001 – Psychopaths: Let's Chat

In the first episode, Dianne Emerson introduces the podcast, Psychopath in Your Life. The aim of this podcast is to help people understand who psychopaths are and how to identify them amongst the crowd of people that you rub shoulders with on a daily basis. Tune is as Dianne gives listeners insight into how her journey into this research began, why general information and checklists regarding psychopaths can be confusing and misleading, and what it means to be a "successful" psychopath. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:10 – Introduction to Psychopath in Your Life 00:19 – This podcast is exclusively dedicated to talk about psychopaths 00:42 – In the 1980's, Ann Rule was one of the more famous crime writers 00:49 – Her first book was about Ted Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me 01:07 – Jack Olsen also came out with a book called Son 01:19 – The character in this book came from a prominent family 01:52 – This podcast will be about identifying psychopaths 02:04 – Not all the information about psychopaths—the checklists— translate into behavior 02:28 – More information has become available because of the internet 02:40 – To store the information, Dianne set up a free forum 02:52 – She started sorting information and people started sharing their stories 03:16 – Along the way, the discussion forum grew and grew 03:50 – Dianne became fascinated by how many people got involved with a psychopath 04:20 – Who are the psychopaths? They are people who are likely to commit crimes (general prison population) 04:28 – 25% of the prison population are tested and classified as psychopaths 04:35 – 1-3% of the general population are classified as psychopaths 05:04 – How do you know if a person is a psychopath? 05:08 – They fall under the personality disorder cluster 05:14 – "It's in the genes" 06:03 – Checklists are a good source of information, but they can also cause confusion 06:12 – Smart psychopaths vs. those who end up in prison 06:49 – Psychopaths with criminal minds are easier to identify 06:58 – "The more educated they are, the more they are able to cover their behavior" 07:06 – "The one thing that they don't have that we have is a conscience" 07:52 – Without a conscience, psychopaths are able to make decisions normal people cannot 08:06 – A practiced psychopath can trick people into believing that they have conscience 09:19 – A psychopath can be a person who's successful 09:37 – A "successful psychopath" studies and learns different behaviors 10:12 – Normal people tend to overlook things 10:45 – A few years ago, Dianne was contacted by psychopaths who wanted to tell their stories 11:03 – She started a book about the plight of victims of psychopaths 11:13 – Dianne thought there had to be some more information to share to the public regarding how psychopaths operate 11:51 – She decided to interview psychopaths under controlled circumstances 12:46 – One question she asked was, "what was their motivation?" 12:51 – All 3 of them said they wanted to learn 13:00 – They wanted to learn how they can hide their behavior better 13:24 – Dianne's book is called Psychopaths in Our Lives: My Interviews 14:09 – Stranger danger is overrated 14:31 – Next episode will be about the personalities of psychopaths, clues to look for, and how you can know if you're a person they're looking to victimize 14:44 – Dianne looks forward to your questions and comments to continue the conversation! 15:07 – Dianne has spoken with a lot of victims and understands your need for privacy and confidentiality and will deal with your comments/emails with the utmost respect 15:34 – Check out Psychopath In Your Life and send your questions and comments (anonymous, if you'd prefer) that Dianne will be more than willing to address on the air 15:57 – Dianne closes the podcast 3 Key Points: One size does NOT fit all—the checklists of information regarding psychopaths does not always translate into behavior. Practiced and successful psychopaths trick people into believing they are "normal." It is the psychopaths in our lives who are the ones that can hurt us the most. Resources Mentioned: Ann Rule – a crime writer in the 1980's The Stranger Beside Me – Ann Rule's book with Ted Bundy Son – Jack Olsen's book on an affluent psychopath Psychopaths in Our Lives: My Interviews – Dianne Emerson's book