Did “A Russian Journal” author John Steinbeck offer to pass on information to the Central Intelligence Agency? According to a 1952 letter in the Agency archives from former Director of Central Intelligence Walter Bedell Smith, yes.

In the interest of fairness - and because it’s the Central Intelligence Agency’s birthday - we thought we’d try and dig up a few examples of net positives the Agency has intentionally (or unintentionally) visited upon the world. What we found was that from science to cinema, the Agency’s unexpected reach knows no bounds.

FBI files released to Connor Skelding reveal that the Bureau was so sufficiently alarmed about author Norman Mailer’s accusations about their role in Marilyn Monroe’s death that they investigated if they had, in fact, wiretapped the actress phone. After determining they hadn’t, the Bureau considered getting Mailer to retract the claim - until they discovered he was just sort of making stuff up.

The FBI file of Aldous Huxley, released after a FOIA request by Joseph Lloyd, reveals that while the English author was never under official investigation, the Bureau found his dystopian view of the future interesting enough to follow him and take notes.

When novelist Ayn Rand found out that Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover was an adherent of her Objectivist philosophy, she was thrilled, and immediately tried to set up a personal meeting. There was just one problem: Hoover had no idea what she was talking about.