Operation Midnight Climax

4.4 (265)
HISTORY
BIWEEKLY SERIES

George White ran the CIA brothel. He watched from a hidden room while men were dosed with LSD — and he convinced himself the fate of the nation depended on it.

EPISODE 1

Mayhem and Murder

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 min
EPISODE 2

Brainwash

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

36 min
EPISODE 3

The Pad

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 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

34 min
EPISODE 4

Uncharter Waters

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

36 min
EPISODE 5

The Window

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

39 min
EPISODE 6

A Waste of Sin

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

32 min
EPISODE 7

Tripping

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

33 min
05/12/2021

The Climax

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

43 min
BONUS

Smoking Out Castro

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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 min

See All Season 1 (9)

TRAILER

Introducing: Operation Midnight Climax

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

03/10/2021

•

1 min

Noel Brown

Host

4.4

out of 5

265 Ratings

Good but…

01/14/2023

dragonlover252525

I’m only on episode 3, so I might be a bit bias, ands it’s a great podcast, but there’s SO many ads… like probably over 7 minutes of ads per episode. Seems like a bit much. I might update this later once I’ve listened to more.
Over ADVERTISING

01/21/2023

SillyName3

We enjoy putting a podcast on, lying down, relax, close our eyes… The ADS are off putting. The storytelling never realized because the 8 minute blasts 💥 of ADs being an unsettling distraction over and over? Turn off, delete podcast. Another awaits discovery …
Why is this podcast listed under midnight climax????

11/12/2022

bekalorren

I just left this dumb stealing Superman podcast one star, then I realized that it gave MIDNIGHT CLIMAX one star! Wth!? Midnight climax was a solid 5 star podcast. Why is this Superman podcast piggy backing off of MC?☹️
Mind control

08/21/2021

Tfmj

Check out the Tiffany Jenks murder. MKultra style girl who was talking and then taken out... she told me they wanted to remove her... follow this story Tiffany Jenks was killed October 8th 2013 and when she told me she will be killed and was the Police lied and covered up her murder. She was a MKultra style Mind Control victim

George White ran the CIA brothel. He watched from a hidden room while men were dosed with LSD — and he convinced himself the fate of the nation depended on it.

Channel

iHeartPodcasts
Creator

iHeartPodcasts
Episodes

10
Seasons

1
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
Show Website

Operation Midnight Climax
Provider

iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc