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Tripped

Nazi Germany, the CIA, and the Dawn of the Psychedelic Age

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Tripped

By: Norman Ohler
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
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About this listen

Berlin, 1945. Following the fall of the Third Reich, drug use — long kept under control by the Nazis' strict anti-drug laws — is rampant throughout the city. In the American sector, Arthur J. Giuliani of the nascent Federal Bureau of Narcotics is tasked with learning about the Nazis' drug policies and bringing home anything that might prove 'useful'.

Five years later, Harvard professor Dr Henry Beecher begins work with the US government to uncover the research behind the Nazis' psychedelics programme. Originally created for medical purposes by Dr Albert Hofmann, the Nazis coopted LSD to experiment with mind control and find a 'truth serum' - research that the US, particularly the CIA, is desperate to acquire.

Based on extensive archival research, Tripped is a wild, unconventional post-war history, a spiritual sequel to Norman Ohler's bestselling Blitzed. Revealing the hidden connections between the Nazis and the CIA's notorious brainwashing experimentation program, MKUltra, Ohler shares how this secret history held back the therapeutic research of psychedelic drugs for decades as the West sought to turn LSD into a weapon.

©2024 Norman Ohler (P)2024 W.F.Howes Ltd 20th Century Americas Freedom & Security Modern Politics & Government United States Espionage War
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This book investigates the origins of some psychedelics and especially Albert Hofmann’s problem child, LSD. The unjust US ban is revealed to be much more complicated than youths not wanting to murder Vietnamese people after taking it. It’s a terrible inditement of American racism and prejudice. It fleshes out the abuse of Americans by the CIA and makes a fascinating listen. It’s not comprehensive, but multiple volumes would be needed to review every psychedelic and I suspect LSD has the most interesting story.

Complicated

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was looking forward to this. managed only 50mins. the narrating is terrible, the accent changes are cringe. hopefully someone else will just read it, as its not a novel and doesn't need that much emotion.
shame i can't get a refund.

most interesting book ruined by narrator

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the narrator was very difficult to listen to and the accents they did were terrible making it very difficult to be engaged with the incredible research done by Norman

the research gone into the story

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my son put me on to this so glad i gave it time so interesting

fantastic listen and loads of information great narrating

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This is a fascinating history of one of the weirdest substances known to man. Going beyond the famous LSD bicycle ride of Albert Hoffman in 1943, the book goes into the context surrounding Hoffman’s discovery, as revealed in Hoffman’s lab notes and the letters from Hoffman’s boss Artur Stoll, to high ranking Nazis, looking to weaponise LSD as a “truth serum” (a project continued by the CIA after the War as the infamous Project MK-Ultra). The book goes on to cover the involvement of Leary, Huxley, Wasson etc., the discovery of Psilocybin and the politics of the 50 year ban.

I really enjoyed the book, including the narration.

Most touchingly, the book ends with interviews with researchers showing evidence of LSD microdosing for alleviating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and the gradual reversal of the author’s mother’s Alzheimer’s through microdosing LSD.

Brilliantly Researched History of LSD

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