Bratmike here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.

Many a man has been impressed by the ingenuity of secret agent operations, and intrigued by

the subtriffage, gadgets, and disguises required to pull them off.

Much of what we think about when we think about spies, got it start as a part of the office

of strategic services, the American Intelligence Agency during World War II.

Here to unpack some of the history of the world of Cloak and Dagger operations is John

Lyle, author of The Dirty Tricks Department, Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the masterminds

of World War II secret warfare.

To end the show, Lyle explains why the OSS was created, and the innovations its research

and development section came up with to fight the Axis powers.

We talk about the most successful weapons and devices the so-called Dirty Tricks Department

developed, as well as its more off-the-wall ideas, which included releasing bat bombs and

radioactive foxes in Japan.

We discuss the department's attempt to create a true serum, its implementation of a disinformation

campaign involving the League of Lonely War Women, and its promotion of a no-holds-barred,

hand-to-hand combat fighting system.

We also talk about the influence of the OSS on the establishment of the CIA and controversial

projects like MK Ultra, after shows over-check at our show notes at a-wim.is slash Dirty Tricks.

All right, John Lyle, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much.

I'm so glad that you had me on here.

I can't wait to talk about this exciting book, these stories.

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