That Time an Entire French Town Went Insane

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Sources:
Thomson, Mike, Pont-Saint-Esprit Poisoning: Did the CIA Spread LSD? BBC News, August 23, 2010, www.bbc.com/news/world-10996838
Gabbai, Lisbonne, Pourquier, Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit, British Medical Journal, September 15, 1951, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
CIA Spiked Baguettes With LSD, New Evidence Suggests, Radio France Internationale, March 13, 2010, www.rfi.fr/en/americas/201003...
Jacobson, Jonathan, What Drove an Entire French Town Was on a Summer Day in 1951, Harretz, March 9, 2019, www.haaretz.com/world-news/.p...
Reilly, Lucas, When the Village of Pont-Saint-Esprit Went Temporarily Mad, Mental Floss, September 24, 2018, www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
Josset, Christophe, Did the CIA Poison a French Town With LSD? France 24, March 12, 2012, www.france24.com/en/20100311-...
Fuller, John, The Day of St. Anthony’s Fire, Signet, 1968, www.samorini.it/doc1/alt_aut/...
Blume, Mary, France’s Unsolved Mystery of the Poisoned Bread, The New York Times, July 23, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/ar...

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Use code BRAINFOOD14 for up to 14 FREE MEALS + 3 Free Gifts across 5 HelloFresh boxes, plus free shipping at bit.ly/3m1dnkn

[@TheSpark878]

Please stop with the weird jangly background music on this channel. It's distracting and adds zero value

[@jendubay3782]

Hello fresh is doing union busting. No thank you.

[@marcelmais6430]

Simon please repair your SW Light in the background.

[@davelebowski2859]

Hellofresh is not recyclable or sustainable. Kinda undermines simons credibility hearing him spout falsehoods for ad money

[@SilentRacer911]

That opening is on point now

[@MotoHikes]

A poem about Ergotism, written by Sam O'Nella "Holy shit i'm blasting out of both ends! My hearts a-seizin, my lungs a-wheezin, The fuckin walls are melting. I can hear Satan's voice. He's telling me, to invest in Apple. What does that mean? Why does he want me to buy apples?"

[@Saffron-sugar]

One has to wonder: how many tests did the CIA need to run, just to prove that LSD makes people trip balls?

[@BigBadBossu]

that wasn't the goal, the CIA was frantically trying to make truth serums, mind control drugs, etc and they were gifted a weird new drug LSD after which antics ensued

[@rubiconnn]

@Jack Monson It was declassified that the CIA sprayed hallucinogens over San Francisco around the same time. It was probably the CIA.

[@debbylou5729]

Oh, a long time. Everyone wanted it so having enough on hand was needed

[@UrMomsSuperRichEx]

They’re still testing…

[@joshua22267]

I'm watching this on some good old LAD

[@davfew]

Check out the penal colony of Macquarie island in Tasmania, we were told that they intentionally baked bread for the convicts with Ergot, as it was easier to control insane convicts than just furious ones. Believable if you saw the conditions they lived under.

[@drphosferrous]

You said "penal" lol

[@trentvlak]

That's diabolical!

[@Demonetization_Symbol]

When I saw the title, I thought this happened in medieval times.

[@comlitbeta7532]

Well it did also happened in medieval town, the most famous event in france is i think the Strasbourg dancing plage of 1518, also suspect to have been caused by food poisoning

[@Sienisota]

@@comlitbeta7532 I thought the dancing plague was theorised to be mass hysteria?

[@caitcorcoran5431]

Saaame

[@wendywoo7031]

Entire town? That's nothing. Right now the entire WORLD is insane

[@jamesrobinson9176]

Yuuup

[@Wormworttea]

@@jayspeidell Watch it be one of those pesticide or fertilizer

[@genesisjordan2440]

Yeah but imagine the entire world took an astronomical amount of LSD. Way worse

[@RonPaulOrDie]

No, the world is the exact opposite of insane right now. The new variant arose in the vaccinated and there's no vaccine for it and is largely symptomless, so we should take boosters! We're following science!

[@fuckYTIDontWantToUseMyRealName]

That was the first thing I thought!

[@erikgilson1687]

Usually I roll my eyes when ergotism gets brought out as a hypothesis for literally any weird thing ever that's happened in history but this is honestly probably the the best possible explanation in this case

[@p1nkfreud]

Exactly. I have literally taken LSA (the LSD precursor found in Ergot, Morning Glories, HWBR seeds, etc) intentionally as a misguided youth - at doses hundreds of times higher than could be naturally ingested from a little bit of mold on your bread - and the majority of the “effects” were nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. I do recall seeing the walls get a little wavy for like an hour. But that’s it.

[@erikgilson1687]

@@p1nkfreud I have not taken LSA but I have done LSD and shrooms and this really wreaks of hallucinogens than trail off as opposed to stuff like the Salem trials or the dancing plague etc that don't even remotely match up to how any modern hallucinogen works. It's either mass hysteria from social pressure or something else

[@p1nkfreud]

@@erikgilson1687 I agree with you that this sounds much more in-line with actual psychedelics - I’ve done a lot of them, LSD, P cubensis, DOC, DON, 25B-NBOMe, Mescaline, 2C-C, LSZ, AL-LAD, 4-ACO-MiPT, 5/6AP(D)B, this was all my shit in college around a decade ago. My point though is - I think they were dosed with something. Just not LSA.

[@Goldenkitten1]

@@p1nkfreud But can't the amount taken definitely have an impact on side-effects? Not to mention that different people respond differently to ALL medicinal compounds, not just hallucinogens? I mean consider that me and my mother both suffer from depression, my depression can be treated by just about any anti-depressant available whereas my mother can ONLY be treated by a very specific medication despite the blood link. Same thing happens with all sorts of hallucinogens, one guy is having the time of his life while the other is convinced he's covered in ants and that everyone is plotting against him. Between the amount consumed, their physical state (size, weight, age, etc), health (diseases, pre-dispositions) and anything else that might have been consumed during that period you could easily have had a wide range of reactions from incredibly minor to downright psychotic. I'm not saying you're wrong but we know how wide a range of reactions even basic medications can cause now to the point that one anecdotal incident of "Well it didn't do it to me" isn't really telling.

[@p1nkfreud]

@@Goldenkitten1 Do a quick google search. LSA doesn’t do much to anybody - check out it’s binding affinities; It actually treats 5HT-2A and 5HT-2C pretty indifferently. Not to mention that LSA can actually kill you, it has a very real “overdose” limit, so you can’t just take an infinite amount until it works, like with traditional lysergamides. However, where it IS very much like LSD, is that it is very unstable to light and temperature. Not sure how you could bake ANYTHING let alone bread and not destroy any minuscule amount of LSA that was in there, even IF anyone had ever truly tripped from LSA in the first place. There have been like one or two case reports where people who were on certain meds or had certain conditions reacted more strongly to LSA, but it still wouldn’t cause anywhere near the tripping that was described here, and even if you wanted to work that hypotheses, you would have to assume that this entire town was on MAOIs or were all right about to have their first schizophrenic episode, and then the LSA triggered it…I’m sorry there’s better odds of me walking down to the store and winning a peyote cactus from a lottery ticket.

[@aprilh9210]

An entire town that went crazy?! I'm here for it.

[@gazlink1]

Just French things.

[@margaretmax-community]

In Australia we take in the barely and wheat before the first rain. Once the rain hits. The rest is stock feed and must come in asap with harvest trucks working at night as well. We try to be the best export quality.

[@debbylou5729]

I'm sure people do this everywhere. Grain can have this fungus if just a little moisture gets in. Isn't Australia mostly desert? Pretty sure lots of countries have random rain

[@wterlep]

Prince Arthas, arriving in Pont Saint Esprit: "Sargeant, what did those crates contain?" Sargeant: "That's just the local grain shipment. Don't worry, it's already been distributed amongst the villagers." Prince Arthas: "Oh, f..."

[@Shinzon23]

*Frostmourne noises*

[@davidbayliss4415]

I read about this as a kid and was fascinated - the book is called "The Day of St Anthony's Fire". Never understood why it wasn't made into a movie.

[@slymandrake]

Check out 'The Grapes of Death' by Jean Rollin, it's a very French zombie film! Similar theme - village goes insane after consuming contaminated wine.

[@jaywilliams8386]

As a child, I also read an article in Life magazine called "The Town that Went Mad". Yes, it sounds like a great movie idea. Hello, Mr. Spielberg.

[@AGoodJoe]

Consistently one of the very best channels on YT. I recommend Martin Lee's book Acid Dreams. One of the most informative books on the topic.

[@vustvaleo8068]

ah yes the LSD Bread, the relative of the poppy seed muffins.

[@TheLittlestViking]

I had a friend when I was a kid whose mom was abusing oxy, and was a supervisor working in a lab. She knew in advance that they were going to have "random" drug testing, so she brought in poppy seed muffins for everyone so that they would all test positive so that she'd be in the clear and would have time for the oxy to clear her system before the re-test. Diabolical. Of course, this was the 90's, so testing wasn't as accurate as it is now.

[@texan-american200]

There was an interesting episode on "The X-Files," episode title, "Never Again" where a man went kinda nuts when he received a tattoo that was contaminated with ergot.

[@foxtailedcritter]

Man I miss X-Files legit spent weeks binge watching it.

[@unstable_one4838]

@@foxtailedcritter is it good? Been planing to watch it forever but never got around to it

[@RCAvhstape]

@@unstable_one4838 It's good but it's a bit dated so you have to cut it some slack. I watched it back when it aired and watching it now it's very much a 90s TV show. Still good and creepy though.

[@theceoofcrackcocaineandamp5961]

True documentary footage too, truly harrowing, I will never forget watching that…

[@Edgeworthscravat]

Me, clicking on video:Ergot? Me at the end of the video: Ergot.

[@Ashannon888]

Minute Simon started telling the symptoms I was "Ergotism."

[@hagbard72]

Perrier bottling plant? Nuclear power station? No wonder my Perrier glows in the dark! Just kidding, don't sue me Nestle.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Your Perrier is moderating fission reactions inside you, just to made sure you don't go critical

[@Circ00mspice]

Not the first story I heard where French people go mad over bread

[@McScrubington]

We do like our bread

[@romankeller314]

Chop chop chop

[@katherinetutschek4757]

😂😂

[@TheFlyTransGuy]

If they didn’t le mis would have been way shorter.

[@missyb.623]

Great presentation of the information. What a terrifying experience it must have been, no wonder the community has scars!

[@RoverT65536]

Some people think the compounds produced as mold battles viruses and bacteria in our walls floats on the nano particles of dead mold hyphae causing chronic systemic inflammation leading to multiple medical problems. There are something like 20% of the US taking antidepressants. A lot of houses have poorly remediated water damaged buildings. Considering the number of pharmaceuticals that are created from mold it is not that far fetched.

[@c0athanger]

I wish I could tell all those on antidepressants about psychedelic therapy 😞

[@Paladin1873]

It was aliens. One of our lizard overlords casually mentioned it to me the other day.

[@TheLumberjack1987]

In a few hundred years there'll be hologram videos about that time between 2001 and 2020 where the US collectively went insane 😂

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

I wouldn't be surprised if ergotism is the reason for that dancing mania stuff as well. Sounds fun though.

[@drphosferrous]

I was thinking Kuru on that one. It normally infects eaters of human brains but i hear you can get it, or other types of spongeform encephalitis like madcow, from oxtail.

[@drudawg4208]

I legit just heard about this but I love hearing different view points and Simon has some unique ones 😁

[@scruffycavetroll7547]

Before I watch…is this about the town where the US put LSD in the water supply (I think) @ WW2?

[@giselematthews7949]

Almost, but no cigar.

[@Aztesticals]

The symptoms lasted too long and lsd is too unstable in water we now know. You would need a tanker truck of the stuff to effect a whole town for s week

[@aaronstonebeat]

'Ponson Aprit'? I had to go to google maps and look up the actual town to figure out what you were saying. Give me strenght, it's Pont-Saint-Esprit.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Blame the ignorant American scriptwriters and editors. If it isn't American they don't care much for accuracy.

[@karlajaeger2082]

I can't help but wonder if the bread was laced with LSA from morning glory seeds. The symptoms seem to be pretty close. It would make sense to test LSD, and ergot mixed into grain against a different type.

[@evan5935]

Lsa doesnt provide visual or auditory hallucinations, purely physical sensations 🤷‍♂️

[@karlajaeger2082]

@@evan5935 I've heard differently from a study in 2013. But it also causes nausea, vomiting, and spasms. Kinda like myristicin from nutmeg.

[@karlajaeger2082]

@@samarnadra i agree. I think it has to do with the probable cause being baked bread eaten often. Since bakers and their employees would almost always have fresh bread it's likely it was just ergot infused rye or barley.

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@mattday2656]

there was a behind the bastards about this, I love when you and Robert Evans overlap, my favourite orators of darker content.

[@hagbard72]

One of the many times I dropped acid with my buddies in the 70s, inside an icehouse with no windows and thick insulated walls where no sound got in, I used to joke we were part of a CIA experiment. Little did I know. Was a fun, and enlightening, experiment. Thank you so much CIA! The Unibomber might have a different take.

[@78deathface]

This was definitely a CIA experiment

[@kennyhagan5781]

They powered a revolution in music without even knowing what they were doing. From the Grateful Dead to the latest rap hit, they kicked the door open accidentally. I love the irony of that.

[@HatzajaOfDaggerspine]

Has no one made a movie about this? FUCK it would be good.

[@zaubermaus8190]

10:41 "...this problem had never *CROPPED* up before" badadusch! lol ^^

[@asiansarecool100]

Who types ba dum tsss like that 😂

[@caitcorcoran5431]

Curious about the hundreds of pages of poetry 🤓📝

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

Winter? Unfortunate? ...Simon, my dude, you don't understand winter at all...

[@arviantoadilaksono8999]

So everyone in that village is accidentally consuming laced bread and begin to have some of the wildest hallucinations in the world

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

So far it sounds like a whole bunch of mushrooms spored upwind and let everyone in on a dose of psilocybin.

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

Oh... ergot... strikes once again.

[@FeedScrn]

An objective investigation should have been done... but with humans.. there are pre-concieved notions, conclusions, agendas to deal with... Not to mention hurt emotions from embarrassment, etc... So a clean investigation would probably have been impossible.

[@alphataco693]

do 1 on the history of milk. and the different kinds from 0percent to whole and etc

[@miyawa21]

I guess you could say the french was toasted....

[@the_once-and-future_king.]

Before I even watch the video. Ergotism, isn't it?

[@upphgm]

Serious Simons ad reads is like a normal ad read on a normal channel. Kind of weird when I somehow mistakenly thought that I was watching BB Simon.

[@Perry2186]

sounds like the fear toxin used by the batman villain scarecrow

[@LannasMissingLink]

I think its hilarious he made an attempt to pronounce the town name but said pain like the English word

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

I already have a microwave and Hot Pockets. I don't need overpriced meal kits that I actually have to cook myself, too lazy and poor for that.

[@niftyp2320]

I did the free trial for the 2-person meal Kits. Was pretty enjoyable and tasty with my GF. Forgot to cancel though and the Normal price is certainly not worth it.

[@theaeon]

Too poor I can certainly telate too lol, but that soup I made yesterday definitely beats out microwave food. But I'm definitely also too lazy to cook more than twice a week.

[@phillip6083]

Ive read the book based on this account. The days of st Anthony's fire. A real page turner.

[@comedienne_historian]

Yes, this peaks my interest.

[@MickeyD2012]

Pique

[@comedienne_historian]

@@MickeyD2012 there’s that interaction we’re looking for, watch the self-important spell-checkers roll in, my guy~

[@ksteak27]

And to think.... all the Celiac folks from the previous video were just fine! :D

[@robr640]

The town that tripped balls would be a better title, LOL!

[@rafanifischer3152]

MK ultra seems like the whipping boy for every abnormal phenomena. If you don't know just say MK ultra and you're safe.

[@missalyxlouise]

I watched the available episodes and went through reddit and wondered as soon as I got on KZbin "I wonder if Simon ever covered this like with the UK BSE outbreak?"...And yes, yes he has. A whole year ago. Excellent.

[@joelclifton6312]

Scary, a town full of people having really bad trips.

[@Sutterjack]

Great episode - I read articles about this in my youth and they were very matter-of-fact that the town was tripping balls from moldy rye. Clearly not an open and shut case-

[@nancys2839]

I once took a migraine medication that contained ergotamine, it didn't work

[@Bubbaist]

Me too. It didn’t do much for me. Luckily the triptans came along. Now I take Emgality once a month and it’s a godsend.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Me too, it was useless.

[@AcornElectron]

Aceeeeeeeeeed! Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.

[@patchworkmountains]

My HelloFresh box was contaminated with ergot

[@mattday2656]

"set and setting, folks" hahaha

[@bendershome4discountorphan859]

Was hoping you would cover this do an into the shadows on mass histeria

[@rebeccahamner8795]

I’m sorry but the bit about someone jumping from a window breaking both of their legs and running off was effing hilarious

[@dio_Brando1888]

I wonder if this is the inspiration for SCP-182

[@linseypollack2309]

I'd love to see you do a video regarding the American Committee for the Defense of British Homes, I really enjoy your delivery.

[@helloSanders]

So, Crazy Bread™ isn't safe..

[@cbarronie2361]

I was right, ergotamine poisoning *pats self on back*

[@DatBoiOrly]

my theory on this is that it was another type of fungi that effected the grain that when baked causes it to release its toxin which causes neural damage to the consumer but since it was such a low dosage it took 48hrs to get into there system

[@mgkleym]

It's pretty plausible it was the CIA. Like there isn't proof but there is a decent amount of circumstancial evidence and they did a lot of fucked up shit with psychedelic drugs.

[@Claytone-Records]

@@mgkleym And not in a fun way.

[@niftyp2320]

This is more on the "weird shit" side of things, but there are plenty of theories related to people experiencing strange things in the woods like hallucinations and delusions. Rather than these lost hikers being abducted by aliens or Bigfoot, the theory goes that they possibly were exposed to botanical or fungal chemicals that we have yet to identify. Sounds ridiculous, but it's more plausible than the many theories to strange phenomenon

[@Goldenkitten1]

​@@mgkleym But why there? There were far easier targets that could be more closely monitored, pretty much the only excuse is at that point in time it would have been hard to track but really at that time that would have gone for ANY rural town anywhere. Seems more likely that mentions of the town were instead being noted by the CIA as an example of what a hallucinogenic attack during wartime could do rather than them actually being responsible. I mean the CIA definitely did shady shit (and still does) but we know from files that they readily tested on civilians right in the heart of the US, why would this one test need to be a small town in France that would be difficult for the US government to readily monitor?

[@felicitybywater8012]

@@niftyp2320 Agreed. Occam's Razor.

[@MirageGSM]

Point St. Esprit is the sister town of my hometown, but I'd never heard of this before...

[@kendallguier1378]

I like how the thumbnails have to transition to look more like business Blaze sorry business Blaze

[@wildandbarefoot]

LAZARUS. ... Rise.... " I'm still tripping balls here . You should try this.... "

[@grimgrahamch.4157]

This video makes me think of a music video by the Avalanches called Franky Sinatra. A very similar premise, but involved drinks and the setting appeared to be either Florida or Louisiana.

[@jeremypilot1015]

Look out Little Ceasars, the French have REAL "Crazy Bread"!

[@fuckYTIDontWantToUseMyRealName]

Always fun to hear a little anti-nuclear propaganda slipped in right next to some MK-ULTRA conspiracies. Really keeps the theme going.

[@theclandestinewitness]

I gotta be honest though, if I am on death row and can only have one meal, its a freshly baked baguette and a coke. No big ass meal, let me enjoy the finer things in life then you can send me off.

[@giselematthews7949]

A coke????? No coffee?

[@thomasdavis4771]

I read the tag line and thought ergot! have to watch and see if I got it right.

[@seancass3450]

The way he says “flour” 8:40

[@vascovalente3929]

The Beard of knowledge.

[@sydneyfairbairn3773]

Ergot usually grows on rye.

[@patriciatoomingtheplantpar2558]

The smell of dead mice is very specific 😂

[@MF-R]

So is this why the French call bread "pain"?

[@Bynj3]

Oh boy, wonder what it could- oh mass hallucinations? Ergot.

[@JCLeSinge]

Hah, seven minutes in, called it. Ergot, boom.

[@therealunicornselene]

Disabling dislike was a direct attack on Simon

[@winterburden]

Just want to be fed with garlic bread! 🙆‍♀️

[@RCAvhstape]

"...nearby nuclear power plant that employs most of its residents." Cool. What could possibly go wrong?

[@ianbeel4887]

Little french village does it, gets a video. This happens in our workplace daily. Even the vending machine is at it.

[@PeterCombs]

MK-Ultra also had all kinds of planned methods of putting assorted drugs in Water supplies.

[@wrmlm37]

Simon, I loved your dyed beard...what are you up to? EDIT: You were a GREAT proponent of your former advertiser's wares...

[@MsHelloKV]

This really reminds me of the movie Honeydew on Shudder.

[@JoshSweetvale]

This definitely sounds like Ergot. Or someone's LSD experiments.

[@Gordie79hamilton]

I'm about four and a half hours from there just now. Might go get some bread and buckle up for a wild ride. 🤣😵‍💫

[@unstable_one4838]

It would be cool if you did a video purely about mk ultra. It seems interesting

[@cartoonkelly7924]

Uh-oh. Someone put magic mushroom juice in the water.

[@catsupchutney]

So much for French commitment to quality food.

[@Moto_Medics]

What’s a terrible mistake is that graffiti style typeface on an unrelated themed book cover

[@tamarinmangold1414]

I thought the same! 😖

[@marcelmais6430]

Simon please repair your SW Light in the background.

[@TravisJRaasch]

Notification Squad!!! :)

[@Dreddy72]

turns out the town was afflicted by a trial run of tictoc challenge.

[@durtyred86]

It's like the movie "Bird box" was based off of this story lol..

[@matwyder4187]

Clearly some sort of psychedelic agent, whatever it was, the best we can do to avoid events (or possible attacks) like that is to be prepared. For example, if I suddenly start to see some skull doctor sending snakes eating my brain, I'd be like, oh well, here we go again. Been there, done that. At least it's for free this time. Just stop worrying, lay back, and ride the snake. Be patient, it will certainly end. Jumping out of windows or into rivers rarely makes the situation better.

[@matwyder4187]

OK, obviously *knowing* that you took some serious shit helps to address a situation like that, but if it comes from the clear sky, it must be scary as hell. Still, having prior experience with your brain doing weird stuff clearly would ease the shock a bit at least.

[@ImperialVitriol]

How is it that comments like this go with so few likes or replies? Hilarious. And grammatically correct.

[@Circ00mspice]

@@ImperialVitriol It's a recent comment. Give it time.

[@brad885]

Right tho. It always amazes me how few people can tell they are under the influence of something.

[@Claytone-Records]

@@CosmicShinola Those uninformed folks had pretty bad trips courtesy of the CIA.

[@torjones1701]

How do I find that poetry that was written? Who was the author?

[@ArcherSuh4721]

It is now my new mission to find the poetry that was written during this.

[@c0athanger]

Did you ever find any??

[@twocvbloke]

It definitely sounds like a fungal contamination to me, though what it could have been, we'll never know, given the lack of any evidence to test that with modern techniques...

[@gooddognigel4947]

Reminds me of the Dancing Plague of 1518 (also in France).

[@johng6350]

All those theories are just a coverup for the truth. A Great Old One was summoned.