The speaker reflects on the trust people place in intelligence agencies, questioning the expertise they offer in news reporting. They ponder whether the value comes from insider knowledge or simply from the allure of having supposed experts on air. The speaker suggests that expert testimony adds credibility to news reporting, likening it to the endorsement of a product by dentists in a toothpaste commercial. The discussion highlights the fascination with expert opinions in news coverage and the potential influence of intelligence agencies in shaping public perception.
We discuss the broad course of 20th century scientific inquiry into the ability to control the Mind of Man, and how initial projects aimed at creating secret super assassins trickled down to manipulating people into buying running shoes and bad pop albums.