• Bonus Episode: The Premiere of Syynth Sleuths!
    Jan 23 2024
    Each week, journalist James Renner and A.I. cohost Sky ponder the nature of consciousness while investigating the world's most confounding unsolved mysteries.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    39 mins
  • 606: The Boogeyman Effect
    Oct 26 2023

    When a new serial killer is caught, police have the tendency to try to blame them for every other murder in the vicinity. Why is it easier for us to believe in one Boogeyman rather than several?


    Covered topics: Sam Little, Arie Kruglanski, Donna Webster, Edward Wayne Edwards, Rex Heuermann, Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius


    Further Reading:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism

    https://www.orionphilosophy.com/stoic-blog/4-stoic-life-lessons-to-manage-fear

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Edwards_(serial_killer)

    https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/01/26/avery-case-great-falls-ties/79376778/

    https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/why-we-need-answers

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/us/btk-daughter-dennis-rader-kerri-rawson.html

    https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/the-read/articles/in-the-shadows

    https://www.cleveland19.com/2019/10/11/akron-mother-murdered-was-victim-serial-killer-samuel-little/

    https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/05/29/texas-ranger-serial-killer-samuel-little

    https://www.thecut.com/2018/12/how-serial-killer-samuel-little-was-caught.html

    https://www.oxygen.com/catching-a-serial-killer-sam-little/crime-news/worst-serial-killer-history-samuel-little-confessions

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Little

    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/samuel-little-most-prolific-serial-killer-in-us-history-100619

    https://www.dps.texas.gov/coldCase/Home/Details/197


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    21 mins
  • 605: Why Are Drugs Illegal?
    Oct 24 2023

    Why are some drugs illegal and others are not? Learn the sordid history of the War on Drugs and why it doesn't work.


    Covered topics: Allen Russell, Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, War on Drugs, Magic mushrooms, John Stuart Mill, Rick Doblin


    Further Reading:

    https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/pie2023_drugs.html

    https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html

    https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-0e463c390bedc7f6b25fb7e54b955b74

    https://atlantablackstar.com/2022/07/03/the-travesty-of-it-all-court-upholds-mississippi-mans-life-sentence-for-1-5-ounce-of-marijuana-possession-and-his-case-is-not-an-anomaly/

    https://lawliberty.org/the-simple-truth-about-j-s-mills-simple-truth/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs

    https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white

    https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-prisons-thriving-jim-crow-marijuana-arrests#

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWrbUwNGoWc

    https://fee.org/articles/how-15-ounces-of-marijuana-landed-this-man-a-life-long-prison-sentence/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haT4FrOYPtk

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Truth_and_Lies_in_a_Nonmoral_Sense


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    23 mins
  • 604: Why Do Innocent People Confess to Murders They Did Not Commit?
    Oct 19 2023

    What causes an innocent person to confess to a crime they didn't commit? Learn how prosecutors use false confessions to inflate their victories.


    Covered topics: confessions, Stephanie Crowe, the Reid technique, Great Fire of London, John Mark Karr, Brendan Dassey, Friedrich Nietzsche, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, Kevin Young


    Further Reading:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephanie_Crowe

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_confession

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_technique

    https://www.injusticeanywhere.net/exonerated-michael-crowe/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwi6PBUPO8

    https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/03/26/nietzsche-on-truth-and-lies-in-a-nonmoral-sense/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9ZeaaWX79c


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    21 mins
  • 603: Psychopaths and the Bicameral Mind
    Oct 17 2023

    A new theory on consciousness may explain why psychopaths hear voices telling them to kill.


    Covered topics: Son of Sam, the bicameral mind, Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Jared Lee Loughner, Herbert Mullin


    Further Reading:

    https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/roger-sperrys-split-brain-experiments-1959-1968

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F30Jykk8z0E

    https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/dangerous-minds-criminal-mental-illness

    https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3627

    https://www.ranker.com/list/people-driven-insane-by-voices-in-their-heads/jacob-shelton

    https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Jaynes

    http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/psyc%20405/serial%20killers/berkowitz,%20david.pdf

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qU1sDBU9Cs

    https://nypost.com/2016/07/17/i-survived-son-of-sams-murder-spree/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50nsmUVeVU


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    19 mins
  • 602: Why Is Bail the Worst Idea Ever?
    Oct 12 2023

    In the United States, cash bail keeps hundreds of thousands of people behind bars, even when they are presumed to be innocent.


    Covered topics: Maurice Jimmerson, bail, bonds, Kalief Browder, liberty, Isaiah Berlin, positive liberty, negative liberty, Pretrial Fairness Act,


    Further Reading:

    https://www.walb.com/2021/01/04/murder-warrants-issued-albany-october-homicide/

    https://www.walb.com/story/33773305/kennedy-sentenced-in-connection-with-drive-by-shooting/

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hung-jury-means-georgia-man-jailed-10-years-101651291

    https://www.walb.com/2023/07/28/albany-shooting-victims-family-still-looking-justice-10-years-later/

    https://wfxl.com/news/local/indictments-in-fatal-drive-by-shooting-involving-a-baby

    https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/04/26/georgia-man-behind-bars-10-years-still-waiting-his-day-court/

    https://www.acluohio.org/en/news/brief-history-cash-bail

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalief_Browder

    https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/facts-bail-reform

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2021/10/01/money-bail-is-unjust-and-should-end/?sh=2dfa900b6f06

    https://www.vera.org/news/new-yorkers-have-known-bail-doesnt-work-for-60-years-why-are-we-still-debating-it

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Concepts_of_Liberty

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCsfT2WsitE

    https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188349005/illinois-ends-cash-bail-system-state-supreme-court

    https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/the-illinois-supreme-court-cash-bail-ruling-explained


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    24 mins
  • 601: Does Diplomatic Immunity Get You Off?
    Oct 10 2023

    Diplomatic immunity keeps our government agents safe while working in foreign countries. But is it fair?


    Covered topics: Diplomatic immunity, Harry Dunn, Anne Sacoolas, Terrence Karamba, Erick Bairnals, egalitarianism, John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Murray Rothbard


    Further Reading:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ12rs5vVWU

    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianism

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-63130660

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-62648162

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11520135/Harry-Dunns-cowardly-killer-Anne-Sacoolas-refuses-answer-questions-refusing-fly-UK.html

    https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR3pGFKo/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard#cite_note-Boettke_Nomos-103

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDC7YOj4_w


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    20 mins
  • Bonus: True Crime This Week
    Aug 26 2022
    A bonus episode for your listening pleasure. I started a new podcast, True Crime This Week. It's a wrap-up of all the major true crime news you may have missed this last week. Check it out every Friday morning, where ever you get your podcasts!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    32 mins