The story of the life of Jesus Christ is one of the most quintessential in all of humanity, and is celebrated across many cultures. And yet, many argue that parts of his life are still shrouded in mystery. His complicated relationship with the enigmatic Mary Magdalene, for instance, is one such mystery. Some scholars argue that Mary Magdalene was more than just a follower of Jesus, but a spiritually realized partner who would continue to teach after his death and resurrection. What are the teachings of Mary Magdalene? How was her role in the life of Jesus Christ marginalized in history? How do ..read more

In January of 2002 the Spotlight investigative team for the Boston Globe dropped a bombshell when they revealed a story about sexual abuse within the local archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Boston, a heavily Catholic city, was left reeling as it learned of a total of 87 priests who had been accused of child sexual assault but were never brought to justice. Instead, the church leadership at the time opted to treat the offenders within the church or to simply move them to a different parish. The most egregious perpetrator of these crimes was one Father John Geoghan, who, over the course of his ..read more

After his death, Vincent van Gogh’s work became some of the most instantly recognizable paintings ever laid to canvas. While he was alive he was relatively unknown, broke, in poor health, and suffering from what was most likely a severe mental illness. Van Gogh would help create the story of the “tortured artist,” or one whose mental illness blessed his art but destroyed his life. This concept has become so common place in western culture that many have referred to it as a cliché, with countless other famous artists being diagnosed with mental illnesses posthumously. What is the connection bet ..read more

1980 would change the lives of Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman forever. Each had been living separate lives as young men growing up in New York during the 1970s. When a case of mistaken identity led Shafran to Galland, a beautiful story started to emerge of long-lost twins, each adopted to different parents in their infancy. As news of the remarkable story spread, the mother of David Kellman also noticed. Could it be that the story of long-lost twins was actually one of long-lost triplets? The story was an instant success, and the young brothers enjoyed their new found fame ..read more

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode describes extreme acts of sexual violence and murder. Listener discretion is advised. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka met on a balmy summer night in Toronto, Canada, in 1987. They had an instant attraction, as each seemed to indulge the dark psychological longings of the other. Paul, who had already begun building a career as a prolific serial rapist, seemed to find his perfect mate: a dependent, sexually extreme and emotionally unaffected woman who catered and indulged his every twisted whim. Together their relationship created an incredibly toxic and dark collab ..read more

From a humble beginning in Littlefield, Texas, to Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Dr. Richard Nisbett has lived an extraordinary life as a widely influential social psychologist, the key points of which he explores in his new book, Thinking: A Memoir. In this interview, Dr. Nisbett talks about his contributions to psychological research including common thinking errors people make as it pertains to thinking rationally, and teaching people how to correct them; how Asian cultures think differently than Westerners; how Americans from the South think differently than th ..read more

According to legend, President Abraham Lincoln once had a dream that foreshadowed his death at the hands of an assassin. In the dream, he even saw the exact location his body would be laid to rest. Legend also had it that Lincoln was a known follower of the spiritualist movement, and that there were many instances where he seemed to predict the future. Is time a linear construct or something more fluid? Why do we sometimes feel as if we can foretell events that have yet to pass? How does the wisdom of our body give us information in which to make sometimes fateful decisions? Join Drs. Micono a ..read more

On June 20, 2001, a woman named Andrea Yates called her local police dispatch and requested the presence of officers to her home, refusing to give any specific reason for the request. When officers arrived, they found that Andrea had killed all five of her young children by drowning them in the family bathtub. In the spectacular trial that followed, America became fixated on Andrea’s religious motivations, her comprehension of the wrongfulness of her actions, and the issue of postpartum psychosis, a serious mental illness that can afflict 1 to 2 women out of every 1,000 who give birth. How do ..read more

In the 1970s, the CIA, motivated by intelligence about Soviet espionage experiments, developed a program to create so-called “psychic spies.” Using first-person accounts of astral projection popularized by the New Age movement of the 1960s, the military began experimenting with protocols meant to create conditions in the brain that would, theoretically, allow a person’s consciousness to leave the physical body. It was hoped that this “remote viewing” practice would allow spies to then obtain useful and actionable information about enemies of the United States. It was reported that before the p ..read more

Molly Maeve Eagan met Lizzy Hershberger when Lizzy was working on a book about her experiences growing up as a daughter in a devout Amish family. Molly, working as a memoir coach and ghost writer, eagerly agreed to help. Something interesting happened as Lizzy and Molly talked more about the project, however, and a larger and darker narrative started to emerge. Eventually, Molly convinced Lizzy to tell a much more personal and powerful story; one of abuse, trauma, escape, and vindication. This seemed to be a natural fit for Molly as she had also experienced abuse and trauma at a young age, and ..read more