• 2:31:26 - 2:38:19
66: Black Butterfly
The Wire as Documentary, COINTELPRO, and Baltimore Surveillance
The hosts argue that "The Wire" functions more as a documentary than fiction, illustrating the corrupt links between ministers, politicians, and the drug trade. They discuss historical revelations that the Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party was actually started by an NSA veteran as part of an FBI COINTELPRO operation. This history of deep state infiltration and surveillance in Baltimore is used to explain the city's long-standing political and social instability.