants for physical and psychological health and a commitment to humanitarian aims.
- Baseline period: 12 weeks at ~3,200 calories with extensive physiological and psychological testing to establish individual baselines.
- Ration protocol: On Feb 12, 1945, calories cut to 1,560/day with foods mirroring European civilian diets (potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, macaroni, bread, small protein).
- Adaptive method: Each man had a calculated target-weight curve and weekly ration adjustments based on gram-level weight changes.
- Monitoring: Daily meals controlled by Olaf Mickelsen, weekly physical tasks (22 miles walking/month quota), diaries, lung, blood, coordination, and standardized psychological measures.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835206Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:52 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTAncel Keys put volunteers on a strict "European rations" diet to map starvation - would the results teach relief workers how to feed millions safely? The diet that matched Europe's rations failed to teach how to feed the starving In this...
The diet that matched Europe's rations failed to teach how to feed the starving

In this episode, we follow the University of Minnesota study that recruited thirty-six conscientious objectors to undergo a year-long experiment in controlled starvation and measurement. The episode covers how the team designed the rations, monitored bodies and minds, and adjusted diets week by week - but raises the urgent question of whether laboratory findings could guide relief efforts for starving civilians after the war.

Person: Ancel Keys
Date: November 19, 1944 (study start) and February 12, 1945 (ration change)
Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Topic: Controlled starvation study using "European rations"
Group: 36 male volunteers from Civilian Public Service

- Selection: 36 men chosen from over 400 applicants for physical and psychological health and a commitment to humanitarian aims.
- Baseline period: 12 weeks at ~3,200 calories with extensive physiological and psychological testing to establish individual baselines.
- Ration protocol: On Feb 12, 1945, calories cut to 1,560/day with foods mirroring European civilian diets (potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, macaroni, bread, small protein).
- Adaptive method: Each man had a calculated target-weight curve and weekly ration adjustments based on gram-level weight changes.
- Monitoring: Daily meals controlled by Olaf Mickelsen, weekly physical tasks (22 miles walking/month quota), diaries, lung, blood, coordination, and standardized psychological measures.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1093falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-raised-hand-that-turned-a-vote-into-ninety-units--74835203
The raised hand that turned a vote into ninety units

In this episode, we follow the Harwood Manufacturing experiments that tested how participation, not ability, shifted output on a Virginia textile factory floor. You’ll hear how researchers moved from observation to controlled tests and the question that lingered: did asking change dignity, or something more deliberate?

Person: Kurt Lewin
Person: Alex Bavelas
Person: John R. P. French Jr.
Location: Harwood Manufacturing, Virginia
Event: Worker participation experiments on production quotas

- Management noticed Harwood workers produced half the output of northern plants after standard twelve-week training.
- Kurt Lewin diagnosed resistance caused by how targets and pressure were communicated, not worker inexperience.
- Alex Bavelas ran a test where a selected group voted its own hourly target; they reached ninety units after successive votes.
- French and Coch compared four groups: told, representative, and two full-participation conditions facing the same production change.
- The told group fell 20% below baseline, representative groups recovered in ~2 weeks, full-participation groups rose 15% and sustained it.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835203Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:47 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA Virginia mill worker voted on her hourly quota, one raised hand sent production surging - what changed on that factory floor? The raised hand that turned a vote into ninety units In this episode, we follow the Harwood Manufacturing experiments...
The raised hand that turned a vote into ninety units

In this episode, we follow the Harwood Manufacturing experiments that tested how participation, not ability, shifted output on a Virginia textile factory floor. You’ll hear how researchers moved from observation to controlled tests and the question that lingered: did asking change dignity, or something more deliberate?

Person: Kurt Lewin
Person: Alex Bavelas
Person: John R. P. French Jr.
Location: Harwood Manufacturing, Virginia
Event: Worker participation experiments on production quotas

- Management noticed Harwood workers produced half the output of northern plants after standard twelve-week training.
- Kurt Lewin diagnosed resistance caused by how targets and pressure were communicated, not worker inexperience.
- Alex Bavelas ran a test where a selected group voted its own hourly target; they reached ninety units after successive votes.
- French and Coch compared four groups: told, representative, and two full-participation conditions facing the same production change.
- The told group fell 20% below baseline, representative groups recovered in ~2 weeks, full-participation groups rose 15% and sustained it.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1000falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-weimar-guidelines-vanished-and-german-doctors-enrolled-the-erasure--74835201
The Weimar guidelines vanished - and German doctors enrolled the erasure

In this episode, we follow how written protections for human experimentation from the Weimar Republic were deliberately undone as German medicine aligned with Nazi policy, and how that erasure created the legal vacuum the Nuremberg judges tried to fill. What choices did a profession make, and what did those choices require?

Person: Leo Alexander
Event: United States v. Brandt trial verdict
Date: August 20, 1947
Policy: Weimar Guidelines for New Therapy and Human Experimentation (1919-1933)

- The Weimar Guidelines set principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, informed consent, and banned non-therapeutic experimentation without consent.
- In 1933 the Weimar legal protections were deliberately negated as the Nazi regime and medical institutions aligned with its goals.
- By 1942 over 38,000 German physicians had joined the Nazi Party and the National Socialist Physicians' League was founded in 1929 to "purify" medicine.
- The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring enabled roughly 3.5 million sterilizations after the Weimar protections were removed.
- At Nuremberg, defendants argued no law prohibited their experiments; Leo Alexander drafted six principles that judges expanded into the Nuremberg Code.

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© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835201Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:43 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA German court's erased Weimar human-experiment rules vanish as Nazi-era doctors reshape medicine - and the Nuremberg Code must fill the legal void. The Weimar guidelines vanished - and German doctors enrolled the erasure In this episode, we...
The Weimar guidelines vanished - and German doctors enrolled the erasure

In this episode, we follow how written protections for human experimentation from the Weimar Republic were deliberately undone as German medicine aligned with Nazi policy, and how that erasure created the legal vacuum the Nuremberg judges tried to fill. What choices did a profession make, and what did those choices require?

Person: Leo Alexander
Event: United States v. Brandt trial verdict
Date: August 20, 1947
Policy: Weimar Guidelines for New Therapy and Human Experimentation (1919-1933)

- The Weimar Guidelines set principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, informed consent, and banned non-therapeutic experimentation without consent.
- In 1933 the Weimar legal protections were deliberately negated as the Nazi regime and medical institutions aligned with its goals.
- By 1942 over 38,000 German physicians had joined the Nazi Party and the National Socialist Physicians' League was founded in 1929 to "purify" medicine.
- The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring enabled roughly 3.5 million sterilizations after the Weimar protections were removed.
- At Nuremberg, defendants argued no law prohibited their experiments; Leo Alexander drafted six principles that judges expanded into the Nuremberg Code.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>1003falsefullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-misfiled-box-that-revealed-mkultra-s-existence-not-the-cover-up--74835199
The misfiled box that revealed MKUltra's existence, not the cover-up

In this episode, we follow how a misplaced records box exposed Project MKUltra’s scale and set off years of litigation over who the public could learn about. We trace the decisions-from the program’s authorization to the FOIA fight-that determined whether names and institutions would be revealed.

Person: John Cary Sims
Person: Sidney M. Wolfe
Date: 1977
Event: Discovery of misfiled MKUltra records
Period: 1953-1973

- A CIA destruction order in 1973 missed some records that were discovered in a misfiled box in 1977.
- The box contained documents linking 185 researchers across roughly 80 institutions to experiments using LSD, heroin, and morphine.
- Subjects included prisoners, psychiatric patients, and unaware civilians who were dosed without consent and documented for data.
- Sims and Wolfe filed FOIA requests seeking contracts, grant proposals, names, and 21 undisclosed facility identities.
- Courts wrestled with whether participating researchers were "intelligence sources," a legal gap that drove eight years of litigation.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74835199Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:39 +0000OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENTA CIA filing clerk in 1977 found a misfiled box tied to secret drug experiments - who ran MKUltra and why was the public kept in the dark? The misfiled box that revealed MKUltra's existence, not the cover-up In this episode, we follow how a...
The misfiled box that revealed MKUltra's existence, not the cover-up

In this episode, we follow how a misplaced records box exposed Project MKUltra’s scale and set off years of litigation over who the public could learn about. We trace the decisions-from the program’s authorization to the FOIA fight-that determined whether names and institutions would be revealed.

Person: John Cary Sims
Person: Sidney M. Wolfe
Date: 1977
Event: Discovery of misfiled MKUltra records
Period: 1953-1973

- A CIA destruction order in 1973 missed some records that were discovered in a misfiled box in 1977.
- The box contained documents linking 185 researchers across roughly 80 institutions to experiments using LSD, heroin, and morphine.
- Subjects included prisoners, psychiatric patients, and unaware civilians who were dosed without consent and documented for data.
- Sims and Wolfe filed FOIA requests seeking contracts, grant proposals, names, and 21 undisclosed facility identities.
- Courts wrestled with whether participating researchers were "intelligence sources," a legal gap that drove eight years of litigation.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.]]>781falsefull