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We have a lot to say about this one. If you haven't already, make sure to listen to the full Operation Ajax pod so you can listen along! And this our last episode for the season! We'll be back in 2027!

For our last podcast episode of the season (we'll be back in 2027) we wanted to talk about the first CIA sponsored coup, the success of which caused several other coups: Operation Ajax. It was the last coup for Great Britain and the first coup for the US. Thank you all for a fun first season! We can't wait to show you what we have in store for the next one! Sources: Abrahamian, Ervand. “The 1953 Coup in Iran.” Science & Society 65, no. 2 (2001): 182–215.http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/40403895. “Aug. 19, 1953: Operation Ajax - Priya Satia.” Aug. 19, 1953: Operation Ajax - Priya Satia | Department of History, June 25, 2020.https://history.stanford.edu/news/aug-19-1953-operation-ajax-priya-satia. Israeli, Ofer. 2013. “The Circuitous Nature of Operation Ajax.” Middle Eastern Studies 49 (2): 246–62. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.759108. BALAGHI, SHIVA. “SILENCED HISTORIES AND SANITIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: THE 1953 CIA COUP IN IRAN.” Biography 36, no. 1 (2013): 71–96. http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/23541162.

Oh jeez. In this AtP episode we go on tangents, discuss disease, shipping lanes, Jimmy Carter, & racism. What more could you ask for?

Sea travel is underrated. That's why today we discuss one of the most bold undertakings in order to expedite boat travel. We'll take a look under the hood and see why it was such a problem for so many years. Creating the canal | american experience | official site | PBS. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/panama-canal-creating-canal/. Early plans - autoridad del canal de panamá. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://pancanal.com/en/early-plans/. Ferdinand, viscount de lesseps | French diplomat & suez canal builder | britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-vicomte-de-Lesseps. Milestones in the history of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the historian. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal. Panama Canal - construction, US intervention, trade | Britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Panama-Canal/American-intervention. The Panama Canal - Short History of... Accessed July 8, 2026. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ISxoFHimn1jyb8GcphldB. Panama Canal Treaties, Jimmy Carter, teaching U.S. ... Accessed July 8, 2026. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/e-lessons/the-panama-canal-treaties-jimmy-carter/. Panama Canal: History, Impact & Canal Zone | History. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/panama-canal. Panama declares independence from Colombia | history | research starters | ebsco research. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/panama-declares-independence-colombia. Panama declares independence from Colombia | November 3, 1903 | history. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-3/panama-declares-independence. Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla | French engineer, Panama Canal negotiator | Britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philippe-Jean-Bunau-Varilla. Visit the Panama Canal. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.tourismpanama.com/places-to-visit/panama-city/things-to-do/historical-sites/panama-canal/.

Today we talk about our thoughts and opinion on all of the wild things that happened in the multiple waves of the Black Death

Today we talk about the many waves of the Black Death and all of the crazy ideas about it that came from these medieval people.Sources“Bubonic Plague: The First Pandemic | Science Museum.” The Science Museum. Accessed 2026. https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/bubonic-plague-first-pandemic.“The Great Plague 1665 - The Black Death.” Historic UK. Accessed 2026. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Plague/.“Historical Plague Doctors — Newcastle Castle.” Newcastle Castle. Accessed 2026. https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/castle-blog/historical-plague-doctors.“Introduction - San Francisco Plague (1900-1904): Topics in Chronicling America - Research Guides at Library of Congress.” Library of Congress. Accessed 2026. https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-san-francisco-plague.“When Pope Gregory IX Declared a War on Cats - Historycolored.” History Colored. Accessed 2026. https://historycolored.com/articles/7385/when-pope-gregory-ix-declared-a-war-on-cats/.Ziegler, Philip. The Black Death. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2009.

We're back to talk about the crazy, insane Aaron Burr Conspiracy. Someone should have talked less, smiled more...

Ever wonder what happens after the musical Hamilton? What about our favorite character Aaron Burr? What happens to him! Well, today we talk about that. Aaron Burr conspired to overthrow the western part of the United States and become king. His legacy is being the center of the first trial for treason in the new country. Someone threw away his shot. Sources: “The Burr Conspiracy.” PBS. Accessed March 26, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-burr-conspiracy/.  “Aaron Burr.” Historical Society of the New York Courts, January 25, 2019. https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/aaron-burr/.  “The Burr Conspiracy.” National Counterintelligence Center . Accessed March 26, 2026. https://irp.fas.org/ops/ci/docs/ci1/ch1d.htm.  Shafroth, Morrison. “THE AARON BURR CONSPIRACY.” American Bar Association Journal 18, no. 10 (1932): 669–73. http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/25709909. Hobson, Charles  F. “The Aaron Burr Treason Trial .” Federal Judicial Center. Accessed April 12, 2026. https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/trials/burrtrial.pdf.  “Chapter XI: Trial of Aaron Burr for High Treason (1806-1807) | Virginia Museum of History & Culture.” Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Accessed April 12, 2026. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/american-statesman-john-marshall/chapter-xi-trial-aaron-burr-high-treason-1806-1807.

Today we talk more about how crazy ideas the US and UK had during the World War 2 and the Cold War as well as our favorite of the dumb ideas

Today we dive into some of the many crazy ideas that the US and UK had for helping the fight in WW2 and the Cold WarSources: Bender, Jeremy. “During the Cold War, the UK Designed Nuclear Land Mines That Were Reliant on Chickens.” Business Insider, November 13, 2016. https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-developed-chicken-warmed-nuclear-landmines-2016-11.  Eschner, Kat. “The CIA Experimented on Animals in the 1960s Too. Just Ask ‘Acoustic Kitty.’” Smithsonian.com, August 8, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cia-experimented-animals-1960s-too-just-ask-acoustic-kitty-180964313/.  Hawking, Tom. The CIA once trained cats to be Cold War Spies, March 13, 2026. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/2026-03/2026-03-13_popsci.com-the_cia_once_trained_cats_to_be_cold_war_spies.pdf. Kalb, Marvin. “Dateline Moscow: The Cuban Missile Crisis Reporting from the Soviet Capital about Seven Days That Changed the World.” ReVista, February 27, 2026. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/dateline-moscow-the-cuban-missile-crisis-reporting-from-the-soviet-capital-about-seven-days-that-changed-the-world/.  Martin, Keith. “The Saga of the Bird-Brained Bombers.” NIST, March 4, 2025. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/saga-bird-brained-bombers.  Nakamura, Pedro. “Project Iceworm: A Cold War Plan to Hide Nukes under Ice Explains Greenland’s Distrust of Trump.” Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2026. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-02-06/project-iceworm-u-s-cold-war-plan-to-hide-nukes-in-greenland.  “New View of the ‘City under the Ice’ - NASA Science.” NASA, February 10, 2026. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/new-view-of-the-city-under-the-ice-153616/.  “Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, History of Strategic Air Command 1 July 1975-31 December 1976, Historical Study No. 161, Volume I, 15 July 1976, Top Secret, Excised Copy, Excerpt.” National Security Archive. Accessed 2026. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/20805-27.  Stromberg, Joseph. “B.F. Skinner’s Pigeon-Guided Rocket.” Smithsonian.com, August 18, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/bf-skinners-pigeon-guided-rocket-53443995/.

We all unpack what we just learned last week because....it's a lot. Sources for this episode are the same as the previous week.

Today we dive into one of the CIA's most notorious mild control operations: MK Ultra. Why did it start? Why did it end? How did it inspire Greatful Dead lyrics? Listen in to find out! Sources: “The CIA’s Appalling Human Experiments with Mind Control Channel.” History.com. Accessed March 23, 2026. https://www.history.com/mkultra-operation-midnight-climax-cia-lsd-experiments.  Gross, Terry. “The CIA’s Secret Quest for Mind Control: Torture, LSD and a ‘Poisoner in Chief.’” NPR, September 9, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758989641/the-cias-secret-quest-for-mind-control-torture-lsd-and-a-poisoner-in-chief.  “Sidney Gottlieb: The Infamous Gentle-Hearted Torturer.” Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter, October 27, 2023. https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/sidney-gottlieb-infamous-gentle-hearted-torturer.  National Security Archive. CIA and the Behavioral Sciences : Mind Control, Drug Experiments and MKULTRA. Ann Arbor: Proquest Information and Learning Co., 2025.Fisher, Brad L. “Secret Programs under the CIA Act of 1949.” In Hidden Cost of Freedom: The Untold Story of the CIA’s Secret Funding System, 1941-1962. University Press of Kansas, 2024. https://doi-org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/10.2307/jj.13840493.22.

Should Mother Teresa have been canonized? Will Jason learn how to edit these episodes? How bad was Mother Teresa really? All that and more in this spectacular After the Pod!

A saint? A sinner? Join us as we discuss the life and legacy of Saint Mother Teresa. 5 times doctors questioned Mother Teresa’s approach to care | by the mars girl | exploring history | medium. Accessed April 28, 2026. https://medium.com/exploring-history/5-times-doctors-questioned-mother-teresas-approach-to-care-7283a4b12da5. About. Accessed April 28, 2026. https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/PadmaAwards/AboutAwards. Books in brief: Nonfiction (published 1996). Accessed April 28, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/14/books/books-in-brief-nonfiction-068195.html. Carter, Joe, Joe Carter is a senior writer for The Gospel Coalition, Staff, Carl Jan Christian Roth, Greg Lanier, Taylor Combs, Sean DeMars, et al. “9 Things You Should Know about Mother Teresa.” The Gospel Coalition, October 31, 2017. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-mother-teresa/. A critic’s Lonely Quest: Revealing the whole truth about mother Teresa (published 2016). Accessed April 28, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/world/asia/mother-teresa-critic.html. “Homes for the Abandoned.” Missionaries of Charity. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://missionariesofcharity.org/what-we-do/homes-for-the-abandoned/. “Icon of the Poor Leaves Legacy of Controversy.” The Irish Times. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/icon-of-the-poor-leaves-legacy-of-controversy-1.105892. Kapur, Mallika, and Sugam Pokharel. “Was Mother Teresa Really Saintly?” CNN, September 4, 2016. https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/asia/mother-teresa-controversies. “Libguides: Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Life.” Life - Mother Teresa of Calcutta - LibGuides at Rockhurst University. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://libguides.rockhurst.edu/motherteresa/life. “Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Biography.” Vatican. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_madre-teresa_en.html. “Mother Teresa Quotes (Author of No Greater Love).” Goodreads. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/838305.Mother_Teresa. “Mother Teresa.” History.com, February 27, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/mother-theresa. “Mother Teresa.” Mother Teresa Center. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.motherteresa.org/mother-teresa. “Mother Teresa.” Wikipedia, April 18, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Controversies. “Mother Teresa’s Canonization: Controversy Mars Nun’s Work.” NBCNews.com, September 4, 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mother-teresa-s-canonization-controversy-clouds-nun-s-work-n641181. “Nobel Peace Prize 1979.” NobelPrize.org. Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/biographical/. “Profession of Vows.” Handmaids of the Precious Blood, February 23, 2024. https://nunsforpriests.org/handmaid-vocations/profession-of-vows/. “The Ramon Magsaysay Award: Asia’s Premier Leadership Award.” Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Philippines, February 26, 2026. https://rmaward.asia/. Remembering Mother Teresa and the controversies around her | by D e e d t r i d e n T | medium. Accessed April 28, 2026. https://medium.com/@deedtrident/mother-teresa-and-the-controversies-around-her-1647a3621f71. “Timeline: 1982 Siege of Beirut.” NPR, August 28, 2007. https://www.npr.org/2007/08/28/12744311/timeline-1982-siege-of-beirut. Ullmann, Rachel. “Learn about St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta!” The GIVEN Institute, September 27, 2024. https://giveninstitute.com/st-mother-teresa-of-calcutta/. “Why Mother Teresa Wasn’t as Saintly as You’d Think.” The Independent, September 4, 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mother-teresa-wasn-t-a-saintly-person-she-was-a-shrewd-operator-with-unpalatable-views-who-knew-how-to-build-up-a-brand-a7224846.html.

Today we talk about our thoughts on the last episode and there are many things to talk about from comparisons to modern day as well as thoughts on communismSources: “Joseph McCarthy’s Downfall Was Accusing the Army of Communism.” YouTube. Accessed 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14CTeElwq-A. “Murray State’s Digital Commons Murray State’s Digital Commons.” American Bolsheviki: The First Red Scare in the United States, 1917 to 1920. Accessed 2025. https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=etd.Giblin, James Cross. The rise and fall of senator Joe McCarthy. Boston, Mass, Godalming: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ; Melia distributor, 2010.“Bleecker Street.” Hollywood Ten . Accessed 2025. https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/editorial/hollywood-ten.