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Poisoner in Chief
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
7 posts | 4 read | 10 to read
The bestselling author of All the Shahs Men and The Brothers tells the astonishing story of the man who oversaw the CIAs secret drug and mind-control experiments of the 1950s and 60s. The visionary chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the CIAs master magician and gentlehearted torturerthe agencys poisoner in chief. As head of the MK-ULTRA mind control project, he directed brutal experiments at secret prisons on three continents. He made pills, powders, and potions that could kill or maim without a traceincluding some intended for Fidel Castro and other foreign leaders. He paid prostitutes to lure clients to CIA-run bordellos, where they were secretly dosed with mind-altering drugs. His experiments spread LSD across the United States, making him a hidden godfather of the 1960s counterculture. For years he was the chief supplier of spy tools used by CIA officers around the world. Stephen Kinzer, author of groundbreaking books about U.S. clandestine operations, draws on new documentary research and original interviews to bring to life one of the most powerful unknown Americans of the twentieth century. Gottliebs reckless experiments on expendable human subjects destroyed many lives, yet he considered himself deeply spiritual. He lived in a remote cabin without running water, meditated, and rose before dawn to milk his goats. During his twenty-two years at the CIA, Gottlieb worked in the deepest secrecy. Only since his death has it become possible to piece together his astonishing career at the intersection of extreme science and covert action. Poisoner in Chief reveals him as a clandestine conjurer on an epic scale.
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Decalino
Decalino
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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Pickpick

I'd heard of MK-ULTRA but I had *no idea* of the scale, the scope and the enormity of the program. Unwitting party guests, college students, addicts in recovery, the mentally ill seeking treatment, prisoners held in secret bases overseas--all were subjected to completely unethical testing with no regard for consequences. Some lost their minds, some died, but the CIA mastermind behind it all was never truly held to account. Horrifying and enraging.

14 likes
review
LauraJ
LauraJ
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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Pickpick

This book revolves around Sidney Gottlieb, but the real subject is the CIA‘s search for mind control techniques. They never succeeded and the experiments conducted are amazing and frequently inhumane. This was a book club read. Everyone liked it, though most of us were having a hard time focus a month into CA‘s Stay At Home ordinance. And we all agreed that the audiobook version is not good. Check out Wormwood on Netflix for a bit of the story.

Billypar I only know a little about this story so I'd be interested to learn more. I think it needs a better title though - definitely not what I was imagining when I first saw it. 5y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
LauraJ
LauraJ
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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Monk and Cecil are as unhappy with this book‘s narrator as I am. I used to do a lot of voiceover work It‘s a different skill than narration. This guy is an announcer and it feels like he‘s shouting the book at me. Help! I‘d buy a hard copy, but it won‘t reach me in time for my book club. #catsoflitsy

Megabooks Scribd is free right now. Maybe download and check for the ebook?? 5y
Megabooks Nope, I just checked my account and it‘s not there. Boo!! 5y
LauraJ @Megabooks Thanks for checking. I‘ve been on my library‘s waitlist for six weeks and I‘m still waiting. 5y
See All 9 Comments
Leftcoastzen Omg , they are pretty close together! 5y
wanderinglynn Your kitties are so pretty! 🖤🐱 5y
Reagan Wow, your cat looks a lot like my cat. Very beautiful! 5y
Meaw_catlady Such beautiful kitties!!! 🖤😻 5y
Soubhiville I occasionally bail on an audiobook because I can‘t handle the narrator. Who is it? There‘s only one narrator I won‘t ever listen to: Scott Brick. (Which is funny as I know I‘ve seen other Littens say they love him. His reading just grates on my nerves!) 5y
LeahBergen They are so sweet! 💕💕 5y
67 likes1 stack add9 comments
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ABookGeek
ABookGeek
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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Pickpick

Wow! This was a really good, important, if uncomfortable read.

8 likes
review
Ericalambbrown
Ericalambbrown
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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Pickpick

Finished this one up today. Ooooofff. While not a comfortable read in places by any means, it was certainly a valuable read. It‘s not possible to condense my thoughts for the limited space here, so I will simply say that I think any American that cares about the integrity of our country should read this book. The more we sweep the folly of our past under the rug, the more damage we do to our future.

LauraJ Trying to talk my book club into reading this. 5y
Ericalambbrown @LauraJ It‘s really rough in places. I had to put it down and walk away at times, especially in the first few chapters that got into the heinous experiments perpetrated on captives by German and Japanese scientists during WWII. 5y
74 likes5 stack adds2 comments
blurb
ABookGeek
ABookGeek
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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This book is wild! I keep forgetting that it‘s not fiction.

6 likes1 stack add
blurb
Ericalambbrown
Ericalambbrown
Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control | Stephen Kinzer
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This interview was bonkers! The author of the tagged book about Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA‘s experiments into mind control was on today‘s Fresh Air. It was simultaneously fascinating and absolutely sickening.

Here‘s the link is you‘d like to listen: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/759054577/the-cias-secret-search-for-mind-control

This book is now a must-read for me. Ooooof.

LauraJ Perfect for my book club! 5y
Ericalambbrown @LauraJ I just ordered it. It comes out tomorrow 😊 5y
56 likes2 comments