Evil Neuroscience Part 1: Popping Whale Brains and Suffocating Dolphins (Premium E335) Sample

Before marine mammal song CDs conquered mall kiosks and the slogan “Save the Whales” appeared on bumper stickers nationwide, one scientist became obsessed with the idea that dolphins might be our closest nonhuman intellectual peers. In part one of our two-part Evil Neuroscience series, Jack dives into the life and work of John C. Lilly: neurophysiologist, dolphin researcher, SETI-adjacent dreamer, and the man whose attempts to bridge the interspecies communication gap proved to be more horrifying than illuminating. We follow Lilly from Biblical ideas about language and human supremacy to the Green Bank conference, where astronomers, NASA advisors, and future SETI legends formed the secretive “Order of the Dolphin.” Then we head to Marineland and Dolphin Rock, where Lilly’s research involved whale brains, suffocating dolphins, dolphin vocalization experiments, LSD, Margaret Howe’s infamous live-in language study with Peter the dolphin, and the tragic collapse of the project. Along the way: Bob Dylan’s worst song, existential elk, horny dolphins, Cold War science funding, animal language research, and the birth of the New Age dolphin obsession. Next time, Jack unpacks how Lilly’s search for nonhuman intelligence turned inward through isolation tanks, psychedelics, MKULTRA-adjacent research, and the Earth Coincidence Control Office.

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Evil Neuroscience Part 1: Popping Whale Brains and Suffocating Dolphins (Premium E335) Sample is an episode from QAnon Anonymous by QAA Podcast.

This episode is 00:10:01 long.

This episode was published on May 10, 2026.

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