On the 6th of March 1995 Scott Amedure reveals his growing sexual attraction to a friend in front of a large studio audience. Behind the scenes, Jonathan Schmitz is waiting to meet a secret admirer. Jonathan is led on stage of the Jenny Jones Show and each man is revealed to the other. Scott’s face lights up but Jonathan’s expression is inscrutable, and the crowd erupts with laughter around them. Just three days after filming, Jonathan Schmitz shot his friend Scott in the chest, killing him there and then. But was Schmitz fully culpable? What happens when shame becomes public?

CREDITS

Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

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On this episode of Bad People, producer and journalist Georgia Catt speaks to Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen about her new BBC podcast, Burn Wild.

Georgia tells Julia and Sofie the story of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a group of radical underground environmentalists known as ‘elves’ and together they examine how a movement that never killed anyone became the FBI’s number one domestic terror threat.

Should we ditch the term ‘eco-terrorism’ and how far can we go to stop the planet from burning?

CREDITS

Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

#BadPeople_BBC

A popular chef instructor at a culinary school in Oregon is found shot dead in the campus kitchen. Police think it’s a homicide but have trouble establishing a motive.

There are intriguing similarities between the gun that killed Chef Brophy and one belonging to their prime suspect, but they are not the same weapon.

On this episode of Bad People, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen ask what we really know about the increasing concern surrounding unregistered firearms or “ghost guns”.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

#BadPeople_BBC

In 2009 London taxi driver John Worboys was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting five, as well as twelve charges of drugging women while they were passengers in his cab. Following a high-profile trial he was given an indeterminate prison sentence as it emerged that there may have been more than 100 victims. However, there was a public outcry when it was announced in 2018 that Worboys was to be released from prison on parole after serving just ten years in custody.

How does the parole system balance the rights of the individual prisoner against the responsibility to protect the public? And are they always right?

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

#BadPeople_BBC

In 1989 Kiranjit Ahuwalia set fire to her sleeping husband who was found running around their front garden. It emerged that she had suffered years of abuse at his hands, but is it possible to defend yourself against a sleeping attacker? This case forced the courts to examine the way that years of abuse may cloud your judgement, and specifically; what constitutes “provocation”?

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

#BadPeople_BBC

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

#BadPeople_BBC

In 2014 the ex-partner of video game maker Zoe Quinn released an online essay with intimate details of their relationship and breakup. The story takes on a life of its own when internet trolls start referencing it in misogynistic conspiracy theories posted on online forums. Soon Quinn is bombarded with serious threats of real world violence. When details of where she lives circulate, she flees her home.

Quinn was only the beginning as the harassments spread to others who were advocating for an inclusive gaming industry.

On this episode of Bad People, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen share their own experience of having an online presence and discuss what online harassment really is and who is behind it. Whose responsibility is it to make the online World safe?

The episode contains audio from BBC News.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of terrorism, threats of sexual violence and online abuse.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

#BadPeople_BBC

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands two shy teenagers, Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, were recruited into the Dutch Resistance. They quickly went from circulating illegal newspapers to seducing Nazis and German collaborators in bars before luring them into the woods…

In this episode of Bad People, recorded live at the Edinburgh Fringe, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen tackle ethical questions: When should children be allowed to take part in war and under what circumstances? And is killing ever justified?

This episode contains audio from BBC Reel.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence, genocide and murder.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.

In September 2015, Martin Shkreli quickly became ‘the most hated man in America’ after he raised the price of the life-saving drug, Daraprim, by more than 4,000% - almost overnight.

Instead of apologising or hiding away, Shkreli decided to lean into his villain image, with even more media appearances and antagonising acts. In an interview with The Hustle magazine, Shkreli was quoted as saying: “People want a villain,” “If people derive some psychological benefit from that, then I don’t want to deprive them of it. I’ll be your villain.”

Shkreli lied with regularity, harassed female journalists and even took on the Wu-Tang Clan. At his securities fraud trial almost 200 jurors were ‘excused’ during jury selection because as one juror said: “The only thing I’d be impartial about is what prison this guy goes to.”

In part two, Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss the latest research on ‘hate’. Why do we hate? Whom do we hate? And can one love to be hated? They also talk about jury selection and whether it is ever possible to have a completely unbiased jury.

CREDITS

In September 2015, Martin Shkreli’s name made headlines. He quickly became ‘the most hated man in America’ after he raised the price of the life-saving drug, Daraprim, by more than 4,000% - almost overnight.

He was vilified by the press and the public alike and was often referred to as ‘pharma bro’, a representation of everything that was seemingly wrong with Big Pharma. Was Martin Shkreli unfairly singled out? How was any of it legal? And is ruthlessness in business justified?

This is part one of two. On this episode of Bad People Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss greed and whether it’s inherently bad.

CREDITS

During an operation in 2013 a nurse sends the surgeon, Dr Simon Bramhall, a sharp look. He shrugs it off and tells her “this is what I do” and continues to burn his initials into the patient's newly transplanted liver. Later, Dr Bramhall argues that dark humour is a way to take the pressure off when working in a high-pressure hospital job.

CREDITS

Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen

#BadPeople_BBC

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.