1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Fake news, propaganda. You don't know what to believe anymore. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: It's practically all that's left in the world of news 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: these days. But it's nothing new. During the Cold War 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: of the fifties and sixties, the CIA was trying to 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: freak out the Russians by demoralizing their troops, sort of 6 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: playing with their minds. I'm Patty Steel, cold War condoms 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: and undercover kiddies. That's next on the backstory. The backstory 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: is back. Psychological warfare has been going on. I don't 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: know since human beings first felt that competitive urge, so 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: basically always. It's been used in sports, in business, and 11 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: of course in the military. We're going to take a 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: peek at the Cold War now, when the CIA felt 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: free to try anything without repercussions. It was a bit 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: of a free for all in terms of figuring out 15 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: new ways to demoralize the other side. While the US 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: and Soviet governments were involved in nuclear standoffs and idio 17 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: logical type battles publicly, the everyday troops were dealing with 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: more personal attacks on the humorous side. While this seems 19 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: almost ridiculous these days, but the agency came up with 20 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: a crazy plan to lower the morale of Soviet men. 21 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: They tried to do it with condoms, and not just 22 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: any condoms. They used really oversized versions, but they labeled 23 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: them as medium and even small. Now. The idea was 24 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: in the dead of night, US planes would soar over 25 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: Soviet territories, open their cargo doors and dump boat loads 26 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: of these enormous prophylactics using tons of tiny parachutes. Imagine 27 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: the scene on the ground. Small Soviet villages filled as 28 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: macho putin like guys suddenly showered with American condoms that 29 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: were bizarrely large. Oh no, who were these Americans? What 30 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: were they all about? It would be a shot at 31 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: the manhood of Soviet guys and imply American superior already 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: on every level, knocking down their self esteem. As a 33 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: Cold War weapon. Well, did they ever pull it off, 34 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: so to speak, Well, it's not clear, but there was 35 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: some worry that the Soviets were sophisticated enough to simply 36 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: be amused at the attempt rather than intimidated, so it 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: would have been money not well spent. In a sort 38 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: of related plan, the CIA came up with another idea 39 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: after they got a little freaked out about the increasingly 40 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: close relationship between the Soviets and President Sukarno of Indonesia. 41 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: What did they do? They decided to put out a 42 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: porn flick starring Sukarno to ruin his reputation. Now, clearly 43 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: they didn't have any porn footage involving him, so they 44 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: had to create it. And remember this was before computers, CGI, 45 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: AI all of that stuff. They actually created a fairly 46 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: realistic Sukarno face mask and hired a Hollywood porn actor 47 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: to wear it. They put him in an erotic scene 48 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: with a beautiful blonde porn actors and had them, you know, 49 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: get busy again. They made the film, but then were 50 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: apparently told not to release it, maybe because it seemed 51 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: a little too unbelievable. And then there's what they called 52 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: Operation Acoustic Kitty. To give these guys some credit, This 53 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: CIA plan is innovative. What was it. They took some 54 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: regular housecats and implanted them with a microphone and a 55 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: radio transmitter. The idea was to use it to eavesdrop 56 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: on Soviet chatter. The idea was pretty simple, if you 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: cohabitate with one. You know, cats are kind of stealth. 58 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: They can move around pretty much unnoticed. Here's an idea. 59 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: Let's get them to wander into Soviet compounds and hang 60 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: out near where conversations of interest are going on, thus 61 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: relaying the chatter back to CIA operatives. What a great idea, 62 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: except it wasn't ever heard the term tougher than herding cats. Yeah, 63 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: problem is, unlike dogs, kitties don't exactly beg for your approval. 64 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: They really don't care, so training them to do what 65 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: needed to be done proved to be almost impossible. Now, 66 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: tens of millions of dollars were actually invested in getting 67 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: the technology together, not to mention in training the cats. 68 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: The surgical procedure to implant the tiny equipment in those 69 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: days was really delicate, and then training the kitties to 70 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: do what needed to be done was unpredictable at best. Clearly, 71 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: none of the point people over this plan ever lived 72 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: with a cat anyway. Despite the brilliant idea and financial investment, 73 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: Operation Acoustic Kitty didn't work so well with these very 74 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: independent pusses. The agency finally realized cooperation is not a 75 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: major personality trade among felines. Plus, there are stories that 76 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: the very first Acoustic Kitty was released and within minutes 77 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: was hit by a car. Others claim the agency dropped 78 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: the plan pretty quickly, but took the poorly trained kitties 79 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: to a beautiful farm to live out their lives. Is 80 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: sure now? On a similar vein, the Soviets claimed the 81 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: US was training squirrels to spy on them, sneaking into 82 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: top secret facilities with little, tiny cameras strapped to their backs. 83 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: Isn't that kind of nuts? A bit more successful? Both 84 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 1: sides used the airwaves. Americans had Radio Free Europe, blasting 85 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: that nasty rock and roll as well as propaganda type 86 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: news into the Eastern Bloc. The Soviets blasted back with 87 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: Radio Moscow, which had less rock and more talk about 88 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: how rock was corrupting kids. Kind of the ultimate Battle 89 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: of the bands, but with broadcasters. Now here's the thing. 90 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: The Cold War was all about one upsmanship. They had 91 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: tons of freedom and no idea was too bizarre. Both 92 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: sides tried to out maneuver the other with technology, psychology, 93 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: and creativity, and they were willing to go to almost 94 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: any length. In fact, one of the scariest ideas came 95 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: at the beginning of the space race, at a time 96 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: when the Soviets seemed to be ahead in the race 97 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: to reach the Moon. So just because they felt they 98 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: could do it, there was chatter from inside the US 99 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: Air Force that we should shoot a nuclear weapon at 100 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: the Moon. Can you even imagine? Project A one nineteen 101 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: was called a study of lunar research flights. They felt 102 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: it would make the public as well as our enemies, 103 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: perceive us to be the most powerful when it came 104 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: to weaponry and the space race. In fact, they even 105 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: had an exact target on the Moon's surface that would 106 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: make the explosion and the ensuing mushroom cloud lit by 107 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: the sun visible from Earth. How unbelievable is that? Now? 108 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: Why didn't they do it? In the end? Well, they 109 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: said they felt the public might not respond favorably to 110 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: the US dropping a nuclear bomb on the Moon. You 111 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: think funny enough? These stories about all the ideas behind 112 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: the race to become the number one world give you 113 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: a little taste of what real life scenarios inspired the 114 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: early James Bond movies, right, And they show the lengths 115 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: to which we would have been willing to go to 116 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: become the reigning superpower. If you have any ideas for 117 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: stories you'd like me to take a deeper dive into 118 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: and share. All you have to do is direct message 119 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: me on Instagram at Real Patty Steele or on Facebook 120 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: at Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production 121 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel 122 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. 123 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free 124 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: to reach out to me with comments and even story 125 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook 126 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with 127 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know you 128 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: needed to know.