PSYOP, or “Psychological Operations”, is something the US military has been doing to foreign audiences for decades. But what exactly is it? And what’s the difference between white, gray, and black PSYOP missions? We talk to PSYOP specialists to learn more.
Thanks to Jon Nichols for telling us about this fascinating world.
Sponsors
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Sources
- https://www.democracynow.org/2006/3/24/the_psyops_war_a_look_at
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Group
- https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/special-operations/psyop/psyop-mission.html#
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wandering_Soul_(Vietnam_War)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom
- http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16040coll3/id/182
- https://archive.org/details/PropagandaAudiobook/Propaganda+Chapter+01.mp3
- https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-gets-mysterious-and-false-text-message-evacuate-korean-peninsula-669875
- https://www.cbinsights.com/research/future-of-information-warfare/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act_for_Fiscal_Year_2013#Smith%E2%80%93Mundt_Modernization_Act_of_2012
- https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/meme-warfare
Videos
- Vietnam War Ghost Audio Tape used in PSYOPS ‘Wandering Soul’
- Jon Nichols Part 0 - Unallocated Spaces Talk on Russian Propaganda
- Cyber-Influence: Cyberwar and Psychological Operations
- WWII Psych Ops
- MISO Marines broadcast important information to Afghans
- The War You Don’t See
- Edward L. Bernays interview, 1986-10-23
- The Pentagon is steadily increasing money spent on propaganda
- Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War
Podcast
Attribution
Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.
Episode artwork by odibagas.
Sound design by Garrett Tiedemann.
Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Equipment
Recording equipment used this episode was the Shure SM7B, a cloudlifter, Motu M2, Sony MDR7506 headphones, and Hindenburg audio editor.
Transcript
[FULL TRANSCRIPT]
JACK: Hey, you ready for a hacker story? Well, I don’t have one for you today. This is not a hacker story. It’s not even a tech story. The thing is, when I make this podcast, I’m diving down a million different rabbit holes, completely unsure where they go. This episode is just me going down different rabbit holes and you could come along too, if you want. But I have to warn you; this whole episode, I go into areas of knowledge that I literally know nothing about so I’m certain that I’m ignorant to a lot of stuff and I probably get some stuff wrong along the way. I try to double-check everything that I’m saying against multiple sources but still, I’m not in my lane on this one, so don’t take my word for it here. Even though this isn’t quite a tech-focused hacker story that you might be used to, this is a story about how the US military hacks people’s hearts and brains.