Pod Insights British Scandal The Acid King | Turn On | 1 About this episode A brilliant biochemist believes his LSD can transform the world - and make a criminal network millions. But someone among them is watching. Fifty years on, this is the unbelievable true story of Operation Julie: one of the most audacious undercover police operations in British history.
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0:00 Alice Levine? Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of British Scandal ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:07 Matt Forde? Just a warning, this episode features drugs and lots of strong language.
0:12 Alice Levine? And regrettably hilarious content that will probably make you want to see us live in Sheffield on Sunday, the 5th of July. Crossedwires.live for tickets. More info in the show notes if you're affected by this issue.
0:25 Matt Forde? All right, Alice?
0:26 Alice Levine? Yeah, good. How are you?
0:28 Matt Forde? Yeah, good. I've got some of those new pills everyone's drinking, mate.
0:32 Alice Levine? Oh, God. I don't know how I feel about that. Like, what are they?
0:35 Matt Forde? They're the best. Do you want to try one?
0:37 Alice Levine? No, I'm not. It's not really my bag. Like, what will it do to me?
0:41 Matt Forde? Just changes things, man. All the cool kids are doing them.
0:44 Alice Levine? When you say changes things, I'm just a bit worried about sort of like not feeling like myself.
0:49 Matt Forde? No one's themselves had to these, but like in a good way.
0:52 Alice Levine? Okay, that sounds pretty profound. Like, have you taken them?
0:54 Matt Forde? Yeah, I take them all the time. They're great.
0:57 Alice Levine? Wait a sec. That box is... Are they antihistamines?
1:01 Matt Forde? Yeah. With these, I can go anywhere. I couldn't leave the house during summer. I mean, on one of these, you could walk through a meadow and your eyes and your nose won't stream at all. What a trip.
1:17 Matt Forde? 14th of April, 1975. Trigaron, Wales.
1:24 Matt Forde? Richard Kemp clutches the steering wheel tight as the rain lashes against his windscreen. Squinting through the pitch-black night, his eyes frantically scanned the country road for his turnoff.
1:39 Alice Levine? God, be careful about aquaplaning. Now, I only know about this from doing my theory test for my driving test several times. My top tip would be, use those gears. They're there. They're your friend. Okay?
1:53 Matt Forde? The gears are your friend?
1:54 Alice Levine? The gears are your friend.
1:55 Matt Forde? That's what I've been going wrong.
1:56 Alice Levine? You're also a non-driver, so you don't really know what I'm talking about, do you?
1:58 Matt Forde? Oh, no, I've qualified.
2:00 Alice Levine? Oh.
2:01 Matt Forde? Oh, I'm qualified. Fourth time.
2:02 Alice Levine? You're a conscientious objector.
2:05 Matt Forde? I'm a draft dodger.
2:08 Matt Forde? On the passenger seat next to him are boxes of baby formula. Inside, one hundred thousand hits of LSD. Richard needs to get these boxes to a set of fixed coordinates. Bury them, then get clear of the area before midnight. His eyes flick down to the clock on his dashboard. Eleven thirty-five. He presses down on his accelerator, slips his Land Rover into fourth gear. Glancing up at his rear-view mirror, two small dots of light catch his eye. Headlights. A hot panic grips him. He's been warned the police are sniffing around. He should have laid low, called Solomon, told him the pickup was off.
2:52 Matt Forde? But he stupidly pushed ahead, and now he's leading the police straight to the scene of a crime. Keeping his gaze fixed on the car behind him, he presses the accelerator down further. Fence posts whiz by, bumps in the road feel like ski jumps, but no matter how fast he drives, the headlights behind him seem to be gaining. He grabs the gear stick, is about to slip into fifth, then he sees it. A flash of orange. An indicator. He stares in the mirror, heart in his mouth, as the car behind slows and turns off down a dirt track. Relief slams into him, his shoulders sag.
3:35 Matt Forde? But then, his eyes snap back to the road. Dazzling white light fills his vision. Another car headed straight for him. He's drifted lanes. He slams on his brakes, the wheels locking beneath him, but his car keeps gliding along the rain-slept road.
3:55 Alice Levine? I am psychic. I've got a chill running down my spine.
3:59 Matt Forde? I don't want to undermine you or bring you down.
4:01 Alice Levine? Hmm.
4:02 Matt Forde? But the scene did start with him driving at night in the rain. The chances that he was going to aquaplane were quite high.
4:09 Alice Levine? Hmm. Jealousy does not suit you.
4:13 Matt Forde? It eats away at me like an itch.
4:17 Matt Forde? His body is thrown forward, towards the crunching metal, then yanked back by his seatbelt, his head smacking into his headrest. Richard comes to with a groan, his neck in agony. Through the acrid smoke pouring from his bonnet, he sees two people in the car opposite, slumped over their dashboard, unmoving.
4:40 Matt Forde? He rips off his belt.
4:46 Matt Forde? The cold rain bites at his face as he bangs on the passenger's window. Hello, are you okay? He gets no answer, sees no movement, then spots a line of blood trickling from the woman's hairline. Terror fills his head. He has to do something, get these people some help. But as he turns back to his own car, he realizes, he can't stay here. He has to move now. Because Richard Kemp isn't just a regular drug runner. He's the head of an international acid empire. The chemist responsible for 90% of the UK's LSD supply, and almost half the world's.
5:26 Matt Forde? And if anyone finds him here, with this much product, he's as good as dead.
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6:43 Matt Forde? I'm Matt Ford.
6:44 Alice Levine? And I'm Alice Levine.
6:45 Matt Forde? And this is British Scandal, an Audible original.
6:48 Alice Levine? The show where we bring you the murkier stories that ever happened on these odd little isles.
6:53 Matt Forde? British scandals come in many shapes and sizes. Some are about money, some are about sex, they're all about power.
7:00 Alice Levine? But when we look at scandals a bit closer, they turn out to be stranger, wilder, just plain weirder than we remember.
7:07 Matt Forde? So we're journeying back to ask who's to blame for what happened.
7:10 Alice Levine? And when the dust settled, did anything really change?
7:23 Matt Forde? Alice, what do the letters LSD mean to you?
7:26 Alice Levine? Leeds Student Audible Team, and yes, they did reject me, and yes, I do think about it every night before I go to bed.
7:32 Matt Forde? Oh, was that a bad trip?
7:34 Alice Levine? A trip? No, no, I never went on a trip because I never made the team, so.
7:38 Matt Forde? I was joking, you know, like a bad trip.
7:40 Alice Levine? Yeah, I didn't, I didn't go because actually you only got to go on the trip if you were on the first team and sadly, they wouldn't have me.
7:47 Matt Forde? Okay, it's gonna be hard work. Alice, we're talking drugs, LSD is lysergic acid diethylamide. So today I'm taking you to the 1970s British drug scene, psychedelics, hippies. I'm gonna expand your mind, man.
8:02 Alice Levine? Oh, this sounds very exciting, but obviously, British Scandal lawyers do require us to stress that drugs are bad and very dangerous and not fun, cool, or glamorous.
8:11 Matt Forde? No, but this story about them is amazing. I'm gonna be telling you about the shy chemistry prodigy who became Britain's and arguably the world's biggest LSD kingpin. So, some of you may already know this, but for those of you that don't, LSD works by flooding your serotonin receptors and it suppresses the brain's default mode. So essentially the part that maintains your sense of self. So all of a sudden, reality becomes negotiable.
8:40 Alice Levine? Okay, so usually we do four episodes, but how long is this gonna last?
8:43 Matt Forde? Yeah, this is gonna be like a three-year series. But Alice, you raise a good point. A lot of people don't know, a trip lasts between eight and 12 hours minimum. So you can't just sleep it off. Once you've taken it, you are committed to the full journey, whether you like it or not.
8:56 Alice Levine? Which is exactly how I feel about these records. Once you're in, you are in.
9:00 Matt Forde? And there's no antidote. So buckle up for a series of altered consciousness, revolution, tiny mountain villagers, and an undercover police operation like none seen before in the history of British scandal. Get your tabs at the ready, because this is episode one, Turn On.
9:18 Matt Forde? Six years earlier, April 1969, Cambridge.
9:24 Matt Forde? Richard jerks his head up as the projector clicks to the next slide, tries to focus on the professor, explaining serotonin's effect on the cerebrum sensory inhibitors. But Richard can't concentrate. At any other time, he'd find this fascinating. But his eyes keep drifting down to the newspaper on his lap. War in Vietnam, racial segregation, nuclear weapons threatening total annihilation. Back in Liverpool, his friends and fellow students are all out protesting, fighting for change. Meanwhile, he's stuck in this dusty conference room. At 25, he's the youngest person here by decades. A prodigy in the field of biochemistry.
10:09 Matt Forde? But he's beginning to wonder if a PhD is really the best use of his time.
10:14 Alice Levine? What a mad time to be a student.
10:16 Matt Forde? It was completely different back then. Obviously, the backdrop to this is 1969, which is this hugely significant year globally and in the UK, and really is the year that student activism as we now know it is properly born. And it's because of things like the Vietnam War, the economic situation in the UK, the political instability, and things like the sexual revolution. The pill had come in, so things were changing. And in universities, you had this real culture clash then between people who were going there to effectively fuel their activism and learn about radical ideas and campaign against people that Richard is sat alongside, which are, you know, the stereotype at the time of, with the greatest respect to these wonderful people, dusty old nerds.
10:58 Alice Levine? I think they take that.
11:00 Matt Forde? Richard puts on his corduroy jacket, attempts to slink off quietly, when a hand clasps his elbow. Rich, someone's asking to meet you. His heart sinks. It's his lab mate, Nick. I can't. I have to catch a train. I haven't seen Christine in... He's very insistent. He's from California. Richard's brow furrows. I don't know any American scientists. Oh, he's not a scientist. He's a jazz journalist. Jazz?
11:32 Matt Forde? Ten minutes later, Richard is stood fidgeting outside a small cottage. The door opens to reveal a man of medium height, neatly groomed grey hair, serious spectacles. Whoa, the celebrated Richard Kemp. David Solomon, please, come in.
11:52 Matt Forde? Richard steps inside, takes in the bright psychedelic art, black and white portraits of jazz greats, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie. I've been searching for someone of your disposition for some time. He offers the joint. Richard looks down. Um, no thanks. I have a paper to submit in the morning. Solomon smiles. Kind of a square thing for a young radical to say. Richard stiffens. He hasn't come here to be insulted. I didn't realise the revolution required sitting around in a dim room listening to jazz either. He glances at his watch. He could still make his train. Solomon takes a languorous drag.
12:37 Matt Forde? I agree we need more systemic solutions, but I happen to think the answer lies in your chosen field. Richard looks up, surprised. Biochemistry. We're in a fight for hearts and minds, Richard. The world is burning. But what are hearts and minds if not chemical reactions in living organisms? Richard's face crumples, perplexed. You think biochemistry is our way to world peace? Solomon chuckles. Richard studies Solomon as he inhales again. He's never met anyone quite like this man. I simply believe nature has already given us our answers. If only we know where to look.
13:22 Matt Forde? Richard glances at the joint. Solomon hands it over.
13:27 Matt Forde? Richard puffs gently, letting a warm fuzziness fill his head, as Solomon leans in and puts his arm around him. Tell me, Richard, what do you know about LSD?
13:50 Matt Forde? One week later, Cambridge. David Solomon lowers the needle on his record player. He relaxes as the Grateful Dead fill his living room, takes in the array of guests he's invited: Cambridge academics, neuroscientists, activists and writers, all united in a belief that LSD has the capacity to unlock the mind and change society. But his star guest is yet to arrive. He glances at the door anxiously. Solomon's been convinced, ever since he met his former mentor Timothy Leary, that his mission is to bring the psychedelic revolution to Britain. But finding a chemist with the exact skill set and shared sensibilities has proven near impossible.
14:38 Alice Levine? Talk to me about Timothy Leary.
14:39 Matt Forde? So Timothy Leary was a Harvard professor turned psychedelic evangelist, who came up with the phrase "turn on, tune in, drop out", a very famous phrase, and he believed that taking psychedelics would dissolve the ego that led to things like war, racism and even capitalism.
14:59 Matt Forde? He finally hears the knock he's been waiting for. Relief floods him as he sees the familiar shaggy-haired young man, dressed in a thick woolen jumper and brown cords, an intense analytical gaze on his face, a petite pretty blonde at his side. Richard, I'm glad you could make it. He reaches out his hand. This is Christine, Chris, my partner.
15:27 Matt Forde? He ushers the couple into the living room, sees Christine's eyes scanning the room. Oh my god, is that Alan Ginsberg? I edited a piece of his work for an anthology. He's just come up from Apple Studios with Paul McCartney. Keen to get Richard alone, he ushers Christine over to Ginsberg before returning to Richard. What was the anthology? He pulls a title from his heaving bookshelves. Richard turns the book over to reveal the title. LSD: The Consciousness Expanding Drug. Richard's shoulders slump. Solomon, I'm sorry. I wanted to come personally to say I've been chatting with Chris and, well,
16:11 Matt Forde? I don't think I can take up the offer of work. Richard hands the anthology back. I'm a chemist, an academic, not William bloody Burroughs.
16:21 Matt Forde? But Solomon cuts him short. I know. That's why I invited you. I'd like to introduce you to someone. He shouts through to the kitchen. Francis! A tall, lean man with striking bushy eyebrows appears. Richard's eyes widen at the sight of the Nobel Prize winning scientist Francis Crick.
16:42 Alice Levine? Imagine I've been Francis Crick waiting in the wings and being like, "And I introduce you, Francis!" And he's just been like hiding in the kitchenette.
16:52 Matt Forde? This is like one of those dream dinner party scenarios where they all actually turn up.
16:57 Alice Levine? So this is Mr. DNA, well, one half of Mr. DNA, the duo.
17:01 Matt Forde? Yes, and there is a theory that he discovered the double helix or visualized it whilst on LSD.
17:10 Alice Levine? No!
17:11 Matt Forde? It's known to produce geometric shapes in the mind.
17:13 Alice Levine? That is incredible, if true.
17:15 Matt Forde? He also did have a spiral staircase leading to his office. That is true.
17:19 Alice Levine? Is it really?
17:20 Matt Forde? Yeah.
17:20 Alice Levine? No!
17:21 Matt Forde? And a lot of people are like, "Well, he's just picturing a thing that he walked up every day."
17:27 Matt Forde? Richard, I hear from Soli, you're the future of chemistry.
17:33 Matt Forde? Richard struggles for words. Professor Crick, it's an honour. I read your paper on deoxyribo's nucleic acid as a student. Francis is about to study consciousness at the Salk Institute. Consciousness? Yes, I'm fascinated in how LSD can liberate the mind from certain preconceptions. Soli tells me you're also interested in the subject. Richard looks at Solomon in confusion. I, um, well, I have been talking to... As a voice wafts across from the kitchen, Francis shrugs. Sorry, I must go and see my wife. Solomon leans in, whispers.
18:16 Matt Forde? Some say Francis actually relied on LSD for some of his greatest discoveries. He can see Richard is piqued. He wraps his arms around him. Richard, I know you have concerns, but you don't even know what the mind is really capable of. What the scientific community is experimenting with. He pulls out a handful of small capsules. Each of these contain a single drop of liquid acid. Before he can object, he tucks them in Richard's pocket. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. He thumps Richard on his back. Come on, there are other scientists I want you to meet. He pulls Richard into the fray.
19:00 Matt Forde? Solomon is sure that Richard is his man. And he isn't going to rest until he's tried acid himself. Richard will see its true potential, and once he does, this really could turbocharge the LSD revolution in Britain.
19:22 Matt Forde? Two days later, Christine's bedroom. Richard lies on Christine's bed, staring up at her ceiling.
19:31 Matt Forde? LSD is supposed to induce immersive hallucinations, but so far, he's not sensing anything. Since his last meeting with Solomon, Richard's done his research. Discovered the compound is completely non-addictive. Taken in a safe environment, he should experience nothing but euphoria. But he's starting to wonder if the pills Solomon gave him are duds. Chris? You seem to be getting anything. His voice sounds strangely distant, as if he'd left his mouth downstairs. Chrissy? Chrissy? He rolls over, and sees Christine's frozen face staring back at him, horror in her eyes. His heart lurches forward in his chest.
20:17 Matt Forde? Chrissy, what's the matter? Her features start to quiver. He grabs her shoulders, tries to shake a response from her, then lets go, springing back as she bursts into tears. A sickening trickle of guilt washes over him. He's done this. She jerks upright, scrambles off the bed, flees the room, vanishing in a glittering trail of pink-orange vapour.
20:45 Matt Forde? Confusion swarms him, his pulse quickening. He stumbles down the stairs after her, runs out through her open front door. The pavement dazzles him, glaring silver, lit by a kaleidoscopic lamp light. Christine? Christine? As his eyes adjust, he spots something at the end of her road. A body, lying down, face-first in a grassy bank. Christine? Christine? He runs, the tarmac bouncing and billowing beneath his bare feet. He collapses at her side, falling deep into the grass.
21:27 Matt Forde? It feels like cat fur against his cheek, thick, snuggly.
21:33 Matt Forde? Serenity descends, as he sees Christine is smiling, stroking a small patch of ground over and over.
21:44 Matt Forde? There. Richard takes her hand. Chris! What? She turns to him. It's Mother Earth, Rich. She's crying. She's sick. But we can help. She presses his hand to the grass, driving his fingers deep into the soil, until he feels them connect with the roots. Tendrils of pure energy rush along his arm, pulses of bright light shooting straight to the centre of his skull. He scrunches his eyelids shut, tries to stem the intensity of it, but it doesn't help. The light gets whiter, hotter,
22:28 Matt Forde? until it's searing the very core of his brain. Then, his eyes burst open, and he sees it all. In a slow, tranquil dance, symbols and letters swim before him, the infinite chemical complexity of the universe unlocking in front of his eyes.
22:49 Alice Levine? To be honest, this is after one glass of red wine for me. I know this feeling. Two, terrible, but one, it's this.
22:56 Matt Forde? You've just got to stay at that nice, warm first tab of acid. It's just about knowing when to do the second one. Maybe with a cheese course. Actually, that'd be double, wouldn't it? You get phenomenal dreams of cheese.
23:07 Alice Levine? Can you imagine? LSD and a mature Stilton.
23:12 Matt Forde? LS Bremor-like.
23:16 Matt Forde? He's looking at the source code of life, and what it's telling him is unmistakable. LSD doesn't just heighten sensation, it can completely rewire human consciousness. Solomon was right. The answers are already here, in nature. If only other people could see this, realise how connected we all are at an atomic level, there'd be no fighting, no injustice, no war, just resonance.
23:50 Matt Forde? He looks down at his fingers. A huge smile breaks across his face
23:56 Matt Forde? because he knows this isn't just an experience, it's the answer. He wants in, and he thinks he already knows how he can be part of the revolution.
24:13 Matt Forde? Two weeks later, Liverpool University. Richard presses his body to the brick wall, peeps his head around the corner of the chemistry block. He holds his breath as the night watchman pauses, sweeping his torch around the darkened courtyard. He waits until the security guard's footsteps fade. Then he scurries along the wall, soft-feets it up the steps and into the building, then rushes through the darkened corridors, headed to his lab.
24:44 Matt Forde? Safely inside, he opens the fridge, retrieves his chemicals. The cold light spills across the bench as he sets up his workstation. Ever since that first trip, he's been changed. Solomon calls it "the turn-on". Richard doesn't have the language for it yet, only that it's an expansion of his consciousness and a rejection of conventional capitalist thinking.
25:09 Alice Levine? In a way, although it feels manipulative, there really is no way for Solomon to verbalise what it feels like or how it might change Richard's thinking without him taking it.
25:21 Matt Forde? I love the fact that the whole thing apparently makes you reject capitalism, but you're going to scale up production to run out of profit.
25:32 Alice Levine? Don't worry about that.
25:32 Matt Forde? Isn't Mother Nature the first capitalist? Yeah, man. Every night for the last two weeks, he's been here, trying to recreate that first trip, synthesising his own LSD. The process is long, intricate, involves multiple volatile chemicals, with constant threats of explosion. So far, he's botched every batch, each at a different stage, but tonight, he's close. Holding his breath, he unscrews a bottle of dichloromethane, pours it carefully into a fresh beaker, then lights the Bunsen burner. From the fridge, he takes his flask of working solution,
26:16 Matt Forde? inserts a pipette, and stops. Something is floating in it. His heart sinks. It's another contaminated batch.
26:28 Matt Forde? But as he brings it closer to the flame, tilts it slightly, he sees its glistening. Holding it right up to his nose, he gasps in amazement. It's a tiny cluster of crystals. A giddy rush of exhilaration ricochets around him. Crystals of pure LSD.
26:50 Matt Forde? The next morning, he sat in Solomon's kitchen. Across from him, Solomon uses tweezers to pick up a crystal and inspect it. Richard can't contain his grin. Ninety-nine percent pure. Solomon splutters. And that's from refrigeration alone. I could purify it even more with... Solomon's splutter becomes a chuckle. More? Rich, you should have seen the sludge they served up at Woodstock. Brown and hobo piss. Richard beams with pride as Solomon turns the crystal in the light. And you can do this again? Richard's smile falters. If my advisor finds out what I've been doing... Solomon's head snaps up.
27:36 Matt Forde? Fuck your advisor. Do you have any idea what you're sat on here? This is the fucking caviar of psychedelics. And we're gonna turn the world on with it. Richard shakes his head. I-I can't. If they catch me, they'll kick me off my course. So quit. Come work with me.
27:58 Matt Forde? Richard's focus switches from the crystal to the face behind it. He gulps. His throat suddenly dry. He can't really just quit, can he? Everything he's built. Academia's all he's ever known. It guarantees him stability, respectability, prestige. Radical change requires radical action, Richard. Richard takes the crystal from Solomon's grip. If he truly wants to make a difference to society, perhaps this is his opportunity. He takes in the white shimmering light. This single crystal holds enough power to alter the consciousness of a thousand people. Perhaps ten thousand. It isn't just chemistry.
28:43 Matt Forde? It's alchemy. He feels himself start to grin as he looks up at Solomon, eyes wide. "Well then, let's bring on the revolution." "Richard isn't just gonna change minds, he's going to change societies." "He's going to change the world."
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30:31 Matt Forde? July 1972, Broadstairs, Kent.
30:37 Matt Forde? Richard pulls his jacket tight, wincing as the bitter coastal wind whips around him. He follows Solomon along the deserted beachfront, ducking down a narrow back alley, headed towards the back door of a gray, featureless boathouse.
30:53 Matt Forde? Richard is here to meet a contact of Solomon's. He's been cooking test batches. His latest was ninety-nine point seven percent pure, and he needs to secure a distributor. But Solomon's been vague with the details, and Richard hasn't pressed. I'll take the lead. And if he mentions The Brotherhood, just play it cool, okay? Richard reels. He's involved with The Brotherhood? Since tossing out his textbooks, Richard's been studying the psychedelic scene instead. He's devoured the works of Albert Hofmann, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, all brilliant men. But The Brotherhood of Eternal Love?
31:36 Matt Forde? The guys who supplied Charles fucking Manson? Aren't they a cult?
31:42 Alice Levine? Now, I'll be honest, I don't know much about The Brotherhood, but if you judge somebody on their patrons or customers, that doesn't look great.
31:49 Matt Forde? No, it doesn't. They were a Californian outfit who also believed that LSD could spark a revolution. But they also supplied Charles Manson and his cult with LSD. That did not end well. They were basically a massive drug trafficking syndicate.
32:04 Matt Forde? The door inches open. A gruff bearded figure looms behind it. Pay, self, we're shut. We have an appointment. David Solomon. There's a moment's silence. Then the door swings slowly open.
32:21 Matt Forde? Richard steps tentatively into a cavernous workshop. At the far end, a short squat man with straggly black hair is elbow-deep in a sawn-up surfboard, reaching around for something inside it. With a grunt, he yanks out a small parcel. Orange capsules barely visible in the dim light. Ron! Good to see you. This is my associate, Richard Kemp. Rich, this is Ronald Stark. Richard holds out his hand, but Stark ignores it, wiping his palm on his shirt instead. So what do you two gents got in mind? Solomon holds out a small baggie. Stark takes it, crunching the tiny crystals between finger and thumb.
33:04 Matt Forde? 99.7% purity. Made by a goddamn artist. Speaking as a connoisseur, I've never known a trip like it. Richard, feeling emboldened, leans in. A 200-microgram dose of my acid is calibrated perfectly to unlock whole-new planes of... But Stark cuts across him. What are you charging? Richard falters, blinking. Charging? Green, gravy, money.
33:34 Alice Levine? I understood it, so conceptually I was a bit thrown because of it.
33:37 Matt Forde? Dash, wunga, loot, dough, yeah, I know, cheese, ched, wang, wad.
33:47 Matt Forde? Solomon interjects. Our priority is getting the product out there and then the hand to the people. Stark cackles. Ha! Fuck me, boys. I'm in the fucking money business. Richard bristles. He wants to ignite a revolution, not line the pockets of some false prophet. He watches Stark toss the bag down carelessly onto his desk. Put me down for 500. 500 hits is barely worth the trouble of making up a batch. Richard could distribute that himself, but Stark leans in close. 500,000, you fucking amateur. Richard's jaw falls slack.
34:33 Matt Forde? Half a million hits! His brain begins to spin. But Solomon steps forward. We'll be ready in a week. Richard feels a flush rise up his neck. He leans into Solomon, whispers. Solomon, I can't make... But Solomon raises his hand. Richard doesn't want to turn down the opportunity to turn on half a million new recruits. But if he's going to have any hope of working to that scale, he's going to need an entire production overhaul. And he's going to need a new lab partner.
35:16 Matt Forde? Two days later, Solomon's house.
35:20 Matt Forde? David Solomon snaps on a pair of latex gloves, looks down at the makeshift lab on his dining room table, and wipes his brow.
35:28 Alice Levine? This has all gone very Breaking Bad very quickly. If you thought a local schoolteacher and the town's druggie was an odd couple, then try an academic prodigy and a Californian hippie.
35:41 Matt Forde? Solomon has been amazed at Richard's abilities and evangelism, but he himself has never made one drop of acid before. He's an editor, an organizer, a psychedelic proselytizer. He's not a chemist. Right, what am I doing? Richard doesn't look up. I've already synthesized the crystal LSD. I've measured out everything for you to make a run of a thousand hits. Solomon picks up a flask of distilled water. First, you need to dissolve the crystal LSD. Pour and stir. Solomon does as Richard instructs. A slight tremor in his hand, and tensors as Richard snaps. No! Gently. I'm not a fucking chemist!
36:24 Matt Forde? If the crystal LSD touches your skin, you'll be bedridden for a week, or worse. Solomon wipes the condensation from his eye mask, slows his hand. Better. Now, you need to use the pipette to add a single drop into each plastic capsule. Solomon looks at Richard in disbelief.
36:44 Matt Forde? What? For each capsule? Fuck, Richard, we've promised five hundred thousand. It'll take all year. Solomon stares at Richard. I tried to tell you. There must be another way. I thought you were a prodigy or something. Richard grabs a container of white powder. Try this. Solomon watches as Richard scoops a small spoonful of a white powder called calcium lactate, sprinkles it into his dissolved crystal LSD. It'll start to thicken. It should start to set. He follows Richard's lead, carefully starts to knead the mixture into a paste. He works the white, featureless blob until his thumbs ache. How do I know when it's fully mixed?
37:29 Matt Forde? I don't know. It has to be evenly diluted. Solomon peels off his gloves, walks to a cupboard and retrieves two small bottles. Food coloring?
37:40 Matt Forde? Would these interfere with any chemicals? Not meaningfully, no. Solomon taps out a single drop from each bottle, one red, one blue, on either side of his bowl, then slips his gloves back on. There's a trick, told to me by the guy who mixes for the grateful dead. Richard frowns. A drop of each, opposite sides. It's impossible to see things when they're all the same colour. But with two, it's possible to see when it's fully mixed. Richard steps behind him as Solomon needs, looking over his shoulder as the blue and red food colouring start mixing into a psychedelic swirl. His thumbs keep working, flipping the paste over, folding it in on itself, until the
38:24 Matt Forde? two colours finally combine into a rich, consistent purple. He picks up the blob of brilliantly coloured putty from his bowl, holds it out for Richard's inspection. Richard prods it, inspects his finger, it comes away clean. Richard rolls out the putty and slices it into tiny two-millimetre squares. They wait for it to dry. After a few minutes, Richard uses the tip of a pencil to lift one of the squares from the table. It's tiny, smaller than a matchhead. He smiles. I'll call it the Microdot, a revolution in LSD delivery. Easy to make, easy to take, and easy to replicate at scale.
39:09 Matt Forde? Solomon takes it, staring in wonder at the minuscule purple pill. It's the most beautiful thing he can ever remember seeing. And he's going to see to it that the Microdot becomes this summer's hottest seller.
39:33 Matt Forde? One year later, August 1973, Windsor Free Festival. Richard trudges up the tree-lined slope, following the distant sound of the music, the hot sun beating down on him, sweat soaking his collar. Officially, he's come to this festival with Solomon to check on Stark's distribution, meet buyers. At the crest of the hill, he stops, looks out across the meadow in front of him, and feels the breath leave his body.
40:04 Matt Forde? Christine stops alongside him too. My god. Just look at them all. He can't believe his eyes. At last year's festival, there were three hundred people here. This year, there's eight thousand. Their movement is growing, faster than they ever imagined. Don't lose your head, kids. A crowd this size will be crawling with undercover cops. Richard wincers. You got any doubts on you? Last thing we need is you getting thrown in a paddy wagon. Richard feels his arm being tugged. Come on, I wanna see Hawkwind. He looks at Solomon, who grins. Goal, you've earned it.
40:48 Matt Forde? Christine pulls him into the crowd, a writhing mass of young radiant people. Long hair flowing, clothes shedding. It's beautiful. Everyone appears to be at one with nature. A new communal fluidity. A true alternative to the old world order. A heightened place of consciousness. AKA horny?
41:11 Matt Forde? Richard surveys the crowd. Eyes landing on a slender man in a corduroy waistcoat milling around the edge. Palming a small bag of purple microdots. Pride swells in his chest, seeing his product out in the wild. The dealer catches him staring. Purple's panda hit. Richard slips two notes from his pocket, takes two dots, hands one to Christine. And with a kiss, they pop them back. But thirty minutes later, Richard's getting restless. By now, he'd be expecting to feel something, but he's still not connecting. Chris, have you hit? She shrugs. Uh, kind of. There's a slight luminescent glow at the edge of his vision.
41:56 Matt Forde? The bass gently tickles his bones, but that's it.
42:01 Matt Forde? Richard scans the field, picks out the dealer in the crowd. Hey, you! The dealer turns, his face cloudy. Aye, man, I'm not looking for any trouble, alright? Richard marches up to him until they're chest to chest. I'm not here for trouble. I'm here to buy you out. He pulls a wad of cash from his jeans, thumbs off twenty, stuffs the notes into the dealer's hands, then snatches up his final few microdots, storming towards the exit. The crowd hums around him oblivious, but Richard knows something has gone very, very wrong, and he intends to find out exactly what.
42:47 Matt Forde? One week later, University of Liverpool. Richard feeds the dissolved microdot into the liquid chromatograph. Sweat prickles the back of his neck as he swivels his head around to check he's still alone. He's had to sneak into his former university lab to accurately analyse the microdots from the festival. He glares at the indicator strip, an indigo streak slowly diffusing up it.
43:14 Matt Forde? He turns as he hears footsteps echoing down the corridor, focuses back on the results. It's the third test he's done, and he can't understand it. He grabs up the lab phone.
43:27 Speaker 07 Hello?
43:28 Matt Forde? Sol, every microdot's only a hundred micrograms. He hears silence on the other end of the line. Solomon? Silence. Do you know about this, Solomon?
43:44 Speaker 07 No, but...
43:45 Matt Forde? What? Christ, Sol!
43:48 Speaker 07 He must be cutting it, Stark, having the doses.
43:53 Alice Levine? It's so mad that a drugs kingpin would be doing you dirty.
43:58 Matt Forde? Can't believe the head of that criminal network didn't tell the truth.
44:03 Matt Forde? Richard feels his back stiffen. Stark is diluting the acid. He's just meant to be selling it for us. Solomon cuts in.
44:13 Speaker 07 He must be making twice the dots he's supposed to. And making twice the profit.
44:19 Matt Forde? Richard pulls the mouthpiece closer. I don't give a shit about the money. He's messing with our product. My product. Again, silence.
44:30 Speaker 07 Right, but I suppose it's getting to twice as many people. I think if we ask for our money...
44:36 Matt Forde? Richard clutches his forehead. 200 micrograms is transformative. 100 is just... Junk.
44:43 Speaker 07 Bullshit, Richard. Even a half dose of your acid is 10 times better than the shit the other dealers are out there slinging.
44:50 Matt Forde? I'm not a fucking drug dealer. I'm not lining the pockets of some cult leader. Fucking hell, Solomon.
44:57 Speaker 07 Richard, the revolution needs to be funded. If there's more money to be made...
45:02 Matt Forde? If that's all this is to you... Richard pauses. Then you can find yourself another chemist.
45:10 Matt Forde? Richard's blood boils. He sacrificed his career for this. Given up 10 years of studies. The Microdot was supposed to be his life's work. His legacy. He's not gonna let some greedy, shifty criminal like Stark ruin it. And if Solomon can't see the issue, then that's a problem in itself. He was wrong to trust either of them. And there's only one solution. If the revolution's gonna happen, he's just going to have to lead it himself.
45:46 Alice Levine? I suppose at this point it's really landing for me that, for Richard, although there are lots of people, I assume, who are taking LSD, having an amazing time at a festival, and not thinking too much about how that has transformed their outlook on the world. For Richard, he really believes in the transformative power of this drug. To such an extent, he feels like it could change humanity. It could change the way that individuals interact, but also the way that systems work, the way that societies work. And he's sort of seen the light. And so, interacting with people who are just thinking about making a quick buck, I mean, it must be profoundly troubling to him.
46:27 Speaker 06 On January 24, 2023, in Ducksbury, Massachusetts, Patrick Clancy called 911. He had found his wife Lindsay badly injured and his three children dead and dying. What followed would become one of the most searing and complicated cases in recent memory, raising hard questions about motherhood, mental illness, and how far our justice system will go to understand what really happened. I'm Candace DeLong, host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, we take you inside the case of Lindsay Clancy, the postpartum psychosis defense, the courtroom battle, and the trial that just ended in a stunning mistrial. Follow Killer Psyche
47:12 Speaker 06 wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Killer Psyche one week early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
47:28 Speaker 02 Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent her life exposing powerful people. Then, in 2017, she was killed in a car bombing. I'm Stephen Gray, and for the past nine years, I've been trying to find out who wanted her dead. That search took me to Malta through secret companies, organized crime, and eventually to one of the island's richest and most powerful men. Now, after years of waiting, his trial has finally happened. But when the verdict came in, the case took a turn that almost no one had expected. In a brand-new update to the multi-award-winning podcast Who Killed Daphne?, I'm returning to Malta to find out how we got there and where the search for the truth goes next. Listen to the new episode
48:10 Speaker 02 of Who Killed Daphne? wherever you get your podcasts, and you can hear the full six-part investigation from the beginning, ad-free with Audible. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app and by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
48:32 Matt Forde? Six months later, February 1974, Ladbrokes Grove, London.
48:39 Matt Forde? Christine bolts up from the sofa, heart hammering. She was supposed to be on lookout, but she's drifted off again. This is the fifth flat they've rented in as many months. Christine has been using her professional title of doctor to secure short-term lets in neighbourhoods all over London. She and Richard move in, assemble a makeshift lab, brew a batch of his signature acid, then leave without a trace. But it's been exhausting. Taking things in-house has meant production is non-stop. Distribution is bottlenecked. They're relying on street pushers to shift it in tiny amounts, thugs who don't share their values. Worst of all is the city.
49:23 Matt Forde? The whole point of LSD to her mind is to connect with nature. Instead, their business has got them holed up in a dirty, noisy hellhole at the mercy of noisy neighbours and dangerous dealers.
49:36 Alice Levine? Sorry, I'm not sure you can comment on the neighbours. You guys are creating a meth lab in your rented flat?
49:43 Matt Forde? We're just trying to run a nice little village LSD lab. And you lot are behaving like animals.
49:51 Matt Forde? She dashes through to the kitchen. Richard's in full protective gear and respirator, midway through a new batch. She hates dealing with callers, but Richard's in no state to answer, so she's going to have to. Help! Oh. Her heart leaps to her throat. There's two men on her doorstep, in dark blue uniforms. Good evening, miss. The officer stops.
50:20 Matt Forde? Everything alright in there? Christine's body flares with panic. I, um, I accidentally left the gas on. I've opened the window. We're responding to a call about suspicious youths loitering around outside the building. Have you seen anything at all?
50:37 Alice Levine? I mean, only our drugs run.
50:39 Matt Forde? She gulps. She has a horrible feeling she knows who they were, but shakes her head dumbly. Well, keep an eye out. Maybe get some fresh air, miss. You look pale. Out on the street below, away from Richard's volatile fumes, Christine's head starts to clear. This isn't the life she imagined after seven years of medical training. Hauled up in a bedsit in London, helping her dropout boyfriend make LSD at their kitchen table, lying to the police. This isn't sustainable. She marches back upstairs to find Richard peeling off his gas mask. Who was at the door? The police! Richard's eyebrows rocket up.
51:24 Matt Forde? Jesus Christ, Chris! You're supposed to be on lookout! A well of resentment erupts inside her. Don't you dare fucking shout at me! She slumps on the sofa, her head falling into her hands. Oh, I can't keep living like this. She clenches her scalp, tries to keep tears at bay. We just need to get established. Christine leans forward, softens her voice. I found a cottage in the Welsh mountains, near a commune where they... Oh Christ, not this again. We have to stay close to the market. What market? Richard was selling to kids.
52:08 Matt Forde? Richard bolts to his feet. Fuck you! We are, but we don't have to. We could move out to the country, away from all this. Live in harmony with people who share our values. A community who appreciate your work. I can't. I can't give up, not now. Christine stands, sighs and shakes her head. I'm sorry, Richard. She can't wait around forever, not for him, not for anybody. Christine opens the property brochure, points to the lush green landscape pictured, points to the small holding nestled in the Welsh mountainside. It's your choice.
52:53 Matt Forde? Because she's getting out of the city, whether Richard joins her or not.
53:04 Matt Forde? Six months later, Penclanay Cottage, Blencaran, Wales.
53:11 Matt Forde? Richard grips the soaking rope, digs his feet into the squelching ground, and muscle straining hauls the pail up from the well.
53:21 Matt Forde? It's been two weeks since their plumbing gave out. The only running water in the cottage is the rain leaking through the roof. If it wasn't for his stockpile of micro dots, they'd have starved by now. As it is, they've managed to barter with folk in the nearby commune, trading hits for veg, tea and goat's milk. The stash is dwindling fast, so he needs to get making again. Trudging back to the house, he sets his bucket down and sniffs.
53:52 Matt Forde? Are you using my distillation pot to make soup? Christine whirls round. Well, maybe I wouldn't need to if you'd ever washed them bloody pans. Richard grits his teeth, about to vent his other considerable frustrations, when a strange sound cuts him short. His head snaps back towards the hall. He hasn't heard that ring in months. Hello?
54:18 Matt Forde? There's a crackle on the line.
54:20 Speaker 07 I see you're back in business.
54:23 Matt Forde? Richard's eyes widen, surprised, a grin creeps across his face. Solomon?
54:31 Matt Forde? How did you get this number?
54:33 Speaker 07 A couple of your purple dots came my way last week. Long story short, seems I know some of your Welsh neighbours.
54:41 Matt Forde? Richard shakes his head in disbelief. Bloody hell!
54:45 Speaker 07 I've got a proposition.
54:47 Matt Forde? Richard sinks onto the stairs, listening. Over the past year, Solomon has been busy, broadening his horizons. Building networks across Europe, the Americas and Asia. He's got a dozen countries in mind to expand to. Smugglers lined up, security, sellers, everything is in place.
55:06 Alice Levine? That really does sound like a man with a very strong sense of ideology.
55:11 Matt Forde? Solomon is just missing one thing.
55:14 Speaker 07 What do you say, kid?
55:16 Matt Forde? The hairs on Richard's arms stiffen. What Solomon's saying sounds like everything he pictured for himself. He's missed having a partner who thinks as big as he does. But the exhilaration quickly fades. I'm not slugging my guts out again just to make arseholes like Stark rich.
55:35 Speaker 07 Which is why I will personally oversee all production, distribution and profit shares, taking my orders from you.
55:43 Matt Forde? Richard grips the receiver, unsure he's understood correctly. Solomon... working for him?
55:51 Speaker 07 This whole operation lives or dies by your acid. Without it, we've got nothing. But with it, we turn on not just the UK, but the entire fucking world!
56:05 Matt Forde? Richard looks around his old rickety cottage. Out of the window, across the brown autumn hillside, the slate grey sky. It's a strange headquarters for an international acid lab. But if Richard's the one who gets to call the shots, he knows he can make it work. A dwindling spark inside him starts to flicker again. Delayed, but undeniable. It's time. Time for him to take his microdot international and usher in a brand new dawn of global consciousness.
56:49 Matt Forde? From Audible Originals and Samistat Audio, this is the first episode in our series, The Acid King.
56:55 Alice Levine? A quick note about our dialogue: in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, but all our dramatizations are based on historical research.
57:02 Matt Forde? If you'd like to know more about this story, you can read The Microdot Gang: The Rise and Fall of the LSD Network That Turned On the World by James Wiley; Operation Julie: How the Undercover Police Team Smashed the World's Greatest Drugs Ring by Dick Lee; Operation Julie: The World's Greatest LSD Bust by Lynn Ebenezer; and Undercover: Operation Julie: The Inside Story by Stephen Bentley. British Scandal is hosted by me, Matt Ford.
57:28 Alice Levine? And me, Alice Levine.
57:30 Matt Forde? Written by Chris Lockery. Additional writing by Alice Levine and Matt Ford. Our story editor was James Maniac. Sound design by Rich Evans. Our engineer was John Williams. For Samistat, our series producer was Chica Ayers. Our assistant producer was Louise Mason. Our senior producers were Joe Sykes and Dashia Lisitzina. Executive producers for Audible were Theodora LaLoudis and Astel Doyle.
58:04 Speaker 02 In the summer of 1881, US Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley and 24 other men embarked on an ambitious scientific mission to the northernmost reaches of the Arctic. But despite several triumphs of discovery, the men would soon face tragedy. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of the podcast American History Tellers. We take you to the events, times, and people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. In our latest series, after Adolphus Greeley and his men arrive at their destination, more than 1,000 miles above the Arctic Circle, they get to work collecting scientific data and exploring the frigid landscape. But when resupply ships fail to reach them two summers in a row, they're forced to set
58:46 Speaker 02 out on a desperate search for rescue, and not all of them will make it home. Follow American History Tellers wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American History Tellers' Greeley Arctic Expedition early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. A trucker merges onto the I-10 in New Orleans. He checks his mirrors. The lane is clear. And then, boom, impact. A pickup truck, seemingly out of nowhere, scrapes down the side of his 18-wheeler. Multiple passengers inside. One man flees the scene. And the driver of the pickup, he doesn't seem all that upset. It didn't feel like a regular accident, because it wasn't. Across the city, truckers are getting sideswiped, all
59:31 Speaker 02 on the same stretch of the same freeway. And behind many of the cases is one person, a Hollywood stunt woman turned personal injury lawyer named Vanessa Moda. This podcast is a story about fake accidents that lead to real consequences, and a scheme that ends in betrayal and murder. Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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