A Swiss farm girl inoculated rye with ergot fungus in 1942. Once cultivated, the ergot produced the primary alkaloid compounds needed to synthesize lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. The Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz recruited farmers in the Emmental valley to deliberately infect their crops with ergot beginning in the late 1930s. Ergot was normally seen as a toxin to be destroyed on sight to prevent illness and even psychosis if it was accidentally baked into bread and consumed. But Sandoz had already brought several profitable medicines to market developed from lysergic acid and sought to ramp up their supply of ergot. Before long the Emmental farms were transformed by the new cash crop which they sold only to Sandoz. Intelligence organizations, particularly CIA, saw great potential in LSD. In April 1953, biochemist Dr. Sydney Gottleib was chosen to head a new program at CIA called MKUltra, exploring the use of chemical and biological agents for covert operations. The following month, he sent a man to Switzerland with a briefcase full of cash, intending to buy Sandoz’s entire supply of LSD. Gottlieb set up front companies all over the US and dosed unsuspecting test subjects in order to observe the results. He financed research in dozens of universities, none of whom knew their funding was coming from CIA. And at least 33 people outside the US were covertly dosed without their knowledge, all in an effort to learn how to better control and direct the human psyche. Dr. Frank Olson, a CIA bacteriologist, jumped (or was pushed) out of a high window two days after being dosed with LSD in November 1953, in an incident which is still not fully understood. Meanwhile, LSD and other psychedelics made their way into popular usage and had a radical impact on American culture for years to come. For episode 169 of the Spycraft 101 podcast, I spoke with Norman Ohler, author of Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age. We discussed the impact of LSD on culture, politics, medicine, and intelligence operations worldwide. The episode is available now. #lsd #cia #psychadelic #coldwar #mkultra https://t.co/9uNgQW5cbZ
— Spycraft101 (@spycraft101) October 28, 2026
A Swiss farm girl inoculated rye with ergot fungus in 1942. Once cultivated, the ergot produced the primary alkaloid compounds needed to synthesize lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.
The Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz recruited farmers in the Emmental valley to deliberately infect their crops with ergot beginning in the late 1930s. Ergot was normally seen as a toxin to be destroyed on sight to prevent illness and even psychosis if it was accidentally baked into bread and consumed. But Sandoz had already brought several profitable medicines to market developed from lysergic acid and sought to ramp up their supply of ergot. Before long the Emmental farms were transformed by the new cash crop which they sold only to Sandoz.
Intelligence organizations, particularly CIA, saw great potential in LSD. In April 1953, biochemist Dr. Sydney Gottlieb was chosen to head a new program at CIA called MKUltra, exploring the use of chemical and biological agents for covert operations. The following month, he sent a man to Switzerland with a briefcase full of cash, intending to buy Sandoz’s entire supply of LSD.
Gottlieb set up front companies all over the US and dosed unsuspecting test subjects in order to observe the results. He financed research in dozens of universities, none of whom knew their funding was coming from CIA. And at least 33 people outside the US were covertly dosed without their knowledge, all in an effort to learn how to better control and direct the human psyche. Dr. Frank Olson, a CIA bacteriologist, jumped (or was pushed) out of a high window two days after being dosed with LSD in November 1953, in an incident which is still not fully understood.
Meanwhile, LSD and other psychedelics made their way into popular usage and had a radical impact on American culture for years to come.
For episode 169 of the Spycraft 101 podcast, I spoke with Norman Ohler, author of Tripped: Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age. We discussed the impact of LSD on culture, politics, medicine, and intelligence operations worldwide. The episode is available now.
"#169: MKUltra and the Real Mind-Altering Potential of Psychedelics with Norman Ohler," Spotify, October 14, 2024.
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