How a Government Mind Control Experiment Backfired

How a Government Mind Control Experiment Backfired

Author: The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie July 16, 2025 Duration: 1:05:39
Historian John Lisle uncovers how Cold War paranoia, LSD, and unchecked power led the CIA to fund torture, deception, and mind control experiments on unwitting Americans.

The conversations on The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie move beyond the day's headlines to explore the deeper ideas shaping our world. Host Nick Gillespie engages with a wide range of guests-from politicians and policy experts to novelists, tech founders, and cultural critics-in dialogues that are substantive yet accessible. This podcast delves into the intersection of individual liberty, innovation, and societal change, examining how libertarian principles apply to contemporary debates. Each episode is a long-form discussion where guests explain their work and worldview in detail, offering listeners a nuanced perspective often missing from soundbite-driven media. You'll hear analyses of political movements, discussions on artistic expression, and debates about the future of technology and free speech. The tone is curious and challenging, favoring open inquiry over partisan talking points. For anyone interested in the forces driving politics and culture, this series provides thoughtful context for understanding both current events and the underlying trends that will define what comes next. Tune in for consistently engaging interviews that illuminate the people and ideas actively constructing the twenty-first century.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
Podcast Episodes
Steven Pinker: Can Harvard Be Saved? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:26
The Harvard psychologist discusses recent gains for free speech at Harvard, growing political and ideological threats to academic freedom, and the importance of shared knowledge in sustaining truth and progress.
John Arnold: Government Can't Be Trusted To Fix Any Problems [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:02
John Arnold argues that private markets solve problems better than government or philanthropy, and that real reform comes from decentralization, incentives, and evidence—not top-down control.
Alton Brown: A Culinary Legend Offers Food for Thought [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:58
The Good Eats host talks about the virtues of Cap'n Crunch, why fusion cooking isn't cultural appropriation, and how Martha Stewart's perfectionism ruined dinner parties.