A new true crime podcast hosted by criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw will investigate why some people do ‘bad’ things, and what draws so many others to listen to true crime podcasts?
Some other questions asked in the new podcast, Bad People from BBC Sounds include, why do people confess to crimes they didn’t commit? And what about those people who fall in love with serial killers, who are they and why does it happen?
As a criminal psychologist, Dr Julia Shaw has spent much of her career thinking about these questions and more.
She’s joined by comedian Sofie Hagen, who is fascinated with true crime, for the podcast and will look at dark and complex subjects, which are often not discussed and considered taboo. They will use real criminal cases and attempt to debunk misconceptions about criminology.
Episodes of the podcast series will explore the relationship between fantasies and criminal acts, false memories and false confessions, the mental gymnastics of corporate psychopaths, and the many reasons why people commit violent crimes.
Dr Julia Shaw said: “I’m thrilled to be working with the incredible Sofie Hagen on Bad People. Each episode is a journey into some darkly fascinating cases and I sneak in as much research from criminal psychology and related fields as Sofie lets me… it’s basically a science show under the pretence of true crime, created – with love – for all my fellow crime nerds out there.”
Sofie Hagen said: “Being a fan of true crime, like I am, often means feeling appalled and disgusted with the heinous acts of people who I’d be quick to deem ‘horrible people’. I really love working with Julia – it’s interesting when you don’t always agree on everything you discuss but still very much agree on the most important thing: that it’s worth exploring if ‘evil’ even exists. And that maybe, it doesn’t.”
Bad People will be available on BBC Sounds from 30 July.
