#  Psychedelics and the Specter of Mind Control 

 



    ![A red hand with yellow string wrapped around the fingers on a blue background](/sites/g/files/omnuum4936/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2026-03/MHCH_Psych_Mind__1920x1080.jpg?h=ecfc9cfa&itok=qqQ1faic) 

 



 

####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **April 6, 2026** 

 06:00PM - 07:30PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Sever Hall, Room 113**  



 

 



 

### [Psychedelics in Society and Culture](/psychedelics-society-and-culture)

### About the Event

*Is mind control possible?* The CIA certainly thought so. And sought to prove it by experimenting with a shocking array of psychedelic drugs to create the perfect assassin. Did they succeed? Can LSD really be used as a weapon? Where does the hippie cultist Charles Manson fit into all of this? Come and explore the facts and fictions of psychedelic brainwashing from historical lessons to present-day dilemmas. This evening of discussion will feature Benjamin Breen, J. Christian Greer, Rebecca Lemov, and Tom O'Neill.

### About the Speakers

[Benjamin Breen](https://benjaminpbreen.com/) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz specializing in the history of science, medicine, globalization, and the impacts of technological change. His most recent book, [*Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science*](https://benjaminpbreen.com/books/tripping/) (Grand Central, 2024), is a revisionist history of the first era of psychedelic science. It was named one of the best books of the year by the *New Yorker* and the *Chronicle of Higher Education* and won the PROSE award from the Association of American Publishers for best book in the history of science, technology and medicine.

[J. Christian Greer](https://profiles.stanford.edu/305651) is a Lecturer in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and an affiliate professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. A scholar of religious studies with a special focus on global psychedelic history, he holds an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School as well as an MA and PhD in Western Esotericism from the University of Amsterdam. Each June, he leads “The Psychedelic Universe: Global Perspectives on Higher Consciousness,” an intensive seminar on the history of psychedelics, hosted on-location at the University of Amsterdam. His forthcoming book, *Crimes Against Normality: Psychedelic Militancy in the Fanzine Revolution* (Oxford University Press), explores the expansion and diversification of psychedelic networks in the underground cultures of the 1980s.

[Rebecca Lemov](https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/rebecca-lemov) is Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her research focuses on key episodes in mapping the human psyche and the scientific dream of behavioral engineering. Her recent book, [*The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyperpersuasion*](https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324075264), uncovers the history of brainwashing—and its troubling implications for today. Currently a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, she is writing and illustrating a book about psychedelics research and what it reveals about the potential for brain and behavior change--both positive and negative.

[Tom O’Neill](https://tom-oneill.org/) is an award-winning investigative journalist and entertainment reporter whose work has appeared in national publications such as *Us*, *Premiere*, *New York*, the *Village Voice* and *Details*. His book, [*Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties*](https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Charles-Manson-History-Sixties/dp/0316477559), was published by Little, Brown in 2019.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Psychedelics in Society and Culture ](/event-series/psychedelics-society-and-culture)
- [ Public ](/event-type/public)
 
 

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