Operation Midnight Climax

Nov 20 2024 12 ep. 32 mins 3.2k
Operation Midnight Climax Podcast artwork

George White ran the CIA brothel. He watched from a hidden room while men were dosed with LSD — and he convinced himself the fate of the nation depended on it.

  History  True Crime  Society & Culture
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E.T. and Me

Nov 20 2024 50 mins  
In 1981, 11-year-old Matt De Meritt got a phone call that would change his life. He wasn’t a child actor, or a performer of any kind. He was just a suburban kid enjoying his summer before he had to go back to school. But Matt had something no other kid had — something Steven Spielberg needed in order to embark on his most ambitious movie yet. Note: This episode contains discus

Diplomacy

Nov 13 2024 43 mins  
Hosts Ryan Murdock and Gabbie Watts head to Microcon, a convention of micronationalists. Think Model UN meets ComicCon. We’ll engage in light diplomacy, explore invented histories and exchange gratuitous amounts of medals. Plus, there’s a taco bar! Among the characters you’ll meet are Zaq from Zaqistan, the President of Molossia, the Sultan of Slowjamastan, the Princess of Sa

The Climax

May 11 2021 42 mins  
Sidney Gottlieb thought he’d erased all traces of Operation Midnight Climax and MK-ULTRA from the government’s collective memory. While the world will never know the full extent of the CIA’s experimentation with LSD, an unlikely source revealed many of the victims. These breakthroughs came courtesy of George White, who testified from beyond the grave. Learn more about your a

Tripping

May 04 2021 33 mins  
As the walls closed in on Operation Midnight Climax, George White took lessons he’d learned from a world-class magician to explore the last uncharted frontier of the psychonaut — the general public. It’s how White would make San Francisco’s sanity disappear. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info

A Waste of Sin

Apr 27 2021 31 mins  
After Frank Olson’s death in New York, George White had to move his whole operation to San Francisco. And the CIA added a twist: while they’d been occupied with using LSD as a mind-control drug, now they wanted him to weaponize sex. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Window

Apr 20 2021 39 mins  
For 70 years, people have debated what happened to Frank Olson at the Hotel Statler. Did the CIA’s grand experiment with LSD lead to the sanctioned execution of a government employee? For George White, Frank Olson’s death would change everything. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smoking Out Castro

Apr 13 2021 11 mins  
Today we wanted to share a bonus mini-episode. Here’s how George White’s LSD adventures tied in with the CIA’s increasingly bizarre attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. We’ll be back with a new installment next Wednesday. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uncharter Waters

Apr 06 2021 35 mins  
As the CIA’s LSD experiments went increasingly rogue, an aspiring actress realized what George White had done to her. But unlike others who’d complained, she reported White by name to the New York Police Department. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Pad

Mar 30 2021 33 mins  
To immerse himself in his CIA role, George White needed a new identity. In Greenwich Village, he set up a safehouse and became Morgan Hall, a struggling artist. But it wasn’t long before the wrong kind of people started showing up at his door — including the FBI Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info

Brainwash

Mar 23 2021 36 mins  
If George White could manipulate the mafia with an old-fashioned wartime truth serum, what could he do with something more potent? What secrets could he uncover with the full support of the CIA and a supply of LSD? The world was about to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.