The Philosophy of Crime

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.

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.or...

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/missis...

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_Stepha...

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 http...

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/33...

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...

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.

The most difficult case to bring to trial is a no-body homicide, which is why it so rarely happens. We dive deep into the history of such cases and the very nature of doubt. Covered topics: Alissa Turney, Michael Turney, Sarah Turney, Archibald Fisher, No-Body Homicide, Pyrrho, Pyrrhonism aIW5G9PJEoqOzi7U49K8 Further Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu...

What is money laundering? And why does the government look the other way? Covered topics: Money laundering; Al Capone; Ozark; Paul Manafort; Hedonism; Marquis de Sade; Sadism R4w6hEsxS3KWP6uFKH9c Further reading: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502449/myth-how-al-capone-gave-us-term-money-laundering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al...

What is the connection between school shootings in the United States and toxic masculinity? Is there a way to end school shootings? Covered Topics: School shootings; Toxic masculinity, Sandy Hook, Adam Lanza, Douglas Kellner, Seung-Hui Cho Further Reading: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/marriage-equals/202008/masculinity-is-there-really-crisis https://www.fastcompany.com/90696368/i-guess-...

The Alford Plea provides a way for a defended to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. Should this be allowed in criminal court? Where did it come from? Who benefits? Covered Topics: The West Memphis 3, Henry Alford, Act Utilitarianism, Jeremy Benthem Further Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alford_plea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three#Release https://www.reuters.co...

Does reward money help solve cold cases? When did we start offering money for tips? Is there a better way? Cover topics: Whitey Bulger, F.B.I. Top Ten, Little Crow, Action Theory, Donald Davidson, Maura Murray Further Reading: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047126/Anna-Bjornsdottir--2m-Whitey-Bulger-FBI-tipster-Miss-Iceland.html https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-highest-reward-ever-pai...

How can lawyers defend guilty people? Is it ethical to help someone stay out of jail if you know they're guilty? Covered Topics: Susan Smith, Judy Clarke, Trial by Ordeal, Juan Catalan, J. L. Mackie, Moral Nihilism, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, Further Reading: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/sep/29/larry-david-long-shot-how-curb-your-enthusiasm-saved-a-man-from-death-row https://en.wikip...

This is a special, bonus episode of The Philosophy of Crime. It's a piece of long-form journalism I wrote about a man named Donny Soke, who I met while researching the unsolved murder of Lisa Pruett. Donny is serving a 888-year prison sentence for murders he did not commit. Please listen to his story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens to the art when an artist becomes a criminal? Can we still enjoy a good song written by a maniac? Or does that make us enablers? Covered Topics: Michael Jackson, John Landis, Thriller, David Foster Wallace, Roland Barthes, Death of the Author, Hitler, John Wayne Gacy Further Reading: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/21/michael-jackson-thriller-changed-music-videos https://ww...

For every tragedy, there exists an equal an opposite moment of grace. What is going on here? And what does it say about humanity? Covered Topics: Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen, Ronan Farrow, Karma, Ka Like a Wheel, Amber Hagerman, Rae-Leigh Bradbury, Amber Alert, Karen Perez, Tim Miller, Texas EquuSearch, Adam Walsh, America’s Most Wanted, Otis Toole, Werhner von Braun, Martin Bryant, DJ Grandmast...

What do we mean when we say we want to defund the police? Also, who came up with the idea of police originally, and how are they supposed to act? Covered topics: George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, Robert Peel, Peelian Principles, Rover’s Morning Glory, Steven Kinas, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract, Mariame Kaba Further Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

The United States is one of only a few countries that has executed children in modern times. In some states, teens are still regularly tried as adults for serious crimes. But should we actually be raising the age of culpability?  Covered Topics: Sean Sellers, Age of Culpability, Lionel Tate, Christopher Pittman, Juvenile Court, Aristotle, Gideon Yaffe, Raise the Age, Mark Wahlberg Further Rea...

It's 2021 and we still have secret courts in the United States. What are Grand Juries anyway? How do they work? What are they for? And why are they the worst? Covered Topics: Breonna Taylor, Grand Juries, Sol Wachtler, Karl Popper, Plato, George Schwartz, Social Contract, George Soros, Tamir Rice Further Reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/breonna-taylor-grand-jury.html https://www.cnn....

We see it in thrillers like SPLIT, but does it ever happen in real life? Are there people in this world with multiple personalities? And if so, what does it take to fracture a mind? Covered Topics: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Multiple Personalities, Alters, Billy Milligan, Zoo Man of Knoxville, David Chalmers, Hard Problem of Consciousness, Douglas Hofstadter, Panpsychism, Thales of Miletus, J...

50 years ago this week, 4 students were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State. But nobody can agree on who fired first. And the only man who knows the truth is a car salesmen who lives on a mountain.  Covered Topics: Kent State, Terry Norman, National Guard, Kent State Shootings, My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, Pontius Pilate, Objective Truth, Friedrich Nietzsche, Eugene Wigner, Massimiliano P...

When I was a reporter, I got the chance to talk to a man after he died. If you're close enough to someone, perhaps you're carrying a little piece of them inside you. Jump in and let's get weird. Covered Topics: Joe Kupchik, Optography, Wilhelm Kuhne, Erhard Reif, Elva Heaster, Douglas Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach, Recursion, Edgar Allan Poe, Maura Murray Further Reading: https://www.websleuths....

What is reasonable doubt? Can it be defined? Who does it really help? Covered topics: Caylee Anthony, Reasonable Doubt, Standard of Proof, William Blackstone, Victor V. Nebraska, Rene Descartes, Cartesian Doubt Further Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvIdgW74LCk https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-anthony-reaction/anthony-verdict-a-victory-for-reasonable-doubt-experts-say-idUSTRE7646...

Not all those who wander are lost. Most of us fantasize about started a new life somewhere. Few of us succeed. Covered Topics: Maura Murray, John List, Patrick McDermott, John J. Nazarian, Evan Ratliff, Alan Watts, Ken Lay, Plato, David Hume Further Reading: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trqDnLNRuSc&t=312s https://www.latimes.com/archives...