Stuff They Don't Want You To Know- A Book Review

There is a photo gallery of the book's illustrations at the end.

In the hope of full transparency, I would like to say that I have not been hired or asked to write this review by anyone at Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know, iHeart radio, or Flatiron Books. However, I have been a fan of the podcast for years now. I have previously mentioned the show in my article, My Top Five Podcasts. Additionally, I have gotten to know the hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown through social media. I came about my copy of the Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know by entering the giveaway they had for pre-publication copies. With that said, I will aim to leave as much of my bias at the door. But please keep in mind that bias is inherent to the human experience, especially when we are talking about something we enjoy. A good example of this is if you regularly eat at Applebee’s, you’re more likely to recommend their new menu item to a friend. With that said, let’s talk about the book.

As any good nonfiction book should, the book opens with an introduction. In the introduction, the authors lay the groundwork for what the reader can expect throughout the rest of the book. In this chapter, they address the root of many conspiracies, which is that it has been proven that the government has lied in the past and that it most likely will in the future. As the authors often point out on the podcast, this is a feature, not a bug. And while the book mainly focuses on US-based conspiracies, a government lying to its citizens is not unique to the United States. With that in mind, it is quite appropriate that their first chapter is on biological warfare, as the conspiracies around the subject are some of the most pervasively perverse.

With topics ranging from Biological Warfare to UFOs, Coups, Assassinations, drugs, propaganda, and everything in between, it must have been tough to choose which one to make the first chapter. With that, it is quite appropriate that the guys chose to begin with biological warfare, as biological warfare is one of the oldest, most widespread, and provable conspiracies that any group of people could engage in. They begin the chapter discussing the conspiracy theories surrounding chemtrails, before diving into the real and dark history of Operation Large Area Coverage. Operation Large Area Coverage was a program run by the US Army Chemical Corps in the late 50s used to simulate biological and chemical warfare effects on the US populace. In the chapter, they also discuss how activities at Plum Island and other biowarfare facilities have led to the public's distrust of the government’s explanations when there is an outbreak of diseases. This chapter is chock-full of the realities and history that fuel the current conspiracy theories surrounding topics from Lyme disease to COVID-19. And this chapter dovetails in neatly with the next chapter: Human Experimentation.

It should be no surprise that human experimentation and biological warfare go together like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Neither should it surprise anyone that the two often crossover, and have a shared history. One of the best examples of this is the Tuskegee Experiments. The Tuskegee Experiments were a long-time test run by the US Public Health Service to study the effects of untreated syphilis. The unfortunate victims of these tests were Black Americans of the South. On the flipside of letting something run wild and free in a population, in roughly the same period the US was actively sterilizing certain portions of the US population deemed unfit to procreate. Once again, in these two programs, and the others that Matt, Ben, and Noel cover in this chapter we see why many have been hesitant over the COVID-19 vaccine, and the seed of reality that many Qanon conspiracy theories sprang from. And this all leads into the next chapter, Surveillance, thus further sending the reader down the conspiracy realist rabbit hole.

The third chapter of Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know covers the many aspects of real surveillance programs that have been run in the past. In this chapter, the hosts, and now writers of STDWYTK, explain that despite the past efforts of programs from the NSA, COINTELPRO, and Five Eyes, that mundane reality is that we now all carry the most effective surveillance devices around with us at all times. However, what the reader will learn in this chapter is just how far back, and pervasive these programs are. Heads up, you may want to change some of your habits. But that all may not matter if anything in the fourth chapter is true.

It is in the fourth chapter that we get into the subject that is many conspiracy fans' gateway drug: UFOs. Let’s be honest for a minute, is it even a good book if there isn't some kind of alien? But on a serious note, this chapter does a great job of discussing the real and sometimes bizarre lengths the government has gone to hide its interest in the subject. Many know the story of Roswell, but few are as familiar with the origin of the Men in Black, and fewer with the story of the Majestic 12. The guys present both of these with their usual top-notch fashion of “here are the facts” style of presentation. And rounding out the chapter is the latest addition to the UFO, or rather UAP, phenomena and that is the 2021 UAP report. As the name suggests in its bureaucratic brilliance, the report was released in June 2021. However, between the pandemic and the fall out of January 6th, few of us could be blamed for letting this one fly under the radar. Like a bright and shiny disk, it just blipped in and out of our consciousness. Or was it all covered by some kind of propaganda?

As chapter five discusses, the use of propaganda is almost as old as human history. However, we only have one man to thank for the development and promotion of modern propaganda: Edward Louis Bernays. Some know his name, but few know that this man literally wrote the book on propaganda when he published his book, Propaganda, in 1928. Unfortunately, Bernays didn’t see to live what his creation has become(he got awful close though, he died at 103 in 1995). What started as a means of selling bacon and cigarettes has speciated into a litany of everything from fake news to the means to manufacture wars. And it is these subjects that STDWYTK tackle in the fifth chapter, where they cover everything from the origins of modern propaganda to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to the dystopian nightmare of machine consciousness developing the future of propaganda to further usher in the collapse of modern society. But if that doesn't do it for you, perhaps the next chapter will. Because let’s be honest, who doesn't like a good assassination or rambunctious coup, right?

But no, in all seriousness chapter six is one of the most important chapters in this book, as it demonstrates what happens when multiple real conspiracies converge to their logical end. The first thing covered in this chapter is something I've written about myself, the coup against the Guatemalan government in 1954. While not the originator of this coup plot, we do have a returning guest from the previous chapter, Edward Bernays. It is hard to understate the influence this man had on this coup. However, it is but one of many the US and other governments have conducted. This chapter introduces both the origin story of assassination(well, in part. It’s the origin of the name rather. Assassination is another thing that is likely as old as mankind.) to discuss two of the most prominent cases of assassination in US history. But most importantly this chapter introduces a little-known chapter in the American zeitgeist: the Church Committee. However, I don't want to give any more away on such an important chapter. So, let’s move on to chapter seven, where we get another hallmark of conspiracy theories: Secret Societies.

What good conspiracy realist hasn't looked into these organizations from time to time? As any good writer would on the subject, the hosts cover the most prominent of this subject: The Illuminati. Let’s face it if Adam Weishaupt did nothing else, he created an organization with a name that would make Bernays proud. While there are many others, they typically derive their name from an association they share or an occupation. Shout to the Masons and Knights Templar. However, as the chapter discusses, some of these organizations have become outmoded when compared to things like elite college fraternities and the Bilderberg Group. These groups, combined with proven government corruption have led to the belief in things like the Deep State. And that is where chapter eight picks up.

The world has been subject to a high octane level of what happens when the corrupt gain power. Or in some cases, come to power pre-compromised. In this chapter, our three authors cover everything from modern voting corruption and gerrymandering, to the introduction of lobbyists to our political system. In this chapter, they cover groups such as ALEC( the American Legislative Exchange Council), to financial scandals like those of Jack Abramoff and insider trading. But they’re not done yet, as they have one more chapter to tie it all together: drugs.

I can't speak for the world, but drugs in the US are the most pervasive of all the conspiracy subjects in this book. Even if you don't do them yourself or know someone that does, they have touched your life at some point. Drug prohibition has led to much of the modern legal system in the US. However, as discussed in this chapter, US drug policy has touched many more parts of the world. Whether it’s the section on Gary Webb and his investigation into the CIA or Air America and the Iran-Contra scandal, this chapter will open the readers' eyes to the reality that is the War on Drugs.

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