Ep 69: John Lisle on the OSS and "Dirty Tricks"

School of War · Apr 18, 2023 · 42m

John Lisle, a historian of science and the American intelligence community and author of The Dirty Tricks Department, joins the show to talk about the World War Two-era Office of Strategic Services and its Research and Development Branch.

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Times

• 01:44 Introduction

• 02:10 “Wild Bill” Donovan

• 05:54 Donovan’s style

• 08:53 Stanley Lovell

• 12:35 An unconventional training process

• 16:40 Explosive pancake batter

• 19:24 Limpet mines and Java Man

• 23:33 A meaningful legacy?

• 27:34 Target: Werner Heisenberg

• 31:51 WMDs

• 35:40 Truth Serum

• 39:02 From OSS to CIA

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