The Secret Pilgrim (Part 1) by John le Carre, read by Michael Jayston.

The Secret Pilgrim (Part 1) by John le Carre - Read by Michael Jayston

The Secret Pilgrim, by John le Carre. Part 2. Read by Michael Jayston.

The Secret Pilgrim (Part 2)  by John le Carre - Read by Michael Jayston

It's time to empty out the junk drawer. This time, Lee and Nathan find stories about how it might not actually be the year we think it is, a strange flying jellyfish over Eastern Canada, and how the CIA might be spying on you through your video games.

Junk Drawer Episode! Lost Time, Flying Jellyfish, and Angry Birds

Today's guest is University of Texas historian John Lisle, author of the chilling and brilliantly researched Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA.

Despite official attempts to destroy records of the CIA's LSD-fueled search for mind control in the 1950s and '60s, the truth has been dribbling out, especially in recent books and documentaries such as Steven Kinzer's Poisoner in Chief and Errol Morris' Wormwood.

Lisle's work draws on previously unknown depositions and documents to deliver the most definitive—and disturbing—account yet. He discusses the twisted logic of Cold War secrecy, the bizarre figures behind and victims of America's darkest experiments, and what MKUltra reveals about the dangers of unchecked power in a democracy.

And this might be the most important thing: He and Nick Gillespie talk about why conspiracy theories thrive in the absence of transparency—and how to preserve skepticism without surrendering to paranoia.

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How a Government Mind Control Experiment Backfired

A cyclical narrative mix based on the BBC film Threads (1984) and the video game and TV series "Fallout" by Interplay Productions (1997). This mix is designed to be a warning. The mix follows the story of a nuclear bomb simulation, followed by the devastating fallout and nuclear winter caused by the war. The mix then builds up to real 2025 interviews from recent events, leading to fake BBC broadcasts to go back to the beginning. History repeating itself.

The last composition in this mix was made by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was an anti-war activist. It is related to the horrors and devastation caused by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Track list:
Enola Gay (Dancefloor Killa Remix) [Zaba Edit] - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Orange Colored Sky [Fallout: New Vegas Soundtrack] [Zaba Edit] - Nat King Cole
Geiger [Zaba Edit] - Metal Spark
Nuclear War (Version 2) [Zaba Edit] - Yo La Tengo
Two Tribes [Zaba Edit] - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
99 Luftballoons [Zaba Edit] - Nena
19 [Zaba Edit] - Paul Hardcastle
Radioactivity (Somnium Bootleg) [Zaba Edit] - Kraftwerk
Lowtek (Outro) [Zaba Edit] - Panacea
Stormbringer (Original Mix) - Panacea
War Dub [Zaba Edit] - Calyx & TeeBee
Creature of War - Technical Itch 
The Nine (Remastered) [Zaba Edit] - Bad Company UK
Imagination (VIP, Mixed) [Zaba Edit] - Dom & Roland
Soviet - Paradox
No God [Zaba Edit] - Antares
When will this end? [Zaba Edit] - Unworn
Untitled - Burial
Geiger - Mofes
Old Stones [Zaba Edit] - Armenez
Strana - Nemy
Cold War [Zaba Edit] - Rezin & Tek
Nuclear - Jarring
Nuketown Theme [Zaba Edit] - Black Ops 2, Call of Duty
Cosmology - Grim Hellhound
Dark Matter - Grim Hellhound
I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire [Fallout 3 Soundtrack] - The Ink Spots
Vertigo (Current Value Remix) - Enei
I Don't Want To See Tomorrow [Fallout TV Series Soundtrack] - Nat King Cole
Messiah (Spor Remix) [Zaba Edit] - Konflict
Geiger Counter - Ed Rush
Blown [Zaba Edit] - Calyx & TeeBee/Calyx/Teebee
Perspectives - Calyx & TeeBee/Calyx/Teebee
Saturate [Zaba Edit] - Mefjus
Dark Rain - Current Value
The End of Me (N.Phect Remix) [Zaba Edit] - Black Sun Empire/n.phect
A Day That Never Comes -  Calyx & TeeBee/Calyx/Teebee
Bad Dis Bad Dat [Zaba Edit] - Arcane
Sound Barrier [Zaba Edit] - René LaVice
Hurting [Zaba Edit] -  Calyx & TeeBee/Calyx/Teebee
Solitude [Zaba Edit] - Ryuichi Sakamoto

Audio/sample footage used from Threads (1984) and various BBC News interviews from 2025. Samples also used from Splice.

The Cold War: A Tribute to Threads (1984) and Fallout (1997) / DnB/Neurofunk/Jungle/Open Format Mix

Something happened in a rancher's field near Roswell New Mexico in the summer of 1947. This is one of the most famous UFO stories of all time, and Lee does a deep dive into the story behind the story...

The Truth Behind Roswell

John le Carre - "Call for the Dead" - Read by Michael Jayston

John le Carre - "Call for the Dead"- Read by Michael Jayston

We follow how deportation policy has evolved, expanding massively in the aftermaths of World War One and World War Two, while shifting its main targets -- from political radicals and dissidents, to organized criminals, to "undesirable" racial and ethnic groups including Asians and Mexicans. We examine the changing laws and judicial rulings that have carved out an exception for deportation, allowing the government nearly unlimited and unchecked power, with no recourse to the protections of the Bill of Rights -- and finally, we consider how the Trump administration's recent failed attempts to deport supporters of the Palestinian cause might lead to a small crack in the wall sealing the deportation process off from the courts and the Constitution.

Image: Cartoon of the Buford or "Red Ark" departing from New York, Evening Star, Dec. 22, 1919

Suggested further reading: Kanstroom, "Deportation Nation"; Drinnon, "Rebel in Paradise: A Biiography of Emma Goldman"; Muzaffar Chishti and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, "Tapping Ancient Wartime and Security Laws," etc., Migration Policy Institute, <https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-registration-alien-enemies-insurrection>

Please sign on as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures, including the most recent on the modern history of the Papacy! -- www.patreon.com/c/user?u=5530632

The History of Deportation in America -- pt. 2: Expelling the Twentieth Century

On this episode, Lee takes a closer look at the classic alien myth of the Roswell crash. Then, Nathan takes a look at another explanation for what happened that day - it's stranger, more disturbing, and even more far-fetched...

Two Roswell Hypotheses

a lost German television MUSIKLADEN broadcast from 1983—forgotten for decades, resurfaces as the ancestor of Noah Kahan's STICK SEASON 
------------------------
'SEASON OF STICKS'
OLGA WERNER
c.1983
MUSIKLADEN / Unaired Episode
------------------------
LYRICS:
You promised I was more than all the miles  
Your signal broke in static halfway through  
Exit lights behind me, future to the right  

Season of sticks — frozen heart  
Season of sticks — chemical shadows  
Tire tracks remain, one pair of shoes  
Half of me gone — that will have to do  

I stacked the light against the black  
Shadows in my bloodstream
Father’s voice intact  
You once said forever 
You never call back  

Season of sticks — frozen heart  
Season of sticks — chemical shadows  
Tire tracks remain, one pair of shoes  
Half of me gone — that will have to do  

Other half was you  
Pain moving through  
Doubt it
Doubt it
Doubt it

Season of sticks 
Frozen heart  
Season of sticks 
Chemical shadows

--------------







STICK SEASON (1983) | NOAH KAHAN'S ANCESTOR | UNAIRED EPISODE | MUSIKLADEN | GERMAN MUSIC TELEVISION

Head of Ops @Croakheads @croakheadsnorth
Narrative mixer and storyteller
Supported Nicky Blackmarket, Kara, Jam Thieves and others.

John le Carré audiobooks, read by Michael Jayston, a.k.a. Peter Guillam.

Founded in 1968, Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Our podcast offerings include:

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SINCERE IMPOSTER writes, performs and/or produces a curious mixture of New Wave, Dance, EDM, Folk Rock, Metal, Art Pop, Electro, Dreamwave & Experimental World Pop. Collectively, it's a genre known as QUIRKPOP --- Music that makes you say, "What the hell is this?"

The band currently consists of two members, both living within the same body, sharing a similar existence. They identify as Danielle & Dave. They are both psychologically and musically confused. However, both are extremely and unapologetically sincere. 

Influences include Weird Al, Nathan Fielder, David Lynch, Rosalia, Monatik, Atarashii Gakko!, Rammstein, T-Pain and T-Swift. Their favorite inventions are the vacuum and the peach pitter. Their father is simply known as Vessel... who may be an entity or a god.



New tracks tagged #cold war