Episode · Stuff They Don't Want You To Know · 2025-02-21
Books mentioned on Yes, The CIA Hired Magicians, Chapter Two: The Hidden Hands
While it might sound weird to think of the CIA conspiring to hire magicians, tradecraft and stage magic actually have a lot in common: sleight-of-hand, misdirection, performance -- you name it.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Magician
Discussed“if you look at the this is a spoiler but uh the primary biography written about this guy is the magician with uh CIA a magician capitalized the magician”
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Lord of Illusions
Discussed“and there's a a Clive Barker movie from the 90s called lord of illusions that you guys may have seen it's not great doesn't super hold up you you read the book it's got some I have yeah it's it's it's I think part of one of his collections it's like a short story within cabal if I'm not mistaken”
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The Satanic Mill
The Satanic Mill by Otfried Preussler is a young adult fantasy novel that incorporates magical themes within a traditional fairy tale structure.
Recommended“just like in that wonderful uh fairy tale the satanic Mill check it out it's also about magic uh and it's appropriate for all audiences I would say it's a great young adult book”
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The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
Discussed“he is the perfect guy to write the forward for the official CIA Manual of trickery and deception by Melton and Wallace and here he says he kind of sums up you know what you referring to there”
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Kim
Kim by Rudyard Kipling is a classic adventure novel set against the backdrop of the British colonial era in India, tracing the life of an orphaned street boy drawn into espionage during the historical Great Game.
Discussed“yes he's kind of an [ __ ] he's definitely a racist dude uh but he mentions a lot of this in his novel Kim uh which is entirely About a Boy Child spy uh I don't know if it holds up it's been a while since I read it”
