military-industrial complex

How much do you know about America's LSD-taking, goat-owning, hippie-dad who also happened to orchestrate the stalking, poisoning and mind-destroying torture of countless innocent US citizens?

Well, today's episode will quickly get you up to speed on the United States' most powerful, and troubling, government official that you've probably never heard of, Sydney Gottlieb, the head of CIA's MK Ultra project. And, buckle up, because it's a wild ride!

Boston Globe and New York Times' award-winning investigative-journalist Stephen Kinzer has had a lauded, multi-decade career as war correspondent, author, professor, and perpetual speaker-of-truth-to-power through reporting on over 50 different countries, but his most recent book, Poisoner in Chief, is possibly his most provocative work yet.

Poisoner in Chief brings to light an incredible amount of new information about the previously unscrutinized head of one of America's most secretive, and disturbing, intelligence programs, Sydney Gottlieb.

Get ready for a discussion of Nazis, LSD, poisonings, torture, club-feet, whore-houses, stalking and drugging of American citizens, corrupt cops, assassinations, mind-control experiments, communists, history of the CIA, and a bloody wake of ignored civil-liberties and pointlessly shattered lives all in the name of the "greater good." In short, it's about as feel good, fuck-yeah-America, patriotic of an episode as you can get!

And, if listening to it gets your red, white and blue blood proudly pumping, consider also checking out any of Stephen's other truth-seeking non-fiction books, like:

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and their Secret World War

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

You can also find additional Stephen Kinzer articles and information at his website stephenkinzer.com, and follow him on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/stephenkinzer

Last, if you support independent thought and discussion, please consider telling someone about the Independent Riot Podcast, and leaving us a 5-star review on whatever podcast player you use. 

Thanks!

This episode doesn’t just have a theme, it has a thesis. Have you wondered how precisely the Pentagon manages to siphon so much taxpayer money year after year? How the military-industrial-congressional complex functions in practice? Why US primacy is so expensive yet perpetually in crisis? This episode with William Hartung and Julia Gledhill is something of a tutorial for understanding Pentagon bloat and corruption—which are deeply intertwined. US defense strategy has been hot garbage for, well, as long as I’ve been alive. It’s never been well conceived, sets impossible standards that it uses to request evermore funds when it fails to meet them, and heightens the very threats it aims to guard against. As we discuss in this episode, a key cause of this strategic ineptitude is Pentagon graft and the ability to buy its way out of the kinds of tradeoffs that would impose discipline on strategy-making.

Bill and Julia’s piece in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pentagon-debt-ceiling-bill/

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Money, guns, repeat.  On this episode, the I'm Not Dumb But crew discover how the military-industrial complex came to be. We discuss how much funding it gets and will it explode in our face.

Yep - we're up to the guy everyone you kind of avoid at holiday family meals says was President during THE BEST EVER TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES! It's the War Hero of World War II and That Neato Campaign Slogan You And Me Like - Dwight David Eisenhower! We don't know what the 1950s was like, but we added westerns and street rants and certain famous puppet-like characters to give you something to pass to your Uncle Frank other than that weird green jello mold he always brings because his grandmother made it in 1955 and it was good THEN! Enjoy! (Jello mold optional!)

This episode’s sketches were Written, Produced, and Performed by:

Gina Buccola
Sandy Bykowski
Joseph Fedorko
Sylvia Mann
Paul Moulton
Patrick J. Reilly
And Tommy Spears

This Episode’s Historians: Dr. Chelsea Denault and James McRae

Original Music written and performed by Throop McClerg
Audio production by Joseph Fedorko
Sound effects procured at Freesound.org

DB Comedy Logo Designed by Adam L. Harlett
ELECTABLES logo and Presidential Caricatures by Dan Polito

THE ELECTABLES concept was created by Patrick J. Reilly

CAST AND CREDITS 

COLD OPEN – Written by Paul Moulton
            Dr. Nair: Tommy
            Patrick - Patrick

THE LAST BUCYRUS DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES CALL – Written by Joseph Fedorko
            Harper- Patrick
            Mrs. Wilson – Sylvia
            Sammy the Sales Squirrel - Sandy

LOW NOON – Written by Paul Moulton
            Tailgunner Joe - Paul
            Miss Mamie – Sandy
            Sherriff Ike – Joe
            Marshall Marshall - Patrick

MUPPET REGIMES – Written by Tommy Spears
            Dulles/Waldorf/King Prawn - Tommy 
            Nixon/Kermit/Animal – Patrick
            Ike/Bunsen - Joe
            Fozzie/Dr. Teeth – Sylvia
            Statler/Sam – Paul
            Janice/Beaker/Miss Piggy - Sandy

THOSE DIZZY RACISTS! – Written by Paul Moulton
            Announcer - Joe 
            Junior Fluffberger – Patrick
            Shirley Fluffberger – Sandy

LIKE, IKE – Written by Joseph Fedorko
            The Truth-Teller - Tommy 

Paris Marx is joined by Margaret O’Mara to discuss how the state and military have been at the center of the US tech industry since the very beginning, but how it was written out of the popular narrative during the neoliberal turn in the 1980s.

Margaret O’Mara is the author of “The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America” and a professor at the University of Washington. Follow Margaret on Twitter as @margaretomara.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• “Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, with a New Preface by the Author” by AnnaLee Saxenian
• Another relevant book: “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism” by Fred Turner

Do your everyday actions and your technical competence effectively serve the stewardships you are appointed to? Just how does that work? Well, Colonel John Boyd is a strong example of striving to do just that. And so is Jesus Christ. Join Kevin as we explore “designing for stewardship.” // Download this episode's Application & Action questions and PDF transcript at whitestone.org.