Speaker 1: This past season of Flashback, we covered stories about unintended
Speaker 1: consequences in history, and we asked you, our loyal listeners,
Speaker 1: to send in some of your own stories on that theme,
Speaker 1: and you responded, so we wanted to devote a special
Speaker 1: bonus episode in order to share some of your wonderful submissions.
Speaker 1: One of the landmark historical events that came up in
Speaker 1: several of our stories this season, from tales of Hitler's
Speaker 1: drug habits to the dangerous effects of phosphorus, was World
Speaker 1: War Two, and several of you pointed to some other
Speaker 1: interesting unintended consequences tied to that war. Alicia Downs, a
Speaker 1: history and anthropology major, wrote in to say she was
Speaker 1: in fact working on a scholarly paper on two of
Speaker 1: the biggest The first a major strategic blunder on the
Speaker 1: part of the Nazis. At midday on June twenty two,
Speaker 1: the peoples of the U. S s I heard the
Speaker 1: news of fabled at warm in Germany. As Alicia writes,
Speaker 1: Germany made a vital error in invading Russia. As strong
Speaker 1: as Britain was, it wouldn't have survived a full scale
Speaker 1: invasion from Germany. Instead, Alicia says that by attacking one
Speaker 1: of the most populated countries Germany allowed Britain to regain
Speaker 1: its strength. The second was another big strategic blunder, this
Speaker 1: time by Germany's ally Japan. Yesterday, the Sumba some nineteen one,
Speaker 1: a date which will live in infamy. United States of
Speaker 1: America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by nabal on their
Speaker 1: coasces of the Empire of Japan. Before the Japanese attack
Speaker 1: on Pearl Harbor, the United States had resisted getting involved
Speaker 1: in the war Japan provoked a sleeping tiger. I believe
Speaker 1: that I interpret the will of the Congress and of
Speaker 1: the people when I said, but we will not only
Speaker 1: defend ourselves to the uttermost, but we'll make it very
Speaker 1: certain that this form of treachery shall never again and
Speaker 1: dangerous and as Ray Joseph points out, there were several
Speaker 1: other consequences of America's participation in that war. He writes,
Speaker 1: America exited World War Two with its infrastructure not only
Speaker 1: intact but expanded well. Europe, Russia, and Asia were rebuilding
Speaker 1: their cities. America became an industrial powerhouse. It took these
Speaker 1: other countries decades to catch up. Thanks to the war
Speaker 1: America was able to make a massive technology grab, including
Speaker 1: grabbing some of the world's top scientists, especially from Germany,
Speaker 1: scientists who would help the US get to the Moon
Speaker 1: and more. And it doesn't stop there. That Stephen Martinez shares.
Speaker 1: There were their unintended consequences of some of the projects
Speaker 1: launched by American scientists after the war. One of them
Speaker 1: was Project m k Ultra, the CIA program that used
Speaker 1: human subjects to experiment with mind control. Many of these
Speaker 1: unwitting subjects were found in prisons, asylums, and even top universities.
Speaker 1: One of the most famous victims of these experiments was
Speaker 1: reportedly a seventeen year old Harvard student named Ted Kazinski,
Speaker 1: who would later become famous for something else. Federal agents
Speaker 1: have taken into custody a man they suspect as the
Speaker 1: UNI Bomber. Long before he became the unibomber, Kazinski volunteered
Speaker 1: for psychological study run by Dr Henry Murray, a Harvard
Speaker 1: professor employed by the CIA. Kazinski and other students were
Speaker 1: subjected to aggressive psychological interrogations designed to test their responses
Speaker 1: to stress. Following the experiment, Kazinski became withdrawn and many
Speaker 1: scholars argue that this traumatic experience contributed to his alienation
Speaker 1: from society and ultimately his crimes. World War two was
Speaker 1: not the only war in which American involvement triggered some
Speaker 1: unexpected consequences. Neil Stevens points out that US participation in
Speaker 1: World War One did as well, For example, the nine
Speaker 1: eighteen flu pandemic, which is believed to have been brought
Speaker 1: by American soldiers from Kansas to Europe, where the local
Speaker 1: outbreak was transmitted worldwide. This season on Flashback, we also
Speaker 1: told the stories of invasive species like kat zoo and
Speaker 1: the gypsy moth. We learned how introducing such species into
Speaker 1: new environments had unleashed a torrent of unexpected consequences. One
Speaker 1: of our listeners, Phantom Writer five six three, points out
Speaker 1: another ecological introduction whose effects we are still living with,
Speaker 1: especially during allergy season. For decades, American urban planners have
Speaker 1: engaged in a form of botanical sexism, the decision to
Speaker 1: plan only male trees along public streets and parks. Initially,
Speaker 1: this appears to have been an effort to avoid the seeds, pods,
Speaker 1: and other droppings from female trees, but of course male
Speaker 1: trees make something else pollen so now the male dominated
Speaker 1: city tree escape is one of the main reasons why
Speaker 1: pollen and paullen allergies have gotten so bad in recent decades.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening and for sharing your thoughts, feedback
Speaker 1: and idea this past season, and you can continue to
Speaker 1: do so by emailing us at Flashback at AUSSI dot com.
Speaker 1: That's Flashback at oz y dot com. Please stay tuned
Speaker 1: to this feed for more bonus episodes on fateful moments
Speaker 1: from history in the weeks ahead. Flashback is written and
Speaker 1: hosted by me Sean Braswell, Senior writer and Executive producer
Speaker 1: at AUSSI. He was edited by Mayeve mcgorren and produced
Speaker 1: by Tracy Murray in Chris haff engineered our show. Make
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to Flashback on the I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: app or listen wherever you get your podcasts. M