Programmed to Chill

Latest Episodes:

Bonus Episode 28 - Another View of Jonestown pt. 2, the SwedenBorg Collective’s Mendocino Blues, feat. Marcus Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

(Part 2 of 3)

Today I'm joined by Marcus from 'the Return of the Repressed' podcast to discuss Jim Jones and Jonestown. Marcus walks us through Jim Jones's early career, his psychiatric history, Guyanese history and anthropology, the Ukiah era, welfare scams, drug rehabs, several more interesting topics, and my personal favorite: the very curious crossover between Jones's ministry, the Mendocino State Hospital, Emmanuel Swedenborg, and Herb Mullin. Oh, and the first school shooter in the US.

Links:

https://anchor.fm/thereturnoftherepressed

https://www.patreon.com/TheReturnOfTheRepressed/posts

Songs:

Kingdom of Heaven by the 13th Floor Elevators

You Don’t Know by the 13th Floor Elevators

Don’t Fall Down by the 13th Floor Elevators

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Bonus Episode 27 - Another View of Jonestown pt. 1, or, When Group Therapy Goes Wrong, feat. Marcus Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

(Part 1 of 3)

Today I'm joined by Marcus from 'the Return of the Repressed' podcast to discuss Jim Jones and Jonestown. We discuss the 'known unknowns' with regards to Jonestown. Marcus walks us through the many early reactions to Jonestown which seem to nail it on the head, including those near to Representative Leo Ryan. We talk about the 'mystery tape'. Then, we lay the groundwork for understanding Jonestown by delving into the religious background of the Jones church including the Branhamites, the Latter Rain movement, and the curious crossover between these religious groups and cults across the world, especially in Africa.

Links:

https://anchor.fm/thereturnoftherepressed

https://www.patreon.com/TheReturnOfTheRepressed/posts

Songs:

You’re Gonna Miss Me by the 13th Floor Elevators

Tried to Hide by the 13th Floor Elevators

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked: CrackpotoberFest 4: Premium Episode 50, Paranoiac Films 8 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre IV and Surveillance of Blackmail/Murder Rings, feat. Dakota Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

Unlocked from Patreon: Today's the last of the horror movies for CrackpotoberFest 2022 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995) aka Texas Chainsaw Massacre IV. I'm joined by the unrivaled Dakota (@Dakota045143812) to discuss the film. We go through the weird vibes and the increasingly paranoid themes. Then, we cover the existence of comparable blackmail and murder rings that have been exposed in the past.

Links:

https://twitter.com/Dakota045143812

Songs:

Blood in the Streets by the Jasons

Longhaired Redneck by David Allan Coe

I’ve Seen Footage by Death Grips

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked: CrackpotoberFest 3: Premium Episode 49 - Paranoiac Films 7: Halloween 6, Neo-Druidic Murder and the Matamoros Cult, feat. Blauer Oct 21, 2022

Show notes

Unlocked from the Patreon:

Today's the third of four horror movies for CrackpotoberFest 2022 - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) aka Halloween 6. I'm joined by Blauer (@blauer_geist) to discuss the film. Blauer helps me walk us through the plot to Halloween 6, the cult of Thorn, and especially contextualizes the film within the Halloween franchise as a whole. Then, I discuss the Matamoros cult in relation to the film, and hopefully point out some things which go under-discussed when Matamoros comes up.

Links:

https://twitter.com/blauer_geist

https://apocalypse-confidential.com/

Songs:

Halloween Theme

Brujerizmo by Brujeria

el Padrino by Church of Misery

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked: CrackpotoberFest 2: Premium Episode 48 - Paranoiac Films 6: Ghostwatch, or, “Why is everything just two steps removed from Jonestown?" pt. 2, feat. Tanner Boyle Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

Today's the second of four horror movies for CrackpotoberFest 2022 - Ghostwatch (1992), and I'm joined by Fortean expert Tanner Boyle (@TannerFBoyle1) to discuss the film. Tanner walks us through the plot and we discuss the film and its themes, which include spiritualism, baby farming, psychological operations, Jimmy Savile, the Society for Psychical Research, and even, yet again, a Jonestown connection.

Links:

https://twitter.com/TannerFBoyle1

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-fortean-influence-on-science-fiction/

Songs:

Con Clave Con Dio by Ghost

Satan Prayer by Ghost

Ghost Song by the Doors

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked: CrackpotoberFest 1: Premium 47 - Novels as Spycraft 8 / Paranoiac Films 5 - Girl, Interrupted, or, Dr. Strangelove’s Daughter on some MKULTRA Shit Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

Today's the first of four horror (or quasi-horror) films for CrackpotoberFest 2022 - Girl, Interrupted, both the memoir and the film. I discuss Susanna Kaysen and her father, a very interesting figure. I talk about McLean Hospital, Jim Watson, spies at McLean, and Kaysen's later career.

Then, I go over some interesting themes that Girl, Interrupted the film injects into the narrative - some potentially spurious, some maybe not. To wrap up, I discuss the history of MKULTRA projects at McLean and the general area. CrackpotoberFest only gets weirder from here.

Note: I make two mistakes in this episode. I think I conflate bipolar disorder and BPD which is not the fault of the film or memoir, and I also say that one of the characters kills herself to Downtown when it's a different song. My bad.

Songs:

Knockin’ Round the Zoo by James Taylor

White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

Downtown by Petula Clark

Angel Baby by Rosie & the Originals

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

Unlocked: Premium 16 - Novels as Spycraft pt. 5, the Paranoia Fulfilled, with Ira Levin, William Peter Blatty, and David St. John Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Unlocked because I discuss Jeffrey Dahmer in the episode.

Yes, Ira Levin and William Peter Blatty were both spies, but What Does It Mean? I go through the careers of both authors and flag the times they worked for US intelligence, then how perhaps their writing was affected by that fact, and then the reverberations their work has had on society. With Levin, we meet the Ayn Rand circle, Malachi Martin, the weirdness of Rosemary's Baby, the Stepford Wives, the Boys From Brazil, Son of Rosemary, and so on.

With Blatty, we discuss USIA, the Groucho Marx connection, the Ninth Configuration, the Exorcist, Mark David Chapman, the Zodiac, the Exorcist III, Dahmer, and I cite the great pd187 and Christopher Knowles on the Exorcist film. To wrap it up, I discuss the "less well-known" David St. John, who weirdly corresponds with Candy Jones, and how the saga of Tom Dooley III shows that religious psyops are not exactly new. And the songs are pretty great this episode too, lol.

Songs:

Black Sabbath by Coven

Pact with Lucifer by Coven

Wicked Woman by Coven

excerpts from the Exorcist soundtrack

Room 213 by Church of Misery

Bonus Episode 25 - Indigenous History as Parapolitics, or Parapolitics as Indigenous History?, feat. Laihall Jul 29, 2022

Show notes

Today I'm joined by Laihall to discuss Indigenous history as parapolitics, or as Laihall pointed out, parapolitics is indigenous history. We talk about chaos magick, surrealism, and the theft of Indigenous artifacts, Terra Nullius, trading companies as massive corporate operations, and many other topics.

In particular, Laihall links Indigenous oppression to reasons grounded in capitalist expansion, and links this to the dark history of the Residential schools. Along the way, we discuss Indian metal and even talk skinhead oi. Finally, we discuss when Indian workers have led and fought together with other workers, and a potential path forward.

I made a donation to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, and I encourage my listeners who can to do so here:

https://www.irsss.ca/

Songs:

Gyitwaalkt by Gyibaaw

Gisigwilgwelk and Diitk by Gyibaaw

St'at'imc Constitution song

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

49 - Imperial Japan pt. 19 - Japanese National Socialism, and Sōgen Ōmori Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

Today I compare and contrast actual Japanese National Socialism to Japanese ultranationalism by looking at the life and work of Motoyuki Takabatake. Then, I look at the Shōwa Research Association and the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, both of which studied socialism in order to integrate and subvert it. Then I go through Masao Maruyama's framework for fascist development in Japan.

After that, I go through the life of Sōgen Ōmori whose life puts on full display several of the themes I've been tracing throughout the Imperial Japan series. Finally, I conclude with a few interesting facts I learned about Toyama and the Black Dragon Society at the end of my research - things which tie into sexpionage honeypot type operations.

Song:

Song of Shōwa Restoration

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

48 - Imperial Japan pt. 18 - the Prewar JCP pt. 2: the Armed Era and its Immediate Demise Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, I go through the history of Zenkyo as well as the armed resistance era of the JCP, from roughly 1929 to 1930, leading to the arrest of nearly everyone. I discuss the nature of police repression and Nikolai Bukharin's expulsion and purging from the Party and accompanying changes to the Comintern. I explain the rise of Japanese nationalism and the effective end to the prewar JCP. Then, I review several scholars' attempts to write an obituary to the prewar JCP.

Songs:

Dat Stick by Rich Brian

平和を守れ - Defend Peace

Merch:

https://programmed-to-chill.myshopify.com/

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