CIA authorizes MK-Ultra - April 13, 1953

On this day in 1953, the CIA authorized the launch of the mind control program known as Project MKUltra.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and Welcome to This
Day and History Class, a podcast for people who can
never know enough about history. Today is April. The day

(00:25):
was April nineteen fifty three. The US Central Intelligence Agency
authorized Project m k Ultra, in which the CIA conducted
experiments on people with the goal of developing drugs and
procedures that could be used for mind control. In April
of nineteen fifty three, the Korean War was nearing its end.

(00:47):
The war was one between communist North Korea and capitalist
South Korea. The U s sent a lot of aid
to South Korea and spent tens of billions of dollars
on the war. During the Korean War, rumors spread that
North Korea and the powers on its side, including the
Soviet Union in China, were subjecting American prisoners of war

(01:08):
to communist brainwashing. Newly appointed CIA Director Allan Welsh Dullis
wanted the US to develop its own techniques for mind
control to use on its captives. On April tenth, nineteen
fifty three, Dullis gave a speech at the National Alumni
Conference of the Graduate Council of Princeton University. In it,

(01:29):
he said the following, The Soviets are now using brain
perversion techniques as one of their main weapons and prosecuting
the Cold War. Some of these techniques are so subtle
and so abhorrent to our way of life that we
have recoiled from facing up to them. Dullis said that
the brain warfare that the Soviets were committing could turn

(01:51):
people into quote, humble confessors of crimes they never committed,
or make them the mouthpiece for Soviet propaganda. Talk of
communist brainwashing spread through the US media and politics. Three
days after his speech. On April, Dulless approved the launch
of the CIA program MK Ultra. The program's aim was

(02:12):
to develop mind controlling drugs for use on US prisoners
of war in response to alleged Chinese, Soviet, and North
Korean mind control techniques. The CIA looked to create a
truth drug for interrogating prisoners of war and captured spies.
It also wanted to develop drugs that would render CIA
agents immune to enemies mind control techniques. In addition to this,

(02:35):
the agency sought to create a brainwashed, programmable assassin and
figure out how to manipulate foreign leaders. Through mk ULTRA.
The CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence organized the project and
coordination with the U. S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. Chemist
Sydney got Leave headed up the project. Many of mk

(02:57):
Ultra's experiments involved the covert administration of LSD, hallucinogenic drug.
The drug was secretly given to CIA employees, U. S
soldiers and psychiatric patients. Other techniques employed to alter subjects
mental states included hypnosis, radiological implants, electroshock therapy, sensory deprivation,

(03:20):
verbal and sexual abuse, and isolation. Many of the experiments
conducted were done without the subjects knowledge or consent. Some
subjects volunteered freely or under coercion. Dozens of institutions, including universities, hospitals, prisons,
and drug companies, participated in mk ULTRA. Not all academic

(03:43):
researchers knew that the CIA was using their work for
mind control purposes, since they were often funded through front organizations.
After a member of the CIA Inspector General staff learned
about the program's experimentation on non voluntary subjects, the operation
was scaled back and had to follow new guidelines. In

(04:03):
nineteen seventy three, CIA Director Richard helms ordered files. When
mk Ultra destroyed. In nineteen reports from the Church Committee
and Rockefeller Commission revealed to the public the existence of
the mk Ultra experiments. In response to a Freedom of
Information Act request. In nineteen seventy seven, the CIA uncovered

(04:25):
thousands of additional mk ultra files. They were the subject
of Senate hearings that took place later that year. At
least one death is attributed to the project, but because
of the circumstances surrounding the covert operation, it's true impact
may never be known. In two thousand and one, some

(04:45):
documents related to mk Ultra were to classified. I'm Eve
Jeff Cote and hopefully you know a little more about
history today than you did yesterday. You can learn more
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(05:07):
at this day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks again for
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