The Psychology of Serial Killers

About this episode:

Dr. Rachel Toles is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist. Her expertise spans trauma, addiction, and impulse control, culminating in her upcoming U.S. theater tour, The Psychology of a Murderer. Through captivating case studies of notorious killers such as the Menendez Brothers, the Columbine school shooters, Charles Manson, and more, Toles sheds light on the darkest corners of human behavior. Tickets: www.psychologyofamurderer.com.

Shermer and Toles delve into the psychology of serial killers, exploring figures like Luigi Mangione and Ted Kaczynski, as well as the influence of copycat killers and manifestos. They examine the causes of evil, considering factors such as genetics, hormones, childhood abuse—both physical and emotional—critical traumatic events between the ages of three and five, brain injuries, PTSD, and bullying. What drives someone to become a serial killer? Why do they commit such horrific crimes, and what compels them to kill repeatedly? Are there common traits that trigger mass killings, and how do they select their victims—is it random, or is there a more sinister pattern? They also discuss society’s fascination with serial killers and true crime. The conversation expands into the broader nature of human behavior, touching on Stanley Milgram’s shock experiments, the Stanford Prison Experiment and its critics, and the infamous abuses at Abu Ghraib as a real-world replication of the Stanford study. Ultimately, they explore the question of "the situation"—the environmental and psychological conditions that can lead ordinary people to commit evil acts—and whether human nature itself makes us all, under certain circumstances, capable of unimaginable cruelty.