The Netflix series, Adolescence, which featured a boy who killed a female classmate, provoked widespread debate about the causes of his crime and the possible influence of the online 'manosphere'. Jonathan Freedland takes a long view of the way in which new media has been implicated in male violence. 19th century, cheap sensational fiction, in the form of the Penny Dreadful, was often blamed for juvenile delinquency, rape and even murder. In the 20th century, cinema, the first true mass medium, was held to blur the line between fantasy and reality, encouraging young men to emulate what they saw on the screen. But is this too simplistic a view and what's the historical evidence? With Chas Critcher, Emeritus Professor of Communications at Sheffield Hallam University and Judith Rowbotham, Visiting Professor in the Law Department at the University of Plymouth.

Producer: Jayne Egerton