An Uncensored History of DARPA | Annie Jacobsen | Talks at Google

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Published 2015-10-01

Journalist Annie Jacobsen visited Google's office in Cambridge, MA to discuss her book "The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency".

Ms. Jacobsen has written the first history of the the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. She draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA from its Cold War inception in 1958 to the present.

Annie Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and bestselling author who writes about war, weapons, U.S. national security and government secrecy. Her 2011 non-fiction bestseller, AREA 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, has been published in five languages and is being made into an AMC scripted television series. Her 2014 non-fiction bestseller, OPERATION PAPERCLIP: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America, has been published in five languages and is being adapted for television.

All Comments (21)

@jimpikoulis6726 5 years ago

Annie Jacobsen, "Operation Sexy Voice"
@izzy6112 3 years ago

I absolutely love her voice. It’s so soothing and comforting.
@ThisTrainIsLost 4 years ago

One must keep in mind that everything she writes and speaks about she is being allowed to reveal. The truly amazing and frightening technology is the majority of it and will not be revealed, at least for a very long time.
@mosesmukuna 5 years ago

I just don't understand why humans are hell bent in making themselves extinct ,in pursuit of power and control.And all along nature has got everything for us to live a fulfilled living,it's just crazy.
@googleiscensorship34 5 years ago

"Uncensored at Google"?! Like Manning and Assange? Pffffthahaha! Don't be ridiculous!
@thomaswagner4853 8 years ago

No, Agent Orange killed my father-in-law and many others.
@reggierico 5 years ago

It's ok to talk about classified programs at Google, but if you talk favorably about President Trump, you will be castigated, demonetized and censured.
@Enzorgullochapin 5 years ago

"Winning the Vietnam war" is not a thing. but of course: Propaganda.
@areafifty 3 years ago

This is my new favorite author, she does a lot of digging for her books
@forex922 4 years ago

I live in Silicon Valley, I used to see this homeless woman from time to time. Never paid a whole lot of attention, around that same time I was reading about paper clip and mk ultra. Fast forward a couple of weeks I was at the library waiting for it to open and who do I see, yep this homeless lady and she walked right up to me and starts talking about mk ultra. She asked me If I knew anything about it. I said well as a matter of fact, before I could get another word out edge wise she starts telling me about her father who was a psychiatrist in Germany during WW2 who had been recruited by the U.S, to develop a program of developing drugs to use on people. She went on to tell me that he had used some of these chemical straight jackets on her when she was a little girl and that was why she was having so many problems now. Crazy story, she never asked me for any money.
@Lemurai 4 years ago

Graduated from my engineering program and the first offer I got was from a defense contractor. Seriously, do these people know anything other than destruction when the word ‘science’ is mentioned.
@davidotness6199 5 years ago

"Terrorists."That's a nice catch-all that she repeats wth facile ease.
@BioStuff415 5 years ago

The NAZIs didn't lose, they went deep.
@chrismashburn9710 1 year ago

4:43 - "Darpa...is also in the business of social science." Rule # 1. Own the narrative. Not only will people lose interest in what they think they already know. They'll defend it. Hence, Annie. Of course, knowing how people compose, how they choose words, the time they spend on one thing and not another, etc. makes the whole exercise a 500 page poker tell. A passable magic trick if you close one eye. And really, doesn't knowing it's just a bunch of smart, dedicated people doing reasonable things put your mind at ease? A reasonable world full of reasonable people doing reasonable things they can't tell you for reasonable reasons. You're one of us now. Annie read you in. If you're into performance art, maybe grab a copy at a yard sale. If you'd rather a clear view, step around the house scribe and do your own homework. "Never trust anyone that doesn't trust you." ~ Alan Wolfe
@FranNoesse 7 years ago

Uncensored? LOL! More like 'new' PR.
@jpzhang8290 2 years ago

"The most knowledge people among us often want to share information. They don't want to hoard the information. Particularly because they get older, they find it's important for the country they love."
@darkanser 4 years ago

Her remark about biology having been considered a "soft" science until recent years is interesting. I think biology is considered a soft science when it hovers in the macro-, descriptive level. As it zooms in on more increasingly microscopic, physical and chemical terrains, it becomes increasingly "hard". As it takes on more weaponized purposes, it'll become even "harder".
@robertcombs55 4 years ago

This lady is FANTASTIC...Just ordered her NEW Book!!
@LeBrow420 3 years ago

Google should hire this lady’s voice for Google Home
@Frecklefrog1 5 years ago

“Electro shock on the brain”!!! “Brain control??” How can she speak of these things darpa does with affection? Sounds like a government promo to me!