Mystery on the Rocks

When MK Ultra was given the greenlight, Sidney Gottlieb enlisted Donald Ewen Cameron (Part IV's hypocritical psychiatrist) and renowned pharmacologist Harris Isbell, director of research at Addiction Research Center.Having already studied the effects of certain drugs, Isbell was clearly the right man for the MK Ultra job. But where his methods also questionable enough to qualify?______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with almost 20 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things, including snooker documentaries, the recent film Nuremberg and what the hell Jonathan Lipnicki is up to these days can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky and Instagram too!

The episode Sooz has been waiting for!For the fifth instalment of our MK Ultra series we sidestep ever so slightly to take a look at the life of prominent Nazi Rudolf Hess and how it intersected with (and maybe even inspired) the CIA's diabolical experiments of the 1950s and 60s.But in addition to these crossovers with our ongoing story, Hess and his life were cuckoo bananas so strap in! And exactly what did he like in his sandwiches?______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with 10 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things, including more of our thoughts on the Greens' sensational win in the Gorton and Denton by-election, can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky and Instagram too!

Part 4 of our MK Ultra series introduces us to Donald Ewen Cameron, a psychiatrist of world renown whom Sidney Gottlieb recruited to MK Ultra. Born in Scotland, Cameron made huge waves in setting up mental health services in Canada before settling in America where he found himself enlisted to psychoanalyse some real bad dudes.However, his ideas to fight the evils of the 20th Century were (at best) misguided and (at worst) insane.So he'd fit right in with MK Ultra...______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with 10 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things plus loads more can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky and Instagram too!

Our trawl through the CIA's appalling MK Ultra project takes in the stories of two men - bacteriologist Frank Olson and professional tennis player Harold Blauer. Both men were born in 1910 and both died in 1953.But how and why?And what are their links to our ongoing story?______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with over 15 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things including the worst meals we have ever cooked for ourselves plus loads more can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky and Instagram too!

This week we chart the shifting from Project Artichoke to MK Ultra following the appointment of Allen Dulles to Director of Central Intelligence and his hiring of Sidney Gottlieb to bring da scienz to Project Artichoke.Alongside these two rotten eggs, we discuss the very tangible link from the Nazis' horrific experiments and what MK Ultra would ultimately be responsible for in two equally rotten eggs - Nazi scientist Kurt Plötner and American intelligence officer Boris Pash...______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with over 15 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things including EVEN MORE about 1990s sci fi police procedural Space Precinct plus loads more can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky and Instagram too!

This week we begin a brand new series looking at something we've been wanting to cover on the show for a long, long time... Project MK Ultra!One of the most heinous operations the CIA ever did... THAT WE KNOW OF, RIGHT GUYS?We lay out a broad overview of what MK Ultra actually was, discuss the nature of conspiracy theories and what the existence of MK Ultra has meant for them going forward plus take a brief look at the project's precursor, Project Artichoke.______An exclusive extended, ad-free version of this episode with over 15 minutes of bonus extra chat about all manner of things including how long it's been since The Lord of the Ring, how Jurassic Park engineers made the prehistoric leaves and unveiling Sooz's new character, Bonnie Poo, plus loads more can be found over at our Patreon!Extended episodes drop over there usually 3-7 days early and with zero ads so if you enjoy Mystery on the Rocks then please consider heading over there to support us, where there is already a huge backlog of exclusive extras such as extended episodes, bonus episodes, minisodes, outtakes, cocktail recipes and more!Hosted by Masud Milas, Chris Stokes, and Sooz Kempner Mystery on the Rocks is a high concept comedy and true crime/unexplained phenomena podcast set in a fictional mystery-solving bar with real cocktails!. The focus of the show is to attempt to crack a real, unsolved mystery from history – true crime and bizarre occurrences, all with a whodunnit or WTF happened question hanging over them. The format's malleable though and occasionally we deep-dive into a One Hit Wonder or play a game we invented called VHGuess...You can follow us on Bluesky, X and Instagram too!