When Biological Weapons Were Secretly Tested in San Francisco

Podcast: Bay Curious (LS 57 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)
Episode: When Biological Weapons Were Secretly Tested in San Francisco
Pub date: 2025-11-06

Get Podcast Transcript →
powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization

In 1950, the U.S. military sprayed bacteria over San Francisco as part of a biological weapons test. The test team thought the bacteria it used was harmless, but several people got sick and one person died. We explore the history and impacts of this clandestine operation, now known as Operation Seaspray, on U.S. military policy and one man's family.

Additional Resources:

The True Story of the Military's Secret 1950 San Francisco Biological Weapons Test
Read the transcript for this episode
Sign up for our newsletter
Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest

Got a question you want answered? Ask!

Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts

This story was reported by Katherine Monahan. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.