Tag Archives: CBS

Porkins Policy Radio episode 71 Boulder’s Dark Secret: Stephen and Joyce Singular on JonBenet Ramsey

In the first hour we are joined by Stephen Singular and his wife and writing partner Joyce for a follow up episode on the JonBenet Ramsey case. Joyce kick-starts our conversation by giving us her perspective on the case and her involvement in it. Next we move onto the overlooked incident involving a high level city official who was caught with explicit pornography (possible child related) in his desk at work. Stephen and Joyce explain how this relates to the larger issues at play in Boulder: prominent and influential people involved in an underground scene that were never looked at by the police. They explain how this is par for the course when it came to investigating these aspects of the case. I also ask Joyce and Stephen about the possibility that JonBenet’s murder may have been related to blackmail against John Ramsey. Joyce also elaborates on the strange poems that a handful of people (including themselves) received that explicitly named people involved in the murder and child pornography world in Boulder. Later on Stephen and Joyce answer some listener questions about the case. We also explore the larger question of why this case has fallen the way side in recent years. Stephen and Joyce both give their perspectives as to why people no longer want to investigate this case, but also the current developments that are ongoing.

In the second hour I update the listeners on the most recent development in the JonBenet case regarding Burke Ramsey’s lawsuit against CBS and Dr. Werner Spitz. Then I move on to the conspiracy culture and the latest attempt at mainstreaming the movement. I talk about the History Channel show Hunting Hitler and the possibility that it is an experiment and operation designed to influence the movement. I talk about the show’s main host, former CIA agent Bob Baer, and the involvement of the Pentagon in the show. I explore the idea that both the CIA and DOD may be trying to influence the way the alt-media/conspiracy culture conducts research and present themselves to the world at large. I also talk about the pitfalls that this presents to us moving forward and being taken seriously.

Download PPR episode 71

Show Notes:

Porkins Policy Radio episode 68 Presumed Guilty: Stephen Singular on JonBenet Ramsey Murder

StephenSingular.com

Presumed Guilty: An investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey case, the media, and the culture of pornography

Shadow on the Mountain: Nancy Pfister, Dr William Stlyer, and the Murder of Aspen’s Golden Girl

Hunting Hitler

The CIA and Hollywood episode 10 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Aaron Franz joins us to discuss the 2002 biopic Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which tells the story of game show producer and host Chuck Barris. Barris claims that while becoming a TV star he was recruited by and worked for the CIA as an assassin, killing a total of 33 people. In this episode we analyse this claim, which has been dismissed by the Agency as a ludicrous fantasy. We examine Barris’ true life history, focusing in on his marriage to Lyn Levy – the daughter of one of the founders of CBS – and his incredibly selfish relationship with their daughter Della. None of this appears in the film so taking this into account we consider whether Barris was a CIA assassin, a psychopathic fabricator or an emotionally warped narcissist (or all of these things rolled into one). If Barris truly was a CIA agent then what was his job? Was he an assassin, or did they employ him to ‘slay the audience’ by developing the prototypes for reality TV?

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is also notable for being George Clooney’s directorial debut, and a production that languished in development hell for years before he became involved and began pulling strings to ensure the film got made. We consider whether the movie was one of Clooney’s attempts to gain the attention and approval of the CIA, and whether he too thought that Barris’ TV career was the real mission for the Agency. We examine Clooney’s self-appointed role as Chuck’s ‘defence lawyer’, his obsession with goats and why he employed theatrical visual tricks throughout the production. We round off comparing Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to The Recruit, as both films show The Farm (the CIA’s semi-secret agent training facility) and portray the protagonist being inducted and initiated into that covert world.

Download The CIA and Hollywood ep 10
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Show Notes:

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (film)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (book)

The Real Chuck Barris

Chuck Barris: Is is True?

Broadcast Pioneers: Leon Levy

William Paley Obituary

Della Barris

Lynne Levy Equestrians

Chuck Barris ‘My Life on the Edge’

The Drexel Interview: Chuck Barris

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The CIA and Hollywood episode 9 Good Night and Good Luck

We welcome Ed Opperman to the series and discuss the 2005 docudrama Good Night, and Good Luck which retells the story of the 1954 confrontation between senator Joe McCarthy and television journalist Ed Murrow of CBS. McCarthy was pursuing Communists within the State Department and other government agencies and innocent people were getting caught in the crossfire, creating a climate of suspicion, mistrust and hostility. Murrow used his prime time series See It Now to attack McCarthy and the culture and mentality of McCarthyism, showing the senator to be a hypocrite who persecuted his targets.

This is the story that is told in Good Night, and Good Luck, a film born out of the creative relationship between George Clooney and Grant Heslov. In this episode we take a sideways look at the historical events and ask why Clooney and Heslov chose to lionise not just Murrow but the whole See it Now/CBS crew. We try to persuade Ed of an alternative interpretation of events, with Murrow not quite being the heroic counter-establishment figure he is in the film and CBS being a rotten media organisation with deep ties to the CIA. We then explore how almost everyone involved in Good Night, and Good Luck had either already made a film with CIA assistance, or went on to do so. We round off talking about Clooney’s bizarre Las Vegas connection, E Michael Burke, George Steinbrenner and (inevitably) Donald Trump.

Download The CIA and Hollywood ep 9

Vimeo Version

Show Notes:

Good Night, and Good Luck

Making of Featurette

Edward R. Murrow: “A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy”

Good Night, and Good Luck and Bad History (part 1)

Good Night, and Good Luck and Bad History (part 2)

The CIA and the Media (Carl Bernstein)

ClandesTime 034 – The Hollywood Ten

When the CIA used CBS to stop a TV Show from Being Made

E Michael Burke

Afternoon Commute with Chris Kendall and John Adams interview

hoaxbusters

I was recently on The Afternoon Commute with Chris Kendall and John Adams to discuss my new show, The CIA and Hollywood.  We discuss the first season of the show and what to expect for upcoming seasons.  We focus on the culture creation aspect of the CIA, and how they are influencing not only societal norms, but influencing our opinions on events and people.  Later we move onto a wide variety of topics including: Chase Brandon,George Orwell, 1984, Animal Farm,The Congress for Cultural Freedom, Peter Wright, Spy Catcher, Ben Afleck, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie The Quiet American, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Chuck Barris, Operation Mockingbird, CBS, The Social Network, Hill and Knowlton, Wag the Dog, Weaponized Culture,Judd Apatow, Modern Art, Presidential Elections, Shepard Fairey, Paul Begala, K Street, Pro Wrestling, The Clintons, Boston Bombing, Sandy Hook, Reality Television, The OJ Simpson Trial,Duck Dynasty,Libertarianism, Anarchism, The Gold Standard, Ron Paul, the Constitution, John Bush,September 11.

This is a wide ranging and long podcast (nearly three hours)  We don’t agree on everything, but it is well worth a listen.

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