Strange Country Ep. 39: Cat Spies
May 3, 2018
Project Acoustic Kitty is not the name of a 1990s band, but a CIA surveillance program involving cats as spies. . . until CIA researchers realized that they were working with cats and cats never do what humans want. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this failed experiment and wonder if hermit crabs would have been the better choice. And if you feel your pet is watching you...it is. For the C.I.A.
Theme music: Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources!
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Eschner, Kat. “The CIA Experimented On Animals in the 1960s Too. Just Ask 'Acoustic Kitty'.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 8 Aug. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cia-experimented-animals-1960s-too-just-ask-acoustic-kitty-180964313/.
King, Bart. The Big Book of Spy Stuff. G. Smith, 2011.
LaFrance, Adrienne. “That Time the CIA Bugged a Cat to Spy on the Soviets.” The Atlantic, 24 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/acoustic-kitty-technological-history-of-american-espionage/396728/.
Scoccia, Tom. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier. . . Illusionist?” Boston Globe, 1 Nov. 2009, archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/11/01/when_the_cia_tried_its_hand_at_magic/.
Soniak, Matt. “The CIA Plan to Use Cats as Spies (and the Taxi That Ruined It).” Mental Floss, 21 May 2011, mentalfloss.com/article/27790/cia-plan-use-cats-spies-and-taxi-ruined-it.
Vanderbilt, Tom. “The CIA's Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren't Even Human.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Oct. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-cias-most-highly-trained-spies-werent-even-human-20149/.
Wallace, Robert, et al. Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, From Communism to Al-Qaeda. Bantam, 2010.
Waxman, Olivia B. “That Time the CIA Tried to Train Cats to Be Spies.” Time, 26 July 2017, time.com/4868642/cia-anniversary-national-security-act-cats/.