Many a man has been impressed by the ingenuity of secret agent operations, and intrigued by the subterfuge, gadgets, and disguises required to pull them off. Much of what we think about when we think about spies got its start as part of the Office of Strategic Services, the American intelligence agency during World War II.
Here to unpack some of the history of the world of cloak and dagger operations is John Lisle, author of The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare. Today on the show, Lisle explains why the OSS was created and the innovations its research and development section came up with to fight the Axis powers. We talk about the most successful weapons and devices this so-called “Dirty Tricks Department” developed, as well as its more off-the-wall ideas, which included releasing bat bombs and radioactive foxes in Japan. We discuss the department’s attempt to create a truth serum, its implementation of a disinformation campaign involving “The League of Lonely War Women,” and its promotion of a no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat fighting system. We also talk about the influence of the OSS on the establishment of the CIA and controversial projects like MKUltra.
Resources Related to the Podcast#606: How to Activate Your Brain's Happy Chemicals
#605: The Money Moves You Should Make Right Now
#604: The Boring Decadence of Modern Society
#603: The Physical Keys to Human Resilience
#602: The Case for Being Unproductive
#601: How to Get Jailhouse Strong
#600: What Board Games Teach Us About Life
Bonus: How the Stages of Grief Explain What You're Feeling During This Pandemic
#599: The Physical Intelligence That Helps You Take Action
#598: Journeying From the First to the Second Half of Life
#597: A Survival Expert's Guide to Bugging-In
#596: The Mystery, Science, and Life-Changing Power of the Hot Hand
#595: Everything You Need to Know About Creating a Home Gym
#594: How Churchill (and London) Survived the Blitz of 1940
#593: All You Have to Do Is Ask
#592: Being a Man in the Lousy Modern World
#591: Solve Problems Before They Become Problems
#590: The Creation of Sherlock Holmes
#589: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage
#588: The Audacious Command of Alexander the Great
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free