5 ms·

Podcast Explores Whether Scorpions Hit 'Wind of Change' Was Written by the CIA

46 points by geocrasher 7y ago

redis_mlc 7y ago
I wondered about that when I first heard the song. The Agency is involved in all kinds of literature/translation books, so why not song lyrics? David Hasselhoff takes some credit for the Wall coming down, so you never know: https://time.com/5714602/david-hasselhoff-berlin-wall-fall/ https://time.com/5714602/david-hasselhoff-berlin-wall-fall/
- acqq 7y ago
  > takes some credit for the Wall coming down Does he? In the very article you linked: "It’s fake news. I never ever said I had anything to do with bringing down the wall. I never ever said those words. I was semi-responsible for protesting to keep it up [such as in 2013]." "I was just in the right place at the right time with the right song. I was just a man who sang a song about freedom."
taneq 7y ago
Makes me think of the movie, 'Wag the Dog'.
ben30 7y ago
Related article from 1995 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-...
- not_a_moth 7y ago
  Whoa. Very interesting read > William Paley, the president of CBS broadcasting and a founding father of the CIA Did this used to be open knowledge and scrubbed now? There isn't a mention of Paley's involvement in cia on his own Wikipedia page... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley
  - gourlaysama 7y ago
    > Did this used to be open knowledge and scrubbed now? The [edit: wikipedia] article mentions that he was "director of radio operations of the Psychological Warfare branch in the Office of War Information at Allied Force Headquarters": that's what became PWD/SHAEF [1] towards the end of the war and was merged after the war with the Strategic Services Unit and some other stuff to make the CIA. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Warfare_Division https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Warfare_Division
mrobot 7y ago
> ... co-produced by Crooked Media and Pineapple Street Studios Ew. Don't really want to hear anything from the people who brought us "Pod Save America".
- gspr 7y ago
  I'll take the bait: why did you feel the need to share this?
  - Angostura 7y ago
    Because a group of people who worked at the Obama Whitehouse are clearly evil
manuw 7y ago
Don't call it "Podcast" when it's only on Spotify.
- waiseristy 7y ago
  You're right Podcasts belong exclusively on the Apple store You all know where the term podcast came from right?
  - kuschku 7y ago
    No, a proper podcast is available as RSS feed and compatible with any Podcast player. It's the last actually open and compatible part of the web that hasn't been split apart and sealed off by corporate interests, so we should fight to keep it that way.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - lode 7y ago
      Here you go: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/wind-of-change-wide https://feeds.megaphone.fm/wind-of-change-wide
- raverbashing 7y ago
  "Don't call it a movie if it's only on Netflix?" I think the Academy (or was it some movie festival) tried to pull that one. Didn't work. We can discuss the (de)merits of being Spotify only, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a podcast.
  - tobr 7y ago
    More something like, “don’t call it a Blu-ray movie if you can’t play it on a Blu-ray player”. Feel free to call it a “show” or whatever, but if you can’t play it in a podcast player, how is it meaningfully a podcast? Edit: Probably a much better movie analogy would be “Don’t say you’re shooting film if you‘re using a digital camera”.
chx 7y ago
Give me the transcript, I am very curious but why would I spend so much time hearing someone reading it aloud? Doh!
- panpanna 7y ago
  This is HN. Give it a few days and someone will build a service doing just that.
- otabdeveloper4 7y ago
  I don't know anything about podcasts and this specific podcast, but here's a general (and shocking) observation: Here in 2020 lots and lots of people still have trouble reading. Not as in being illiterate, but as in "I'd rather watch a 20-minute Youtube video explaining a technical topic that could be explained on half a sheet of A4, because reading is just too exhausting for me".
  - paypalcust83 7y ago
    An illiterate, lazy populace is a ship of fools. Just look at 45 and the decline of used book stores and libraries. I'm all for book readers or paper, but critical thinking skills and curiosity are virtually mothballed and covered in a patina of dust and spider webs.
    - torgard 7y ago
      45 what? 1945?
      - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
        I believe this was a reference to the 45th and current president of the U.S being Donald Trump.
        chx 7y ago
        There was an amazing reddit comment about Donald Trump and his reading level https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/c9xmnj/ufalsedmitriy_perfectly_explains_what_went_wrong/et4jgno/ https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/c9xmnj/ufalsedmitri...
aaronbrethorst 7y ago
If you're interested in other podcasts featuring Patrick Radden Keefe as a guest, there was a great episode of Why is this Happening about the Troubles in Northern Ireland last year: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/unearthing-ghosts-northern-ireland-s-dirty-war-patrick-radden-keefe-ncna995521 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/unearthing-ghosts-nort...

46 points by geocrasher 7y ago

I wondered about that when I first heard the song. The Agency is involved in all kinds of literature/translation books, so why not song lyrics? David Hasselhoff takes some credit for the Wall coming down, so you never know: https://time.com/5714602/david-hasselhoff-berlin-wall-fall/ https://time.com/5714602/david-hasselhoff-berlin-wall-fall/

acqq 7y ago
> takes some credit for the Wall coming down Does he? In the very article you linked: "It’s fake news. I never ever said I had anything to do with bringing down the wall. I never ever said those words. I was semi-responsible for protesting to keep it up [such as in 2013]." "I was just in the right place at the right time with the right song. I was just a man who sang a song about freedom."

taneq 7y ago

Makes me think of the movie, 'Wag the Dog'.

ben30 7y ago

Related article from 1995 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-...

not_a_moth 7y ago
Whoa. Very interesting read > William Paley, the president of CBS broadcasting and a founding father of the CIA Did this used to be open knowledge and scrubbed now? There isn't a mention of Paley's involvement in cia on his own Wikipedia page... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Paley
- gourlaysama 7y ago
  > Did this used to be open knowledge and scrubbed now? The [edit: wikipedia] article mentions that he was "director of radio operations of the Psychological Warfare branch in the Office of War Information at Allied Force Headquarters": that's what became PWD/SHAEF [1] towards the end of the war and was merged after the war with the Strategic Services Unit and some other stuff to make the CIA. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Warfare_Division https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Warfare_Division

mrobot 7y ago

> ... co-produced by Crooked Media and Pineapple Street Studios Ew. Don't really want to hear anything from the people who brought us "Pod Save America".

gspr 7y ago
I'll take the bait: why did you feel the need to share this?
- Angostura 7y ago
  Because a group of people who worked at the Obama Whitehouse are clearly evil

manuw 7y ago

Don't call it "Podcast" when it's only on Spotify.

waiseristy 7y ago
You're right Podcasts belong exclusively on the Apple store You all know where the term podcast came from right?
- kuschku 7y ago
  No, a proper podcast is available as RSS feed and compatible with any Podcast player. It's the last actually open and compatible part of the web that hasn't been split apart and sealed off by corporate interests, so we should fight to keep it that way.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - lode 7y ago
    Here you go: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/wind-of-change-wide https://feeds.megaphone.fm/wind-of-change-wide
raverbashing 7y ago
"Don't call it a movie if it's only on Netflix?" I think the Academy (or was it some movie festival) tried to pull that one. Didn't work. We can discuss the (de)merits of being Spotify only, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a podcast.
- tobr 7y ago
  More something like, “don’t call it a Blu-ray movie if you can’t play it on a Blu-ray player”. Feel free to call it a “show” or whatever, but if you can’t play it in a podcast player, how is it meaningfully a podcast? Edit: Probably a much better movie analogy would be “Don’t say you’re shooting film if you‘re using a digital camera”.

chx 7y ago

Give me the transcript, I am very curious but why would I spend so much time hearing someone reading it aloud? Doh!

panpanna 7y ago
This is HN. Give it a few days and someone will build a service doing just that.
otabdeveloper4 7y ago
I don't know anything about podcasts and this specific podcast, but here's a general (and shocking) observation: Here in 2020 lots and lots of people still have trouble reading. Not as in being illiterate, but as in "I'd rather watch a 20-minute Youtube video explaining a technical topic that could be explained on half a sheet of A4, because reading is just too exhausting for me".
- paypalcust83 7y ago
  An illiterate, lazy populace is a ship of fools. Just look at 45 and the decline of used book stores and libraries. I'm all for book readers or paper, but critical thinking skills and curiosity are virtually mothballed and covered in a patina of dust and spider webs.
  - torgard 7y ago
    45 what? 1945?
    - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
      I believe this was a reference to the 45th and current president of the U.S being Donald Trump.
      - chx 7y ago
        There was an amazing reddit comment about Donald Trump and his reading level https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/c9xmnj/ufalsedmitriy_perfectly_explains_what_went_wrong/et4jgno/ https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/c9xmnj/ufalsedmitri...

aaronbrethorst 7y ago

If you're interested in other podcasts featuring Patrick Radden Keefe as a guest, there was a great episode of Why is this Happening about the Troubles in Northern Ireland last year: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/unearthing-ghosts-northern-ireland-s-dirty-war-patrick-radden-keefe-ncna995521 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/unearthing-ghosts-nort...