WEBVTT - Mayhem and Murder

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<v Speaker 1>In the nineteen fifties, you couldn't get away with a

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<v Speaker 1>whole lot on radio or television. Lucy and Ricky were

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<v Speaker 1>still sleeping in separate beds. No one was broadcasting anything

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<v Speaker 1>related to sex, sitcom kids or immaculate conceptions. But if

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<v Speaker 1>you were living in the Telegraph Hill section of San

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<v Speaker 1>Francisco in n things were slightly different. Flip around the

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<v Speaker 1>radio dial and you might hear something unusual, something the

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<v Speaker 1>FCC would never ever approve of. A radio antenna at

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<v Speaker 1>Chestnut Street streamed sounds from inside one of the bedrooms.

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<v Speaker 1>Depending on who was listening to the frequency, the radio

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<v Speaker 1>dial might be snapped off abruptly, embarrassed parents struggling to

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<v Speaker 1>explain those sounds to their kids, but others would stay

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<v Speaker 1>tuned in, eager to hear what came next. The people

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<v Speaker 1>of Telegraph Hill had no idea a CIA operation was

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<v Speaker 1>happening inside the apartment and that it's chief investigator, a

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<v Speaker 1>man named George White, decided to broadcast the sounds of

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<v Speaker 1>sex workers and John's going at it. They didn't know

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<v Speaker 1>he was on a mission from the CIA to find

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<v Speaker 1>out whether sex and drugs could win the Cold War.

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<v Speaker 1>That White had explicit permission to give LSD and virtually

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<v Speaker 1>any other drug to anyone, anywhere, for any reason or

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<v Speaker 1>no reason at all. They couldn't know that as they

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<v Speaker 1>were listening, he was secretly watching from behind a two

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<v Speaker 1>way mirror, sipping a martini. George White had arrived. He

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<v Speaker 1>was in charge of the CIA's newest experiment, one that

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<v Speaker 1>would explore the effect of sex and drugs on subject acts.

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<v Speaker 1>The fate of the nation depended on it. Officially, it

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<v Speaker 1>was known as m k Ultra Subproject forty two, but

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<v Speaker 1>White had another name for it. He called it Operation

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<v Speaker 1>Midnight Climax. For I Heart Radio, I'm Noel Brown, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is Operation Midnight Climax, Chapter one Mayhem and Murder M.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're even remotely familiar with the seedier chapters in

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<v Speaker 1>American history, you've probably heard of mk Ultra. This was

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<v Speaker 1>the top secret CIA program that sanctioned the use of

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<v Speaker 1>psychoactive drugs on American citizens. The agency used shady psychiatrists, prisons,

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<v Speaker 1>and mental institutions to execute these studies. The goal was

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<v Speaker 1>to see how spies and other operatives could use these

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<v Speaker 1>drugs to our national advantage in the field. Whether it

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<v Speaker 1>was MK ULTRA or another government agency. Some of these

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<v Speaker 1>experiments felt like something a four year old would think up.

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<v Speaker 1>It wasn't just drugs either. Some agents injected plutonium into soldiers.

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<v Speaker 1>At a school in Massachusetts, kids in the science club

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<v Speaker 1>were fed irradiated oatmeal to see how well they absorbed

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<v Speaker 1>iron and calcium. And in nineteen sixty two, a psychiatrist

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<v Speaker 1>drugged an elephant with LSD. The poor thing keeled over debt,

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<v Speaker 1>and we learned elephants can't handle a bad trip. For

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<v Speaker 1>a good portion of the twentieth century, US government officials

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<v Speaker 1>were out of their collective mind, and one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most irresponsible things they ever did, even worse than giving

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<v Speaker 1>an elephant l s D, was recruiting George Hunter White,

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<v Speaker 1>And that was all thanks to a man named Sydney Gottlieb.

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<v Speaker 1>Part one not FBI material. Back in ninety two, Sydney

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<v Speaker 1>Gottlieb was working as the chief chemist for the CIA.

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<v Speaker 1>On paper, he was a straight laced patriot, but godly

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<v Speaker 1>had a few secrets too, And when George White's FBI

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<v Speaker 1>file landed on his desk, Sidney Gottlieb saw something. White

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<v Speaker 1>had already applied to be a federal agent a few times.

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<v Speaker 1>The first time was an May nineteen thirty four. This

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<v Speaker 1>is what the official report read. The interview reflected. The

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<v Speaker 1>White parents and one sister resided in al Hamburg, California,

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<v Speaker 1>where his father was city manager. White studied sociology at

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<v Speaker 1>Oregon State College from nineteen twenty four to six, dropping

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<v Speaker 1>from the university to take a position with the Red

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<v Speaker 1>Cross in Los Angeles. Nothing too unusual so far, California

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<v Speaker 1>kid drops out of college to soak up some sun

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<v Speaker 1>and ride waves. He went bodysurfing a lot. White became

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<v Speaker 1>a first aid director for the Red Cross before resigning

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<v Speaker 1>to become a police reporter for the San Francisco Bulletin.

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<v Speaker 1>What the report doesn't mention is that White like newspaper

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<v Speaker 1>work because it brought him close to the action, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the action, Chasing leads, shadowing subjects, digging for clues, putting

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<v Speaker 1>yourself in harm's way. The truth is he'd liked danger,

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<v Speaker 1>but at a certain point reporting wasn't close enough. As

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<v Speaker 1>White once said, newspapering is all right, but it makes

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<v Speaker 1>a bystander out of you. I want to get out

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<v Speaker 1>on the field where the game is going on. That

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<v Speaker 1>was the other thing for White. It wasn't just the action.

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<v Speaker 1>It was about the game, the battle of wits and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes fists. That's what White wanted. That's why he was

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<v Speaker 1>applying to the FBI. But the file made it clear

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<v Speaker 1>he wasn't a fit. According to Gottlieb's report, his personality, approach,

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<v Speaker 1>and appearance were not up to the bureau standards. Agents

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<v Speaker 1>who got to know White would later say he was

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<v Speaker 1>lone wolf, someone who didn't want to be a member

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<v Speaker 1>of any team. He was prone to slapping people he

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<v Speaker 1>didn't like with a black jack. A black jack, by

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<v Speaker 1>the way, is a leather satchel with lead in it.

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<v Speaker 1>He carried it to smack people. That was White. He

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<v Speaker 1>got dressed every morning knowing he might have to pummel

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<v Speaker 1>someone and play and accordingly, but the file didn't name there.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though White wasn't FBI material, the report made it

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<v Speaker 1>clear that George White had been wartime material. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>George White had undergone top secret training by British intelligence

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<v Speaker 1>to be a secret agent. He'd attended real life spy school.

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<v Speaker 1>It's where White learned to be dangerous, Part two, the

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<v Speaker 1>James Bond Finishing School before the CIA was formed in

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<v Speaker 1>ninety seven. It had a precursor, the Office of Strategic

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<v Speaker 1>Services or OSS. The OSS needed men who could be

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<v Speaker 1>molded into operatives that used subterfuge and deception. They needed

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<v Speaker 1>men like George White. By this time, White was passed

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<v Speaker 1>the newspaper reporting he took up a job as a

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<v Speaker 1>private investigator. When the FBI rejected him, he joined the

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<v Speaker 1>newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics to be a dope buster.

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<v Speaker 1>His work meant chasing down dealers of everything from marijuana

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<v Speaker 1>to cocaine, but it also meant tailing people working under

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<v Speaker 1>cover and getting into violent altercations. It was spy stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>The OSS realized, with a little fine tuning, White could

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<v Speaker 1>be a major asset. And that's where Camp X came

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<v Speaker 1>into play, or, as White used to call it, the

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<v Speaker 1>School of Mayhem and Murder rumor has it Ian Fleming.

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<v Speaker 1>The James Bond author was trained at Camp X, and

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<v Speaker 1>the special training school has a storied, if secretive history.

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<v Speaker 1>Opened in nineteen forty one, one day before the Pearl

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<v Speaker 1>Harbor attacks, Camp X cater to British and American recruits.

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<v Speaker 1>Students spent their days learning the art of guerrilla warfare

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<v Speaker 1>and in Cove operations over four weeks, located on two

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<v Speaker 1>seventy acres of farmland on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario.

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<v Speaker 1>Recruits got a crash course and everything from parachuting to

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<v Speaker 1>burglary to learning how to kill someone quickly and silently.

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<v Speaker 1>Years later, when the CIA would establish their own training

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<v Speaker 1>facility known as the Farm, the nickname would be a

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<v Speaker 1>nod to the farm land at Camp X. But by

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<v Speaker 1>all accounts, Camp X instituted a new style of warfare.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's a sample from the official training manual. Being conspicuous

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<v Speaker 1>avoid all limelight by being an average citizen in appearance

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<v Speaker 1>and conduct. Be tidy. You will be a cog in

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<v Speaker 1>a very large machine, But that blending in always served

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<v Speaker 1>a larger purpose. Your aim is to kill your opponent

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<v Speaker 1>as quickly as possible. A prisoner is generally a handicap,

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<v Speaker 1>so forget the Queensberry rules. If you need to search

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<v Speaker 1>a prisoner, it's best to kill him first. White had

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<v Speaker 1>found his home. He was one of the first eight

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<v Speaker 1>Americans ever sent to Camp X for training. There was

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<v Speaker 1>no better action, no bigger game than intelligence operations. This

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<v Speaker 1>was a place to sharpen his sword. Students learned to

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<v Speaker 1>blow up bridges to operate Thompson's submachine guns to parachute

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<v Speaker 1>off ninety foot towers. There were martial arts classes that

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<v Speaker 1>showcased moves to incapacitate and kill. Instructors recommended hiding razor

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<v Speaker 1>blades and the brim of caps and slashing enemies in

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<v Speaker 1>the throat. At night, men would be roused from a

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<v Speaker 1>sound sleep a pistol thrust in their hand. Dazed, they

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<v Speaker 1>try to navigate a maze and locate targets dressed like

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<v Speaker 1>Nazi soldiers. This wasn't a game. The pistols had live rounds.

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<v Speaker 1>Instructors watched from the hind sandbacks. Targets would pop up,

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<v Speaker 1>who were expected to put two rounds into each one.

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<v Speaker 1>Speakers piped in the sound of footsteps and conversations in German.

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<v Speaker 1>The corridors had uneven floors that made standing straight difficult.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a little like being on drugs. During one

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<v Speaker 1>live round session, a trainee was shot and killed by accident.

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<v Speaker 1>The instructors treated it as though someone had stubbed the toe.

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<v Speaker 1>The day's schedule went on uninterrupted. As one CIA psychologist

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<v Speaker 1>later observed, camp Ax was best suited for sociopathic characters.

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<v Speaker 1>George White thrived at Camp AX, and if he didn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem to have any hesitation about killing, maybe it's because

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<v Speaker 1>he'd done it before Part three, getting into drugs. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>go back and get into George White's life before spy School.

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<v Speaker 1>Long before he arrived at Camp X, White had sent

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<v Speaker 1>applications to every major law enforcement agency in the country,

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<v Speaker 1>but the FBI and other prestigious agencies didn't want White.

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<v Speaker 1>He was too rough, too abrasive, not the Ivy League

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<v Speaker 1>types these agencies were looking for. Normally, that would have

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<v Speaker 1>been the end of it, but in the nineteen thirties,

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<v Speaker 1>a new opportunity opened up. As the illicit drug trade

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<v Speaker 1>began to grow, the government established the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

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<v Speaker 1>The Narcotics Bureau has been called the most successful law

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<v Speaker 1>enforcement initiative in American history, but a big part of

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<v Speaker 1>that is because they were able to invent their villain Weed.

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<v Speaker 1>As the Great Depression loomed, federal agencies started to lose funding.

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<v Speaker 1>The head of the Narcotics Bureau, Harry and Slinger, came

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<v Speaker 1>up with a scheme to ensure his department would coast

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<v Speaker 1>through the depression. He made a villain of marijuana. Anslinger

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the people who lobbied to make possession

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<v Speaker 1>of felony. He claimed it could cause psychosis or insanity.

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<v Speaker 1>In his crusade, Anslinger consulted thirty experts looking for some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of medical backing. When twenty nine of them could

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<v Speaker 1>find no reason marijuana should be considered dangerous, an sling

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<v Speaker 1>are stuck with the one who agreed with him, And

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<v Speaker 1>of course, there was a sinister racial component to this strategy,

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<v Speaker 1>which tied marijuana to Mexican immigrants in the black community.

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<v Speaker 1>By ninety seven, Congress essentially criminalized the drug with the

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<v Speaker 1>Marijuana Tacks Act. So, after a raft of rejections, George

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<v Speaker 1>White applied to the Narcotics Bureau. He got a letter

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<v Speaker 1>of endorsement from Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, a friend of

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<v Speaker 1>the family, and in nineteen thirty six George White only

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<v Speaker 1>got his chance to wear a badge. He was now

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<v Speaker 1>George White, Agent for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. But

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<v Speaker 1>it wasn't long before he fucked it up. An slinger

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<v Speaker 1>dispatched White to San Francisco, where he was told to

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<v Speaker 1>pose as a pimp in an effort to find heroin dealers.

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<v Speaker 1>The plan was simple, earn a dealer's trust, buy some heroin,

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<v Speaker 1>then make an arrest. But White was learning on the job,

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<v Speaker 1>so when a heroin dealer agreed to sell some heroin

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<v Speaker 1>to White, took White's money and then told White to

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<v Speaker 1>wait right there while he went and got his stash.

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<v Speaker 1>White trusted him. Let's cut this story short, because you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the heroin dealer isn't coming back. White was out his money,

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<v Speaker 1>which came out of his own paycheck, so he tried again.

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<v Speaker 1>This time, he told a different dealer, a man named

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<v Speaker 1>Tuffie Jackson, that he'd follow him back to his house

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure he didn't take off with the cash,

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<v Speaker 1>and off they went. White walked into Toffy's house and

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<v Speaker 1>forked over the cash. I got you wait here, I'll

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<v Speaker 1>be right there. Toffy Jackson didn't come back at all.

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<v Speaker 1>It wasn't long before White tracked down Toughy so as

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<v Speaker 1>politely as he could, White inquired as to the status

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<v Speaker 1>of their business transaction, Where's my fucking money? Things escalated quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>White identified himself as a cop and drew his gun,

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<v Speaker 1>but tough He wasn't going to be stopped. He pulled

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<v Speaker 1>a knife and charged White, so he shot Tough. He

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<v Speaker 1>took a point blank in the head, and well, look,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just a bad idea to get into confrontations with

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<v Speaker 1>people named Toffee. The bullet bounced off tough He's skull

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<v Speaker 1>and he kept coming. So he shot again, this time

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<v Speaker 1>aiming for Toffy's stomach. The bullet would hit its mark

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<v Speaker 1>and tough He would bleed out. So it wasn't a

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<v Speaker 1>great first day for White. He lost money to one

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<v Speaker 1>drug dealer, killed another. Oh and one more thing. When

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<v Speaker 1>White had asked the homeowner where he could find tough He,

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<v Speaker 1>he had told him to check the local park. So

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<v Speaker 1>this gunfight. It took place in full view of people

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<v Speaker 1>feeding pigeons and pushing babies and strollers. White didn't get fired,

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<v Speaker 1>but he did get demoted to Seattle. He was years

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<v Speaker 1>away from Camp Ax, and from the look of things,

0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.040
<v Speaker 1>he'd never get there with a track record like this.

0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.160
<v Speaker 1>But Seattle is where George White turned it all around

0:16:56.200 --> 0:17:03.080
<v Speaker 1>Part four Weaponized. When people in Seattle saw George White

0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.840
<v Speaker 1>roughing up a man on crutches, they probably thought he

0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:10.639
<v Speaker 1>was insane, but White knew something they didn't. Inside the

0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.920
<v Speaker 1>man's crutch was a hollowed out space. Once you pulled

0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.679
<v Speaker 1>off the rubber tip, you'd find a stash of morphine.

0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.960
<v Speaker 1>Arresting the dealer would have been a nice rebound, but

0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.159
<v Speaker 1>White wanted more. At just twenty eight years old and

0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.439
<v Speaker 1>with less than a year on duty, he wanted to

0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.919
<v Speaker 1>build a career case. So White scared the dealer and

0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.280
<v Speaker 1>turned him into an informant. In less than an hour,

0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.399
<v Speaker 1>White was standing face to face with his supplier in

0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:44.359
<v Speaker 1>a hotel room, a man named Lum Get. Get didn't

0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.520
<v Speaker 1>want to go to jail. He offered White what he

0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:51.360
<v Speaker 1>called the big men, the real heavyweights. This was much

0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:55.240
<v Speaker 1>bigger than a few guys selling drugs. Get worked for

0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.000
<v Speaker 1>the Hip Sing Tong, a massive Chinese gang that had

0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:01.960
<v Speaker 1>a presence not only in Seattle, but across the country.

0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:07.160
<v Speaker 1>White was still a rookie agent, but no agent had

0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.760
<v Speaker 1>ever infiltrated a Chinese opium gang before. He had a

0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:13.840
<v Speaker 1>good plan. He claimed to be a purchasing agent for

0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.160
<v Speaker 1>a West Coast narcotic syndicate in need of a new supplier.

0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:22.600
<v Speaker 1>The agency gave him the green light. Before long, White

0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.439
<v Speaker 1>had managed to land an intro to Jimmy Wong a

0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:30.440
<v Speaker 1>Tongue member who shipped drugs via mail order. White went

0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:34.399
<v Speaker 1>to New York to meet Wong in person. The bureau

0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.600
<v Speaker 1>set him up in a room that was wired for sound,

0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.040
<v Speaker 1>the same kind of setup that would soon play a

0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:43.840
<v Speaker 1>big role in his life. With agents recording, White got

0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.760
<v Speaker 1>Wong to admit he could sell him everything from morphine

0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:51.000
<v Speaker 1>to opium to cocaine. It was far more than White

0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:55.480
<v Speaker 1>even had the approval or funds to buy. Get. Also

0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.159
<v Speaker 1>introduced White to a gunman for the syndicate who was

0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.920
<v Speaker 1>offering drugs even cheaper than long. They got along well,

0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.280
<v Speaker 1>and pretty soon the gunman made White an offer that

0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.719
<v Speaker 1>knocked him for a loop, a chance to become a

0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:13.760
<v Speaker 1>full fledged member of the Hip Sing Tong. For close

0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.200
<v Speaker 1>to a year, White collected incriminating information on the gang

0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:23.159
<v Speaker 1>from the inside. On November nineteenth nine, seven agents rated

0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.280
<v Speaker 1>locations all across the country. Over fifty arrests were made,

0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:32.199
<v Speaker 1>including several members of the Italian mafia. It was one

0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.320
<v Speaker 1>of the most spectacular takedowns of a drug syndicate in

0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:39.800
<v Speaker 1>the history of law enforcement, and it belonged primarily to

0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:44.240
<v Speaker 1>George White. He was a hero in the Elliott Ness mode,

0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.960
<v Speaker 1>posing for pictures with an opium pipe in one hand

0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.720
<v Speaker 1>and a Tommy gun in the other. The FBI hadn't

0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.320
<v Speaker 1>wanted him, but look at George White. Now, he'd mauled

0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.119
<v Speaker 1>a guy on crutches and chase that lead all the

0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:03.200
<v Speaker 1>way to a fiery altar of drug empire. For most cops,

0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.479
<v Speaker 1>most people, this would have been it the big score.

0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:10.439
<v Speaker 1>White got a promotion to New York, which he had

0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:16.320
<v Speaker 1>fallen in love with. He had won the game. Except

0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:21.719
<v Speaker 1>this wasn't it. This wasn't White's climax, not even close.

0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.120
<v Speaker 1>There was still Camp X and a chance to put

0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:33.640
<v Speaker 1>those spy skills to the test. White's FBI file gets

0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.520
<v Speaker 1>into other chapters of his life, like his time abroad.

0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:39.639
<v Speaker 1>It's a few years later and White's been recruited by

0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:42.480
<v Speaker 1>the OSS and is finishing up his training at Camp X,

0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:45.280
<v Speaker 1>all of it based on his work as a decorated

0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.840
<v Speaker 1>narcotics agent who somehow managed to become a card carrying

0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:54.280
<v Speaker 1>member of a Chinese criminal enterprise. After his training, he

0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:58.760
<v Speaker 1>goes to Cairo, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, observing the

0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:03.040
<v Speaker 1>narcotics trade in territory and reporting back to the Narcotics Bureau.

0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.680
<v Speaker 1>No narcotics officer had ever crossed oceans to do his job.

0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.560
<v Speaker 1>White was weaponized now. The OSS hadn't sent him to

0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:17.359
<v Speaker 1>espionage school for fun. This was war. The fate of

0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:26.560
<v Speaker 1>the free world was on the line. In Turkey, he

0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.600
<v Speaker 1>convinced a gang of heroin dealers to sell to him.

0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:32.240
<v Speaker 1>They agree, but only if you'll allow himself to be

0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:36.919
<v Speaker 1>escorted to an undisclosed location. White memorizes the number of

0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:39.560
<v Speaker 1>their gas meter and calls the utility company to get

0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:42.960
<v Speaker 1>the address, which he gave to his partners. The guy

0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:50.360
<v Speaker 1>was good. In nineteen forty three, White is dispatched to Calcutta, India,

0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:53.920
<v Speaker 1>where Allied forces relied heavily on getting shipments of supplies

0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.240
<v Speaker 1>at the port. But the port had been repeatedly attacked

0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.320
<v Speaker 1>by air bombardments, which pointed to a spy somewhere nearby.

0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:04.679
<v Speaker 1>With all the skills he'd accumulated in the Narcotics Bureau

0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.760
<v Speaker 1>and at Camp X, White is told to find the

0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:16.760
<v Speaker 1>man and resolve the problem. White disguises himself as a longshoreman.

0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:23.360
<v Speaker 1>He stays inconspicuous an average citizen. White starts to focus

0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:27.359
<v Speaker 1>on the owner of a bootmaking shop to preserve his cover.

0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.880
<v Speaker 1>He has an Army sergeant confront the bootmaker with accusations

0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:35.159
<v Speaker 1>he was a spy for the Axis. The conversation doesn't

0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.320
<v Speaker 1>go well. The bootmaker pulls a knife and lunges for

0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.720
<v Speaker 1>the sergeant. White pops out and fires twice, hitting the

0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:48.240
<v Speaker 1>spy in the chest. The British weren't pleased with their

0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.440
<v Speaker 1>trigger happy American counterparts, but you couldn't say White wasn't effective.

0:22:53.119 --> 0:22:57.119
<v Speaker 1>A couple of gunshots and the air raids stopped? Or

0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:01.720
<v Speaker 1>has he put it? I interfered renally with their argument.

0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:07.159
<v Speaker 1>When the war was over, White returned to the United

0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:10.240
<v Speaker 1>States and resumed his work at the Narcotics Bureau, this

0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.840
<v Speaker 1>time in Chicago. He'd moved around for the Bureau a lot,

0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:17.439
<v Speaker 1>bouncing from one major city to the next, always garnering

0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:23.080
<v Speaker 1>attention for high profile cases and busts. In nine he

0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:26.760
<v Speaker 1>arrested singer Billie Holiday and her manager for opium possession.

0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:30.200
<v Speaker 1>He burst into her hotel room and said she tried

0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:33.680
<v Speaker 1>to get rid of the drugs in the toilet. Holiday

0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:36.160
<v Speaker 1>denied she was using drugs or that she had any

0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:38.639
<v Speaker 1>on her person at the time of her arrest. She

0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:43.480
<v Speaker 1>was eventually found not guilty. Perhaps White had planted the

0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:47.600
<v Speaker 1>drugs as part of Harry Anslinger's bizarre crusade against Billie

0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:52.880
<v Speaker 1>Holiday and Jazz. Still, it was more attention and more notoriety.

0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:56.600
<v Speaker 1>The U. S. Treasury, which oversaw the Narcotics Bureau, gave

0:23:56.640 --> 0:24:01.560
<v Speaker 1>White their metal for Exceptional Civilian Service. This was George

0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:09.480
<v Speaker 1>White's life, a celebrated narcotics agent with some very unusual skills. Still,

0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:14.160
<v Speaker 1>White felt destined for more, but the FBI wasn't interested.

0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:18.639
<v Speaker 1>The war was over. The only answer was more busts,

0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:25.159
<v Speaker 1>just like the ones before them. Except except for that

0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:29.680
<v Speaker 1>one day in nineteen fifty two, the day Sydney Gottlieb

0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:34.880
<v Speaker 1>opened up George White's file and started reading everything about him.

0:24:34.920 --> 0:24:39.800
<v Speaker 1>The Red Cross, the Hip Sing Tong, Camp X Calcutta,

0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:45.919
<v Speaker 1>Billie Holiday, everything he'd done in the last decade. Without

0:24:45.960 --> 0:24:49.440
<v Speaker 1>knowing it, George White had built a resume that made

0:24:49.480 --> 0:24:52.520
<v Speaker 1>him perfect for a job he didn't even know existed,

0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:57.760
<v Speaker 1>in a war he didn't know what was happening. Gottlieb,

0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:00.960
<v Speaker 1>you'll remember, was the CIA's head chemist, the man in

0:25:01.080 --> 0:25:04.840
<v Speaker 1>charge of mk ultra. The Cold War was a time

0:25:04.880 --> 0:25:08.399
<v Speaker 1>to explore everything from radioactive oatmeal to l s D.

0:25:10.160 --> 0:25:13.360
<v Speaker 1>He was impressed by White's file, but he was fascinated

0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:17.960
<v Speaker 1>by one thing in particular. Buried in those pages was

0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:22.040
<v Speaker 1>a classified document involving White that detailed a secret chapter

0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:26.040
<v Speaker 1>in his life, something that had happened in between Campax

0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:31.520
<v Speaker 1>and returning home from the war. It was something so

0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:34.280
<v Speaker 1>amazing that Gottli had called up White's boss at the

0:25:34.320 --> 0:25:37.400
<v Speaker 1>Narcotics Bureau that very minute and told him the CIA

0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:43.239
<v Speaker 1>needed George White. America needed George White, a sociopath who

0:25:43.280 --> 0:25:46.040
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't hesitate to interfere terminally with a problem. If it

0:25:46.119 --> 0:25:50.399
<v Speaker 1>came down to it, this secret document would change the

0:25:50.440 --> 0:25:53.760
<v Speaker 1>course of history. It would destroy a lot of lives,

0:25:54.400 --> 0:25:57.720
<v Speaker 1>and it would give George White everything he ever wanted.

0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:04.240
<v Speaker 1>The only problem. At that very moment, George White was

0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:22.959
<v Speaker 1>in jail this season in Operation Midnight Climax. Secretary couldn't

0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:26.919
<v Speaker 1>wake her colleague, so she picked up the gun, took aim,

0:26:26.960 --> 0:26:31.919
<v Speaker 1>and fired. America believes its enemies have mastered brainwashing. The

0:26:31.960 --> 0:26:34.880
<v Speaker 1>CIA is desperate to catch up. They've enlisted the help

0:26:34.960 --> 0:26:38.359
<v Speaker 1>of George White. This is the story of the experiment

0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:42.479
<v Speaker 1>Escaping the Lab. The LSD was an aerosolized form so

0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:46.080
<v Speaker 1>it could be sprayed over a population. One man going

0:26:46.160 --> 0:26:51.080
<v Speaker 1>deep cover, drugging strangers, bugging the CIA brothel, and keeping

0:26:51.080 --> 0:26:54.639
<v Speaker 1>meticulous notes on the best ways to so chaos. Sex

0:26:54.680 --> 0:26:58.359
<v Speaker 1>workers were on the CIA payroll. Can sex and drugs

0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:00.879
<v Speaker 1>win the Cold War? The Sea is willing to do

0:27:00.920 --> 0:27:03.879
<v Speaker 1>anything to find out, and along the way, many people

0:27:03.880 --> 0:27:07.679
<v Speaker 1>will lose their jobs, others will lose their minds, some

0:27:08.280 --> 0:27:11.560
<v Speaker 1>their lives. And the man in the middle of it all,

0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:27.040
<v Speaker 1>George White. It was George White. Find George White. Operation

0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:30.639
<v Speaker 1>Midnight Climax is hosted by Noel Brown. The show is

0:27:30.640 --> 0:27:34.000
<v Speaker 1>written by Jake Ross and editing by Ernie indraw Tat.

0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:39.280
<v Speaker 1>Original music by Aaron Kaufman. Research and fact checking by

0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:44.080
<v Speaker 1>Austin Thompson and Maurica Brown. Show logo by Lucy Quintinilla.

0:27:44.960 --> 0:27:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Special thanks to David Crumholtz, Vanessa crum Holtz, Ted Raymi,

0:27:49.280 --> 0:27:54.520
<v Speaker 1>Adam Copeland, Christina Everett, and Ryan Murdoch. Julian Weller is

0:27:54.560 --> 0:27:58.720
<v Speaker 1>our supervising producer. Our executive producers are Jason English and

0:27:58.800 --> 0:27:59.719
<v Speaker 1>mangesh Had Ticketer