Episode 1: Operation Midnight Climax episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 18, 2026 · 13 MIN

Episode 1: Operation Midnight Climax

from The Periphery: Dark History, Hidden Cults & the Edges of the Human Mind · host Mila

Episode 1: The CIA Ran a Brothel in San Francisco, Dosed Strangers With LSD, and Called It National Security | Operation Midnight ClimaxIn 1955 the CIA rented an apartment in San Francisco, hired sex workers to lure unsuspecting men back to it, secretly dosed them with LSD and other psychoactive substances, and watched through a two-way mirror while agents took notes and drank martinis. They called it national security research. The agent running the program later wrote that it was "fun, fun, fun." Not a single person was ever held accountable.Operation Midnight Climax was a subproject of the CIA's MKUltra program — a twenty-year illegal human experimentation program that tested mind control, behavioral modification, and psychological torture on unwitting American citizens. In this episode we trace the full story: the Cold War paranoia that started it, the men who ran it, what happened in those apartments, and how the CIA destroyed the evidence before Congress could investigate.Every detail in this episode comes from declassified government documents and US Senate testimony. The sources are linked below — read them yourself.This is not conspiracy theory. This is the official record.SOURCES:CIA FOIA Reading Room — cia.gov/readingroom (search: MKUltra) Senate Church Committee Hearings, 1975 — available via senate.gov archives "Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control" by Stephen Kinzer, 2019 "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate" by John Marks, 1979 Operation Midnight Climax — Wikipedia (with citations to primary sources) MKUltra — Wikipedia (with citations to primary sources) History Channel — "The CIA's Appalling Human Experiments With Mind Control" Snopes — "Yes, the CIA Ran a Brothel in San Francisco and Tested LSD on Unsuspecting Patrons"CONNECT WITH THE PERIPHERY:Subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@periphery_podcastFollow on Instagram: instagram.com/periphery_podcastFollow on TikTok: tiktok.com/@periphery_podcastNew episodes every Friday.#MKUltra #CIA #OperationMidnightClimax #GovernmentConspiracy #DarkHistory #Declassified #TrueCrime #Conspiracy #ParanormalHistory #ColdWar #LSD #MindControl #Podcast #ThePeriphery #HistoryPodcast #ConspiracyPodcast #CIASecrets #HiddenHistory #GovernmentSecrets #Paranormal

Episode 1: The CIA Ran a Brothel in San Francisco, Dosed Strangers With LSD, and Called It National Security | Operation Midnight Climax In 1955 the CIA rented an apartment in San Francisco, hired sex workers to lure unsuspecting men back to it, secretly dosed them with LSD and other psychoactive substances, and watched through a two-way mirror while agents took notes and drank martinis. They called it national security research. The agent running the program later wrote that it was "fun, fun...

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Episode 1: Operation Midnight Climax

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This episode was published on April 18, 2026.

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Episode 1: The CIA Ran a Brothel in San Francisco, Dosed Strangers With LSD, and Called It National Security | Operation Midnight ClimaxIn 1955 the CIA rented an apartment in San Francisco, hired sex workers to lure unsuspecting men back to it,...

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