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
All this talk of major leaders stepping aside, but it’s the Mayor of Kamloops BC, Reid Hamer-Jackson, who has our attention.
July 25, 2024
Do we need to “dial down” our political rhetoric in Canada, following the attempted assassination of Trump?
July 18, 2024
Over the past two weeks, the media has suddenly become experts in diagnosing neurodegenerative disorders following Biden’s stumbles at the debate. Canadian Youtuber J.J. McCullough joins Justin Ling to dissect this presidential testing of our patience. 
July 11, 2024
It’s been a tough week for leadership in North America, with calls for resignation dominating the headlines on both sides of the border. 
July 4, 2024
What’s going on in Han Dong’s defamation case against Global News?
June 27, 2024
Can a newspaper commit treason? The NSICOP report singles out China as the biggest foreign influence on Canadian media (and it’s more than just advertorial inserts.)
June 20, 2024
June 13, 2024
Trump’s 34 felony convictions made history in the U.S., but will his efforts to undermine the Rule of Law have an effect on Canadian attitudes towards the legal system? 
June 6, 2024
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Short Cuts