WEBVTT - The Backstory (Replay): Cold War condoms and undercover kitties

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<v Speaker 1>Fake news, propaganda. You don't know what to believe anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>It's practically all that's left in the world of news

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<v Speaker 1>these days. But it's nothing new. During the Cold War

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<v Speaker 1>of the fifties and sixties, the CIA was trying to

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<v Speaker 1>freak out the Russians by demoralizing their troops, sort of

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<v Speaker 1>playing with their minds. I'm Patty Steel, cold War condoms

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<v Speaker 1>and undercover kiddies. That's next on the backstory. The backstory

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<v Speaker 1>is back. Psychological warfare has been going on. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know since human beings first felt that competitive urge, so

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<v Speaker 1>basically always. It's been used in sports, in business, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course in the military. We're going to take a

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<v Speaker 1>peek at the Cold War now, when the CIA felt

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<v Speaker 1>free to try anything without repercussions. It was a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a free for all in terms of figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>new ways to demoralize the other side. While the US

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<v Speaker 1>and Soviet governments were involved in nuclear standoffs and idio

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<v Speaker 1>logical type battles publicly, the everyday troops were dealing with

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<v Speaker 1>more personal attacks on the humorous side. While this seems

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<v Speaker 1>almost ridiculous these days, but the agency came up with

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<v Speaker 1>a crazy plan to lower the morale of Soviet men.

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<v Speaker 1>They tried to do it with condoms, and not just

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<v Speaker 1>any condoms. They used really oversized versions, but they labeled

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<v Speaker 1>them as medium and even small. Now. The idea was

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<v Speaker 1>in the dead of night, US planes would soar over

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<v Speaker 1>Soviet territories, open their cargo doors and dump boat loads

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<v Speaker 1>of these enormous prophylactics using tons of tiny parachutes. Imagine

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<v Speaker 1>the scene on the ground. Small Soviet villages filled as

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<v Speaker 1>macho putin like guys suddenly showered with American condoms that

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<v Speaker 1>were bizarrely large. Oh no, who were these Americans? What

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<v Speaker 1>were they all about? It would be a shot at

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<v Speaker 1>the manhood of Soviet guys and imply American superior already

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<v Speaker 1>on every level, knocking down their self esteem. As a

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<v Speaker 1>Cold War weapon. Well, did they ever pull it off,

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<v Speaker 1>so to speak, Well, it's not clear, but there was

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<v Speaker 1>some worry that the Soviets were sophisticated enough to simply

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<v Speaker 1>be amused at the attempt rather than intimidated, so it

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<v Speaker 1>would have been money not well spent. In a sort

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<v Speaker 1>of related plan, the CIA came up with another idea

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<v Speaker 1>after they got a little freaked out about the increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>close relationship between the Soviets and President Sukarno of Indonesia.

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<v Speaker 1>What did they do? They decided to put out a

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<v Speaker 1>porn flick starring Sukarno to ruin his reputation. Now, clearly

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't have any porn footage involving him, so they

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<v Speaker 1>had to create it. And remember this was before computers, CGI,

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<v Speaker 1>AI all of that stuff. They actually created a fairly

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<v Speaker 1>realistic Sukarno face mask and hired a Hollywood porn actor

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<v Speaker 1>to wear it. They put him in an erotic scene

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<v Speaker 1>with a beautiful blonde porn actors and had them, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>get busy again. They made the film, but then were

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<v Speaker 1>apparently told not to release it, maybe because it seemed

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<v Speaker 1>a little too unbelievable. And then there's what they called

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<v Speaker 1>Operation Acoustic Kitty. To give these guys some credit, This

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<v Speaker 1>CIA plan is innovative. What was it. They took some

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<v Speaker 1>regular housecats and implanted them with a microphone and a

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<v Speaker 1>radio transmitter. The idea was to use it to eavesdrop

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<v Speaker 1>on Soviet chatter. The idea was pretty simple, if you

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<v Speaker 1>cohabitate with one. You know, cats are kind of stealth.

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<v Speaker 1>They can move around pretty much unnoticed. Here's an idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's get them to wander into Soviet compounds and hang

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<v Speaker 1>out near where conversations of interest are going on, thus

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<v Speaker 1>relaying the chatter back to CIA operatives. What a great idea,

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<v Speaker 1>except it wasn't ever heard the term tougher than herding cats. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>problem is, unlike dogs, kitties don't exactly beg for your approval.

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<v Speaker 1>They really don't care, so training them to do what

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<v Speaker 1>needed to be done proved to be almost impossible. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>tens of millions of dollars were actually invested in getting

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<v Speaker 1>the technology together, not to mention in training the cats.

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<v Speaker 1>The surgical procedure to implant the tiny equipment in those

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<v Speaker 1>days was really delicate, and then training the kitties to

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<v Speaker 1>do what needed to be done was unpredictable at best. Clearly,

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<v Speaker 1>none of the point people over this plan ever lived

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<v Speaker 1>with a cat anyway. Despite the brilliant idea and financial investment,

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<v Speaker 1>Operation Acoustic Kitty didn't work so well with these very

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<v Speaker 1>independent pusses. The agency finally realized cooperation is not a

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<v Speaker 1>major personality trade among felines. Plus, there are stories that

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<v Speaker 1>the very first Acoustic Kitty was released and within minutes

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<v Speaker 1>was hit by a car. Others claim the agency dropped

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<v Speaker 1>the plan pretty quickly, but took the poorly trained kitties

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<v Speaker 1>to a beautiful farm to live out their lives. Is

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<v Speaker 1>sure now? On a similar vein, the Soviets claimed the

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<v Speaker 1>US was training squirrels to spy on them, sneaking into

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<v Speaker 1>top secret facilities with little, tiny cameras strapped to their backs.

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<v Speaker 1>Isn't that kind of nuts? A bit more successful? Both

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<v Speaker 1>sides used the airwaves. Americans had Radio Free Europe, blasting

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<v Speaker 1>that nasty rock and roll as well as propaganda type

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<v Speaker 1>news into the Eastern Bloc. The Soviets blasted back with

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<v Speaker 1>Radio Moscow, which had less rock and more talk about

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<v Speaker 1>how rock was corrupting kids. Kind of the ultimate Battle

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<v Speaker 1>of the bands, but with broadcasters. Now here's the thing.

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<v Speaker 1>The Cold War was all about one upsmanship. They had

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<v Speaker 1>tons of freedom and no idea was too bizarre. Both

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<v Speaker 1>sides tried to out maneuver the other with technology, psychology,

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<v Speaker 1>and creativity, and they were willing to go to almost

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<v Speaker 1>any length. In fact, one of the scariest ideas came

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<v Speaker 1>at the beginning of the space race, at a time

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<v Speaker 1>when the Soviets seemed to be ahead in the race

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<v Speaker 1>to reach the Moon. So just because they felt they

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<v Speaker 1>could do it, there was chatter from inside the US

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<v Speaker 1>Air Force that we should shoot a nuclear weapon at

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon. Can you even imagine? Project A one nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>was called a study of lunar research flights. They felt

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<v Speaker 1>it would make the public as well as our enemies,

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<v Speaker 1>perceive us to be the most powerful when it came

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<v Speaker 1>to weaponry and the space race. In fact, they even

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<v Speaker 1>had an exact target on the Moon's surface that would

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<v Speaker 1>make the explosion and the ensuing mushroom cloud lit by

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<v Speaker 1>the sun visible from Earth. How unbelievable is that? Now?

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<v Speaker 1>Why didn't they do it? In the end? Well, they

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<v Speaker 1>said they felt the public might not respond favorably to

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<v Speaker 1>the US dropping a nuclear bomb on the Moon. You

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<v Speaker 1>think funny enough? These stories about all the ideas behind

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<v Speaker 1>the race to become the number one world give you

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<v Speaker 1>a little taste of what real life scenarios inspired the

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<v Speaker 1>early James Bond movies, right, And they show the lengths

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<v Speaker 1>to which we would have been willing to go to

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<v Speaker 1>become the reigning superpower. If you have any ideas for

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<v Speaker 1>stories you'd like me to take a deeper dive into

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<v Speaker 1>and share. All you have to do is direct message

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<v Speaker 1>me on Instagram at Real Patty Steele or on Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>at Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel

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<v Speaker 1>Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.

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<v Speaker 1>We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free

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<v Speaker 1>to reach out to me with comments and even story

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<v Speaker 1>suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with

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<v Speaker 1>Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know you

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<v Speaker 1>needed to know.