Having lived through the 60's as a teenager, I found the pop music liberating, which is neither good nor bad. The post world war 2 attitude of the "silent era" was strongly conservative and certainly needed a refreshing overhaul by way of a challenge. I for one am grateful for having lived in those years whch helped to open my eyes to question everything and also to discover who I really am.
Sigh. So much weaponization of everything. No wonder we’re facing such a medical and spiritual autoimmunity crisis. We’re being primed to either surrender to or fight everything. The confusion keeps us constantly vigilant. And while I have heard bits of what you’ve explained so comprehensively, it’s overwhelming to see all at once.
The trouble becomes that we become resistant to things that could serve us in other nuanced ways because of how ideas like personal growth, art, self-care/acceptance, empowerment, advocacy have been distorted and exploited.
The growth curves are so steep and treacherous, but we try to stay on them…
Your insight about autoimmunity and constant vigilance is profound. These systems are designed to keep us in exactly that state of perpetual anxiety and confusion.
You're right - it's overwhelming to confront the possibility that much of what we considered 'authentic' may have been anything but. But understanding the depth and depravity of the deception, however uncomfortable, is crucial. Only by recognizing how deep the manipulation goes can we begin to reclaim genuine human experience and connection.
The path forward isn't cynicism about everything, but clear-eyed discernment. Difficult as it is, we need to look unflinchingly at the machinery of control to free ourselves from it.
As a boomer born in the late fifties, I'm wondering what and how an actually liberated person undefined by the systemic cultural herding would be like? How, in God's name, would I be different than the person I was manufactured to be?
There's some quote that goes something like this: never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity. AND, the older I get, the more I think it is the opposite. No, scratch that. I think it boils down to follow the money.
Absolutely fascinating reading!
I believe your substack is going to grow by leaps and bounds. I appreciated the links. Somehow you kept me reading past my initial skepticism.
I think another link between artists with military parents is that they are already used to moving a lot. Touring is not as big a deal for them.
Many of the groups during this era did not play their own instruments. It wasn't just the Monkees. The Byrd's were backed by professional players, including Glen Campbell. Very few bands toured. They lip synced on programs like Ed Sullivan, Shindig and Hullabaloo. I had a friend who attended high school in Alameda CA with Jim Morrison. I didn't believe him until he showed me the photo in his high school yearbook.
Josh, proof your "The Celebrity Machine graph. It's missing a word or thought:
The approach perfected through Gloria Steinem - channeling authentic social movements through carefully managed spokespersons - would evolve into today's meticulously crafted (what's missing here) This algorithmic management extends beyond content to talent itself, with platforms increasingly determining not just what succeeds but which voices rise to prominence.
Interesting, with many deeply buried and odd coincidences unearthed and aligned in apparently under-appreciated and telling ways. But if you want to persuade a wider audience you’ve still got work to do, because ultimately it all seems a bit attenuated. So, nice try, but you don’t actually score heavily for pointing out the fact that many entertainment industry stars and lower-visibility stalwarts have strange connections. Taking note of that, even as extensively as you do, doesn’t prove much, nor is it new news. Because the smoke from those fires has been hanging in the air for a very long time. It is understandable how Hollywood and the media biz have generated a legacy that fuels such suspicions. (Here’s one you seem to have missed: the strange demise of Marilyn Monroe.) One huge reason for that is the pervasive undercurrent of nepotism that undergirds much of its unofficial employment policy. That’s been a-feature-not-a-bug since day 1. But nepotism in business hiring is a much broader and more venerable tendency, as you must admit. One thing you seem to be pointing out is the similarity and affinity between people who aspire to dominance-through-influence in both domains: entertainment and government. The connection may seem newsworthy in many particulars, but isn’t that also actually business as usual? To clinch the case you need to expand the frame, consider counterfactuals, and admit the possibility that genuinely organic tendencies and trends exist and may thus mingle with utterly crass commercialization; my favorite example of this phenomenon is the twin-billing of The Monkees and Jimi Hendrix - strange but true, it actually happened. As a tail-end boomer my OG teen culture hero was a scruffy, swarthy working class New Englander with French Canadian and Breton roots. He had no substantial social connections and died of alcoholism in his mid-40s. He was one part lapsed Catholic and 2 parts libertine, with a sublime poetic impulse. His early friends included criminals, bums, and the founder of National Review. He served in the merchant marine during WWII after deciding to quit Columbia and his spot on its football team. His relationships were all kind of tortured or slap-dash affairs, including the friendship with a roguish buddy that became the basis for his best and most influential work. He originally produced that piece in a benzo-fueled marathon, typing like the madman he was on a continuous roll of paper. But he remains one of the most influential figures in 20th century American culture. I’ve looked into him closely several times over the last 45+ years, and have yet to fully grasp what it was that his audience - almost entirely young - responded to in him. The sex? The drugs? The fast cars? The jazz? Jack Kerouac remains a bit of a mystery. As do some others. They vary tremendously but still inspire wonder and hope. So hang in there, and keep working on your thing, and stay free.
I appreciate your thoughtful engagement with the material, Tim.
To clarify - this isn't meant to be comprehensive or persuasive, but rather documentation of ongoing research being shared with some friends and fellow researchers. While I'm considering whether to develop this into a longer-form book or film to make these stories more widely accessible, right now I'm approaching this as a student rather than a teacher - documenting, learning, and connecting with others doing similar research.
Monroe's story, for instance, wasn't overlooked but intentionally set aside as it deserves deeper treatment given its complex intersections with intelligence operations, cultural programming, and policy making. On Hendrix/Monkees - I didn't include it simply because I had nothing meaningful to add to Dave McGowan's thorough coverage.
The nepotism observation is interesting, but I'm specifically tracking unusual patterns like intelligence officers' children entering entertainment rather than following military paths, along with distinct patterns around aristocrats and orphans that merit their own detailed examination.
The documented connections between early Beat experiments with psychedelics and government-sponsored research programs at places like the Menlo Research Institute add another layer to your point about how cultural movements intersect with institutional power. Kerouac himself seemed to sense this by the end of his life, though he interpreted it through a different lens. That both Ginsberg and Kesey were early volunteers for government-sponsored LSD research, before "psychedelic" was even in the lexicon, remains one of the more striking examples of these institutional intersections with the counterculture.
Your insights suggest considerable research experience in these areas. If you're documenting any of your own investigations, I'd be very interested in reading them. Thanks again.
I’m just basing my lines on the motley assortment of anecdotes I’ve stumbled on over the years. It’s all very interesting and strange. I must admit that until learning more about the Ted Kascynski case I was inclined to poo-poo the possibility that domestic influence campaigns could entail such a level of convoluted horror. Then the Gary Webb story clinched perpetual suspicion for me. (Or was it the other way around?) One positive Beat contribution was to decline the casual acceptance of constraining norms, and pushing back against the clandestine control schemes you’ve noted is another way of doing that - thank you. We’ll have our hands full with this stuff going forward - but so will the bad guys, since their opposition is also formidable.
Sorry I missed this earlier, Tim. Really interesting point about Webb and Kaczynski as eye-openers on domestic influence ops. Webb's story especially shows the playbook - deny, discredit, then quietly admit it years later when no one's paying attention anymore. Totally agree about the road ahead. As you said, the opposition to these systems is getting more sophisticated too. The Beats' rejection of social programming feels more relevant than ever. Thanks for the thoughtful exchange.
As noted, the smoke has been hanging in the air for awhile now. But the efforts to keep it there persist - successfully in most cases. I've tracked a few fishy situations that merit more attention only to see the impact of revelations fall flat or run into outright denial. It's enough to induce general cynicism, that's for sure. But I'm glad someone's still digging.
As if there weren't enough red pills... and now this. Urgh. I'm not sure I can take any more. You've successfully ruined my youth. But this is the price of waking up. Thank you, Joshua. No, that wasn't me being cynical. It's pieces like this (and its predecessor) that start to complete a picture none of us really want to see but we have to anyway. Bring it on.
All of this stuff has been written of long ago and FIRST DISCOVERED by prior Pioneers. In this case DAVE MACGOWAN who was killed w turbo cancer over a decade ago for first connecting the dots on the music industry MKUltra culture machine. Which is where this "reporter" lifted the majority of his material from- WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION. This sort of plagiarism is used quite often by Whitney Webb and the plagiarist Griffin, who stole Eustace Mullin's work on Federal Reserve, rewriting out the crucial data on how The Fed was exclusively a JEWISH affair. Let enough time expire? And people forget. Stuff gets erased or buried from online censors... and along comes a Joshura Stylman etc to "edit" others' work and take the credit. Not one thing in this COMPILATION is new research not already known. Good Summary/ But its a cover version, not the original. No Sale
Actually, Dave McGowan was explicitly cited in my piece - his pioneering work on Laurel Canyon is foundational and anyone working in this space stands on his shoulders. Check the citations. As for the rest of your comment suggesting plagiarism, kindly take that elsewhere - all sources were properly attributed and the work speaks for itself. Have a nice day.
Clever parallel with Pavlov's bells and musical memetics. Those Pavlov bells hit different now, don't they?
That reminds me of something wild that happened last year - thousands of Taylor Swift fans reported completely forgetting her concerts right after attending them. Mass amnesia, and mainstream media actually covered it. She's not the only artist whose shows have had weird mass effects either.
When you talk about sonic conditioning and Pavlov's bells, it really makes me think about how sound moves crowds in ways beyond just classical conditioning. Your Mozart/Skinner comparison might be spot on.
Probably worthy of a new book with all parts combined.
Absolutely. I was thinking same.
Great post. Thanks for this.
Ok so you know…
Brilliant Josh.
Aww shucks, thanks Pamela.
Having lived through the 60's as a teenager, I found the pop music liberating, which is neither good nor bad. The post world war 2 attitude of the "silent era" was strongly conservative and certainly needed a refreshing overhaul by way of a challenge. I for one am grateful for having lived in those years whch helped to open my eyes to question everything and also to discover who I really am.
Sigh. So much weaponization of everything. No wonder we’re facing such a medical and spiritual autoimmunity crisis. We’re being primed to either surrender to or fight everything. The confusion keeps us constantly vigilant. And while I have heard bits of what you’ve explained so comprehensively, it’s overwhelming to see all at once.
The trouble becomes that we become resistant to things that could serve us in other nuanced ways because of how ideas like personal growth, art, self-care/acceptance, empowerment, advocacy have been distorted and exploited.
The growth curves are so steep and treacherous, but we try to stay on them…
Your insight about autoimmunity and constant vigilance is profound. These systems are designed to keep us in exactly that state of perpetual anxiety and confusion.
You're right - it's overwhelming to confront the possibility that much of what we considered 'authentic' may have been anything but. But understanding the depth and depravity of the deception, however uncomfortable, is crucial. Only by recognizing how deep the manipulation goes can we begin to reclaim genuine human experience and connection.
The path forward isn't cynicism about everything, but clear-eyed discernment. Difficult as it is, we need to look unflinchingly at the machinery of control to free ourselves from it.
Well said.
As a boomer born in the late fifties, I'm wondering what and how an actually liberated person undefined by the systemic cultural herding would be like? How, in God's name, would I be different than the person I was manufactured to be?
Maybe the Amish had it right all along? :-)
It's more about steering the herd in a particular direction. The hubris is almost incalculable.
There's some quote that goes something like this: never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity. AND, the older I get, the more I think it is the opposite. No, scratch that. I think it boils down to follow the money.
Absolutely fascinating reading!
I believe your substack is going to grow by leaps and bounds. I appreciated the links. Somehow you kept me reading past my initial skepticism.
I think another link between artists with military parents is that they are already used to moving a lot. Touring is not as big a deal for them.
Many of the groups during this era did not play their own instruments. It wasn't just the Monkees. The Byrd's were backed by professional players, including Glen Campbell. Very few bands toured. They lip synced on programs like Ed Sullivan, Shindig and Hullabaloo. I had a friend who attended high school in Alameda CA with Jim Morrison. I didn't believe him until he showed me the photo in his high school yearbook.
Josh, proof your "The Celebrity Machine graph. It's missing a word or thought:
The approach perfected through Gloria Steinem - channeling authentic social movements through carefully managed spokespersons - would evolve into today's meticulously crafted (what's missing here) This algorithmic management extends beyond content to talent itself, with platforms increasingly determining not just what succeeds but which voices rise to prominence.
Should have read: "would evolve into today's meticulously crafted model of celebrity activism."
Fixed, thank you!
some actually read every word... Well done, btw.
Interesting, with many deeply buried and odd coincidences unearthed and aligned in apparently under-appreciated and telling ways. But if you want to persuade a wider audience you’ve still got work to do, because ultimately it all seems a bit attenuated. So, nice try, but you don’t actually score heavily for pointing out the fact that many entertainment industry stars and lower-visibility stalwarts have strange connections. Taking note of that, even as extensively as you do, doesn’t prove much, nor is it new news. Because the smoke from those fires has been hanging in the air for a very long time. It is understandable how Hollywood and the media biz have generated a legacy that fuels such suspicions. (Here’s one you seem to have missed: the strange demise of Marilyn Monroe.) One huge reason for that is the pervasive undercurrent of nepotism that undergirds much of its unofficial employment policy. That’s been a-feature-not-a-bug since day 1. But nepotism in business hiring is a much broader and more venerable tendency, as you must admit. One thing you seem to be pointing out is the similarity and affinity between people who aspire to dominance-through-influence in both domains: entertainment and government. The connection may seem newsworthy in many particulars, but isn’t that also actually business as usual? To clinch the case you need to expand the frame, consider counterfactuals, and admit the possibility that genuinely organic tendencies and trends exist and may thus mingle with utterly crass commercialization; my favorite example of this phenomenon is the twin-billing of The Monkees and Jimi Hendrix - strange but true, it actually happened. As a tail-end boomer my OG teen culture hero was a scruffy, swarthy working class New Englander with French Canadian and Breton roots. He had no substantial social connections and died of alcoholism in his mid-40s. He was one part lapsed Catholic and 2 parts libertine, with a sublime poetic impulse. His early friends included criminals, bums, and the founder of National Review. He served in the merchant marine during WWII after deciding to quit Columbia and his spot on its football team. His relationships were all kind of tortured or slap-dash affairs, including the friendship with a roguish buddy that became the basis for his best and most influential work. He originally produced that piece in a benzo-fueled marathon, typing like the madman he was on a continuous roll of paper. But he remains one of the most influential figures in 20th century American culture. I’ve looked into him closely several times over the last 45+ years, and have yet to fully grasp what it was that his audience - almost entirely young - responded to in him. The sex? The drugs? The fast cars? The jazz? Jack Kerouac remains a bit of a mystery. As do some others. They vary tremendously but still inspire wonder and hope. So hang in there, and keep working on your thing, and stay free.
I appreciate your thoughtful engagement with the material, Tim.
To clarify - this isn't meant to be comprehensive or persuasive, but rather documentation of ongoing research being shared with some friends and fellow researchers. While I'm considering whether to develop this into a longer-form book or film to make these stories more widely accessible, right now I'm approaching this as a student rather than a teacher - documenting, learning, and connecting with others doing similar research.
Monroe's story, for instance, wasn't overlooked but intentionally set aside as it deserves deeper treatment given its complex intersections with intelligence operations, cultural programming, and policy making. On Hendrix/Monkees - I didn't include it simply because I had nothing meaningful to add to Dave McGowan's thorough coverage.
The nepotism observation is interesting, but I'm specifically tracking unusual patterns like intelligence officers' children entering entertainment rather than following military paths, along with distinct patterns around aristocrats and orphans that merit their own detailed examination.
The documented connections between early Beat experiments with psychedelics and government-sponsored research programs at places like the Menlo Research Institute add another layer to your point about how cultural movements intersect with institutional power. Kerouac himself seemed to sense this by the end of his life, though he interpreted it through a different lens. That both Ginsberg and Kesey were early volunteers for government-sponsored LSD research, before "psychedelic" was even in the lexicon, remains one of the more striking examples of these institutional intersections with the counterculture.
Your insights suggest considerable research experience in these areas. If you're documenting any of your own investigations, I'd be very interested in reading them. Thanks again.
I’m just basing my lines on the motley assortment of anecdotes I’ve stumbled on over the years. It’s all very interesting and strange. I must admit that until learning more about the Ted Kascynski case I was inclined to poo-poo the possibility that domestic influence campaigns could entail such a level of convoluted horror. Then the Gary Webb story clinched perpetual suspicion for me. (Or was it the other way around?) One positive Beat contribution was to decline the casual acceptance of constraining norms, and pushing back against the clandestine control schemes you’ve noted is another way of doing that - thank you. We’ll have our hands full with this stuff going forward - but so will the bad guys, since their opposition is also formidable.
Sorry I missed this earlier, Tim. Really interesting point about Webb and Kaczynski as eye-openers on domestic influence ops. Webb's story especially shows the playbook - deny, discredit, then quietly admit it years later when no one's paying attention anymore. Totally agree about the road ahead. As you said, the opposition to these systems is getting more sophisticated too. The Beats' rejection of social programming feels more relevant than ever. Thanks for the thoughtful exchange.
Looks like this guy lifted website of Vigiliant Citizen's work from last 20 yrs. (among others). Next generation comes up, and nobody is the wiser.
If you have anything constructive to add to the discussion, you're welcome to do so. Otherwise, kindly take your unfounded accusations elsewhere.
As noted, the smoke has been hanging in the air for awhile now. But the efforts to keep it there persist - successfully in most cases. I've tracked a few fishy situations that merit more attention only to see the impact of revelations fall flat or run into outright denial. It's enough to induce general cynicism, that's for sure. But I'm glad someone's still digging.
As if there weren't enough red pills... and now this. Urgh. I'm not sure I can take any more. You've successfully ruined my youth. But this is the price of waking up. Thank you, Joshua. No, that wasn't me being cynical. It's pieces like this (and its predecessor) that start to complete a picture none of us really want to see but we have to anyway. Bring it on.
All of this stuff has been written of long ago and FIRST DISCOVERED by prior Pioneers. In this case DAVE MACGOWAN who was killed w turbo cancer over a decade ago for first connecting the dots on the music industry MKUltra culture machine. Which is where this "reporter" lifted the majority of his material from- WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION. This sort of plagiarism is used quite often by Whitney Webb and the plagiarist Griffin, who stole Eustace Mullin's work on Federal Reserve, rewriting out the crucial data on how The Fed was exclusively a JEWISH affair. Let enough time expire? And people forget. Stuff gets erased or buried from online censors... and along comes a Joshura Stylman etc to "edit" others' work and take the credit. Not one thing in this COMPILATION is new research not already known. Good Summary/ But its a cover version, not the original. No Sale
Actually, Dave McGowan was explicitly cited in my piece - his pioneering work on Laurel Canyon is foundational and anyone working in this space stands on his shoulders. Check the citations. As for the rest of your comment suggesting plagiarism, kindly take that elsewhere - all sources were properly attributed and the work speaks for itself. Have a nice day.
Taylor Swift…Happy Rockefeller…Gloria Steinem….what do they have in common??
😂
The use of sonic reinforcement in behavioral science is fascinating, Mr. Stylman.
Redolent of "Bambi Meets Godzilla," the cultural revolution with musical accompaniment evokes a "B.F. Skinner Meets W.A. Mozart" comparison.
More concisely, Pavlov's bell ringing association methodology provides clues to the memetic induction of social unrest.
Clever parallel with Pavlov's bells and musical memetics. Those Pavlov bells hit different now, don't they?
That reminds me of something wild that happened last year - thousands of Taylor Swift fans reported completely forgetting her concerts right after attending them. Mass amnesia, and mainstream media actually covered it. She's not the only artist whose shows have had weird mass effects either.
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/taylor-swift-fans-experienced-post-concert-amnesia-luck/story
When you talk about sonic conditioning and Pavlov's bells, it really makes me think about how sound moves crowds in ways beyond just classical conditioning. Your Mozart/Skinner comparison might be spot on.
A lot of people on Zero Hedge are going to be brought over into an entirely new epistemological framework
I've read Zero Hedge for quite some time. I could be wrong, though I'm not sure the audience over there is a monolith.