Poisoner In Chief
by Stephen Kinzer · first published 2019
63% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readable history of the CIA's postwar mind-control and drug programs, centered on Sidney Gottlieb. It serves as a good introduction to the subject and is a fun read for those who want to dig deeper.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The bestselling author of All the Shah's Men and The Brothers tells the astonishing story of the man who oversaw the CIA's secret medical experiments of the 1950s and '60s. The visionary chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA's master magician and gentlehearted torturer-the agency's "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 trace-including some intended for Fidel Castro and other foreign leaders. He paid prostitutes to lure clients to
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"Devil's Chessboard" is a good overall view of the CIA although not specifically about the postwar period. Stephen Kinzer has some good books which touch on the subject including "The Brothers" and "Poisoner in Chief." Christopher Simpson's "Forbidden Trilogy" (esp. "Blowback") is very good as well.
on “Coups, lies, dirty tricks: Stewart Copeland on his CIA agent father (2000)” ↗For anyone who wants a good background "Poisoner in Chief" is a maddening and captivating read that describes much of the CIA's use of LSD: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43565322-poisoner-in-chi...
on “San Francisco decriminalizes psychedelics” ↗If anyone wants to dig further, Poisoner In Chief by Stephen Kinzer is a "fun" read about Sidney Gottlieb and these programs.
on “How US Intelligence Agencies Hid Their Most Shameful Experiments” ↗…was pushed by the CIA to essentially deconstruct and damage a society that would otherwise organize and oppose the will of the ruling class. There is an interesting book that was recently released, The Poisoner in Chief that is a good introduction, even though it seems it is meant to also be a bit of a rehabilitation of a horrible human, Sidney Gottlieb.
on “Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study” ↗…knew their specific reasons why, at least we could then forgive and forget. As long as we don't know, we can only assume the craziest conspiracy theories about treason and political control are true. Poisoner in Chief is a great recent book detailing the CIA's search for mind control via MKUltra and associated projects; well-researched and written.
on “Operation Midnight Climax: How the CIA Dosed S.F. Citizens with LSD (2012)” ↗I think the name of the book is Poisoner in Chief, it's a great history of how Gottlieb ran that program and its impacts on society.
on “When America first dropped acid” ↗Poisoner in Chief was a great read.
on “MKUltra” ↗…the poet who preached the value of the great personal adventure of using LSD, got his first LSD from Sidney Gottlieb, although of course he never knew that name. NPR talking to Stephen Kinzer about his Poisoner in Chief: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/758989641 (The following paragraph, unfortunately, is extremely boomer and a grave misunderstanding of the situation.)
on “The Time I Snuck into Ken Kesey’s Fiction Class” ↗…Hunter. Timothy Leary himself was one step removed, being introduced to psychedelics by a fellow Harvard researcher whose research into magic mushrooms was CIA-funded. [this is all discussed in Kinzer's "Poisoner in Chief"] Without the CIA it might have taken decades longer.
on “When America first dropped acid” ↗From 5 years ago, Project MKUltra (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21165137) - Oct 2019 (121 comments) Stephen Kinzer wrote a book about MKUltra: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control (https://www.amazon.com/Poisoner-Chief-Sidney-Gottlieb-Contro...) And these two articles talk about the book in brief: The CIA's Secret Quest For…
on “MKUltra” ↗Do you have any recommendations for other books on the subject? I'm planning to read "CHAOS,""Poisoner in Chief," and "Weird Scenes from the Canyon" but always open to more suggestions.
on “Edward Bernays and the birth of public relations (2015)” ↗There’s an interesting book called Poisoner in Chief. I’m just not sure if it’s not an attempt to control/smoke and mirror the narrative.
on “Ted Kaczynski, ‘Unabomber’ Who Attacked Modern Life, Dies at 81” ↗