15-07-2025
Podcast Corner: West Cork crew tackle intriguing tale of mystery in Havana
It's been over seven years since the West Cork podcast was first released via Audible. It was subsequently made widely available in 2021 to coincide with Ian Bailey's trial in France, where he was found guilty of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Made by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, West Cork is one of the best true crime podcast series ever made, right up there with season one of Serial.
While subsequent promotion, events, and tie-ins (a deal to adapt it for TV was struck in 2021) took up much of their life since, Bungey and Forde found time to focus on an entirely separate investigation for the series Havana Helmet Club, released via BBC Sounds. Forde, in the opening episode Psychological Fortitude, says: 'A recording of the otherworldly sound was posted on Twitter. At the time, we were on an all-consuming deadline for a podcast about an unsolved murder in West Cork, Ireland.'
Bungey continues: 'But we were pulled in by this mystery sound.'
Havana Helmet Club explores this otherworldly and mystery sound, which was allegedly experienced by more than 200 victims of 'Havana Syndrome'. In 2016 CIA agents and US diplomats working in Cuba started reporting a sensation of standing in an invisible beam of energy, a throbbing pressure, or being deafened by a screeching noise. They said the experience left them with terrifying after-effects including loss of vision and hearing, vertigo, brain fog and loss of balance.
Others, however, believe the syndrome is a myth. Is it just an example of a mass psychogenic illness, a product of hysteria and overactive imaginations? That is what Bungey and Forde seek to uncover.
'We were fascinated by the unsettling nature of Havana Syndrome - how it seems to exist in a space between science, politics, and human perception,' says Forde. 'We've spoken to key figures, whistleblowers, and those directly affected to uncover what might be behind this mystery.'
Bungey says: 'Our aim is to present the human stories at the centre of this phenomenon — those who say their lives have been upended, and those who believe this is all an illusion. It's a puzzle that remains unsolved, and we're excited for listeners to join us on this journey.'
It's a long way from West Cork to Cuba, and listeners of the former will need to pay close attention to the 10-part series - it's incredibly dense and with its talk of undercover spies at funerals to exploding glasses at dinner parties, is perfect for fans of John Le Carré novels or the podcast The Rest is Classified.
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