December 28, 2023
SHARE
Short Cuts
#949 MKUltra
Is it even possible to “brainwash” anyone?
Arshy Mann
Host & Producer
Jordan Cornish
Producer
Noor Azrieh
Producer
Karyn Pugliese
Editor-in-Chief

In the 1960s and 70s, there was a fear that cult leaders were brainwashing young people into joining their new, strange movements. But is it even possible to “brainwash” anyone?

At a psychiatric hospital in Montreal, one mad scientist, with the help of the CIA, tried to find out.

 

Featured in this episode: Alison Steel, Lisa Ellenwood

 

To learn more:

Brainwashed by Michelle Shephard, Lisa Ellenwood & Chris Oke on CBC Podcasts

The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control by John Marks

Father, Son and CIA by Harvey Weinstein

MK Ultra: CIA mind control program in Canada by CBC’s The Fifth Estate

“Federal government quietly compensates daughter of brainwashing experiments victim” by Elizabeth Thompson in CBC News

 

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host & Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

 

Listen to the rest of the season here

 

Sponsors: Squarespace, oxio, Athletic Greens

 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

More from this series
After months of legal battles, the ostriches are dead. 
November 12, 2025
Poilievre’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.
November 7, 2025
Carney’s much-anticipated budget is finally here. Will it trigger an election? 
November 5, 2025
Carney campaigned on building Canada from within, but now trade dominates the headlines and the talking points.
October 31, 2025
Canada is renewing trade ties with China and India, but are willing to forget our complicated history with these two nations? Do we even have a choice? 
October 24, 2025
After Poilievre called the RCMP “despicable,” reports are circulating that there’s an uprising in the Conservative party.
October 22, 2025
A new study suggests influencers had the “loudest voices” and “dominated” the election online.
October 17, 2025
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Short Cuts