Endless Thread Presents: 'Madness'

A special series from Endless Thread, "Madness," is a five-part National Murrow award-winning series created in partnership with Reddit. "Madness" unravels the shocking story of forced brainwashing and the murky history of CIA-funded mind-control experiments. Co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, along with producer Josh Crane, examine how the trust we place in doctors and medical institutions, combined with a stigma around mental illness, can silence the truth — and ultimately, accountability for disturbing outcomes.

Madness by Endless Thread — Art by Mary Banas

Psychiatrist Dr. D. Ewen Cameron led the Allan Memorial Institute, a psychiatric hospital in Montreal, in the 1950s and 60s. Cameron was at the top of his field at the time, leading both the American Psychiatric Association and the World Psychiatric Association. Little did the families whose loved ones were sent to Allan Memorial know that Cameron's patients would be subject to grueling experimentation involving long periods of induced sleep and heavy use of electroshock therapy and psychedelic drugs.

Meanwhile, in America, the CIA was conducting its own brainwashing experiments on unwitting human guinea pigs. It was later uncovered that Dr. Cameron's work in Montreal was being partially funded by the CIA. In 2020, 50 years later, the families of Dr. Cameron's victims are finding each other, organizing, and bringing lawsuits against the Canadian and American governments.

Co-hosts Johnson and Sivertson interview families, legal experts, and historians about the dark history of government-supported brainwashing experimentation and the consequences it continues to have in society. Discussions around MK-ULTRA on Reddit, including in the r/askhistorians community, inspired the series' theme.