Naomi Klein on CIA Project MK-ULTRA

New World Notes #678, 29:19 (March 2)
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Psychiatrist and CIA collaborator Dr. Ewen Cameron (left) performed mind-control experiments on numerous patients.

For two decades, the CIA conducted secret experiments in torture and mind-control as Project MK-ULTRA. Among their experimental subjects were American and Canadian citizens--none of whom were aware of what was being done to them.

Naomi Klein tells the story of Gail Kastner, who discovered decades later that the CIA (via her psychiatrist) had permanently damaged her mind and body with drugs, sensory deprivation, and electroshock--all without her knowledge or consent.

Klein reads from her book, The Shock Doctrine. The recording--here slightly condensed by me--had previously been broadcast on "Unwelcome Guests." Thanks to Lyn Gerry and the Unwelcome Guests Collective.

This installment was previously broadcast, as NWN #279, in 2013.

Music added: The song "Short Memory" by Midnight Oil.

I chose "Short Memory" because of its theme--Americans' (and the American government's) habit of making the same mistakes over and over again. Later it dawned to me that my choice of song might be seen as mocking the memory loss that Kastner and other victims of MK-ULTRA had experienced. No such mockery is intended. --K.D.

John Pilger

New World Notes #677, 28:48 (February 23)
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Documentary filmmaker John Pilger discusses the real story behind the U.S.'s opposition to Russia, China, North Korea, and Syria. Pilger's shrewd analysis of actual U.S. foreign policy naturally leads to a discussion of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the corruption of both Clinton and the Democratic Party, the propaganda served up by the mainstream media, and (in Pilger's view) Clinton's well-deserved loss in the 2016 election.

Pilger responds to questions from Cindy Sheehan, from a broadcast of May 23, 2017. Audio courtesy of The People Speak, with Cindy Sheehan. The original program is available on radio4all.net. I have edited the audio slightly, mostly removing stumbles and hesitations.

Previously broadcast by NWN in 2017.

Where Does The Left Go After Trump?

Part 1: New World Notes #675, 28:05 (February 9)
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Part 2: New World Notes #676, 28:42 February 16)
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Noam Chomsky's new look

In a new interview, the eminent Progressive scholar and activist Noam Chomsky explores current political and economic conditions. And he explores what the American people should do next--with Trump out and Biden in--to begin restoring democracy and improving the lot of "the 99%."

Here Chomsky blends an encyclopedic knowledge of politics and economics, . . . an inclination to take "the long view" of current affairs, . . . and a surprisingly optimistic view of the future.

Part 2 ends with a memorial to labor activist / singer / songwriter Anne Feeney, who died February 3. We play her song from the early 1990s, "War on the Workers." The song nicely anticipates and complements the main points Chomsky makes in Part 2.

Chomsky spoke on January 12, 2021, I have edited the talk for radio. The unedited presentation, a remote interview, is available on the Jacobin channel on YouTube.