Operation Midnight Climax

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Latest Episodes:

How We Show Up for Each Other | Jenna Dewan & Emmanuelle Chriqui Jul 24, 2026

They met backstage at an NSYNC concert twenty-five years ago and stayed up until 5am laughing. They’ve been showing up for each other ever since.

In this live conversation from the Waking Up with Ryan launch in Venice, actresses Jenna Dewan and Emmanuelle Chriqui get honest about what it actually takes to keep a friendship alive for a quarter century, especially two women in the same industry, often up for the same roles.

They talk about the “ugly stuff” nobody admits to: the early envy and competitiveness, and how they learned to turn it into admiration. They talk about protecting their bond when outside forces tried to drive a wedge between them. And they go somewhere deeper, into what it means to show up for someone in real pain: not rushing to fix it, but knowing where the hurt lives in the other person and loving them there.

Jenna opens up about the guilt of juggling a career, a partner, and three kids. Emmanuelle shares what it meant to have Jenna show up with real presence through some of the hardest personal and family moments of her life. This one is about friendship. The kind that carries you.

New episodes of Waking Up with Ryan every weekday morning, with longer conversations like this one every other week.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

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Spies and Dolls [from Very Special Episodes] Jul 22, 2026

Velvalee Dickinson ran a doll shop on Madison Avenue that catered to wealthy collectors. But in one of the strangest espionage cases of World War II, Dickinson's clients had no idea she was using correspondence about doll orders to transmit coded U.S. military intelligence to the Japanese.

We're hard at work on our next season of new VSEs. If you've already heard this one, email us — veryspecialepisodes@gmail.com — and we'll recommend something else you can listen to this week!

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Joe Pompeo
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington and Josh Fisher
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Research and Fact-Checking by Joe Pompeo and Austin Thompson
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

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American History Hotline: Why Were There So Many Serial Killers in 1970s America? Dec 06, 2025

Was it the rise of hitchhiking? Lead in the water pipes? Or was it something a little darker in our culture? Bob rings up private investigator and host of the podcast Hell & Gone: Murder Line — Catherine Townsend — to learn why there were so many serial killers in America during the 1970s.

From Ted Bundy to the Night Stalker and John Wayne Gacy, we dive into the “golden age” of serial killers to see how difficult it was to catch predators in a world before DNA testing, cell phones, and surveillance cameras. But that also begs the question: Are there fewer serial killers today? Listen, and find out!

GUEST: Catherine Townsend, host of Hell and Gone: Murder Line and Red Collar

Listen to Bob Crawford's American History Hotline wherever you get your podcasts.

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Very Special Episodes: Live From New York, It's Your Grandmother Feb 14, 2025

During its first 50 seasons, Saturday Night Live has welcomed legendary actors, superstar athletes, and notable politicians. But for one memorable night in 1977, Lorne Michaels turned the show over to an 80-year-old amateur.

On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Search 'Very Special Episodes' on your favorite podcast platform.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Produced by Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Mixing and Mastering by Chris Childs
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to Connie Crawford for sharing her story. And thanks to the great Bill Carter for stopping by! You can read more of his work at LateNighter, or check out his many classic books.

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The Climax May 12, 2021

Sidney Gottlieb thought he’d erased all traces of Operation Midnight Climax and MK-ULTRA from the government’s collective memory. While the world will never know the full extent of the CIA’s experimentation with LSD, an unlikely source revealed many of the victims. These breakthroughs came courtesy of George White, who testified from beyond the grave.

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Tripping May 05, 2021

As the walls closed in on Operation Midnight Climax, George White took lessons he’d learned from a world-class magician to explore the last uncharted frontier of the psychonaut — the general public. It’s how White would make San Francisco’s sanity disappear.

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A Waste of Sin Apr 28, 2021

After Frank Olson’s death in New York, George White had to move his whole operation to San Francisco. And the CIA added a twist: while they’d been occupied with using LSD as a mind-control drug, now they wanted him to weaponize sex.

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The Window Apr 21, 2021

For 70 years, people have debated what happened to Frank Olson at the Hotel Statler. Did the CIA’s grand experiment with LSD lead to the sanctioned execution of a government employee? For George White, Frank Olson’s death would change everything.

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Smoking Out Castro Apr 14, 2021

Today we wanted to share a bonus mini-episode. Here’s how George White’s LSD adventures tied in with the CIA’s increasingly bizarre attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. We’ll be back with a new installment next Wednesday.

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Uncharter Waters Apr 07, 2021

As the CIA’s LSD experiments went increasingly rogue, an aspiring actress realized what George White had done to her. But unlike others who’d complained, she reported White by name to the New York Police Department.

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The Pad Mar 31, 2021

To immerse himself in his CIA role, George White needed a new identity. In Greenwich Village, he set up a safehouse and became Morgan Hall, a struggling artist. But it wasn’t long before the wrong kind of people started showing up at his door — including the FBI

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Brainwash Mar 24, 2021

If George White could manipulate the mafia with an old-fashioned wartime truth serum, what could he do with something more potent? What secrets could he uncover with the full support of the CIA and a supply of LSD? The world was about to find out.

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Mayhem and Murder Mar 17, 2021

In the 1950s, the CIA conducted highly controversial research on mind-altering drugs to prepare for brain warfare with global superpowers. But after a checkered past, George White’s off-the-books Operation Midnight Climax took whatever flimsy rulebook the CIA had and threw it out the window.

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