Caught on Camera: Cheaters, Surveillance, and the Spectacle of Betrayal

Send us Fan MailIf you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know we usually live in the deep end of… everything. Politics, policy, democracy on fire, institutions crumbling—you know, light, breezy stuff. And look—we’re not abandoning that. The world is still doing whatever this is. But every once in a while, for our own sanity—and frankly, yours—we need a break. Not a “head in the sand” break. More like a “let’s examine something chaotic, ridiculous, and deeply revealing… but also kind of funny” break. Because sometimes the best way to understand society… is to watch people sprint across a parking lot while being chased by a camera crew. Cheaters and the sinister normalisation of our surveillance society | Naomi Wolf | The GuardianCheaters host Joey Greco’s stabbing was staged, paid actor saysThis Wild 2000s Reality Show Allegedly Faked a StabbingWith Joey Greco of 'Cheaters' - Los Angeles TimesAtkins, D. C., Baucom, D. H., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001). Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national sample. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(4), 735–749. Brown, B. (2006). Shame resilience theory: A grounded theory study on women and shame. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 87(1), 43–52. Coyle, P., Van Doorn, G., Teese, R., & Dye, J. (2025). Adverse childhood experiences and infidelity: The mediating roles of anxious and avoidant attachment styles. Family Process. ⚑ verify publication dateFestinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117–140. Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Harvard University Press.Ghiasi, N., Rasoal, D., Haseli, A., & Feli, R. (2023). The interplay of attachment styles and marital infidelity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heliyon, 10(1), e23261. Glass, S. P., & Staeheli, J. C. (2003). Not just friends: Protect your relationship from infidelity and heal the trauma of betrayal. Free Press.Gordon, K. C., Baucom, D. H., & Snyder, D. K. (2004). An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(2), 213–231. Gottman, J. M. (2011). The science of trust: Emotional attunement for couples. W. W. Norton & Company.Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2012). What makes love last? How to build trust and avoid betrayal. Simon & Schuster.Knopp, K., Scott, S., Ritchie, L., Rhoades, G. K., Markman, H. J., & Stanley, S. M. (2017). Once a cheater, always a cheater? Serial infidelity across subsequent relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(8), 2301–2311Marín, R. A., Christensen, A., & Atkins, D. C. (2014). Infidelity and behavioral couple therapy: Relationship outcomes over 5 years following therapy. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 3(1), 1–12.Ortman, D. C. (n.d.). Transcending post-infidelity stress disorder (PISD): The six stages of healing. ⚑ verify full title, publisher, and publication yearPerel, E. (2017). The state of affairs: Rethinking infidelity. Harper Collins.Real, T. (1997). I don't want to talk about it: Overcoming the secret legacy of male depression. Scribner.Real, T. (2022). Us: Getting past you and me to build a more loving relationship. Rodale Books.Tangney, J. P., Stuewig, J., Mashek, D., & Hastings, M. (2011). Assessing jail inmates' proneness to shame and guilt: Feeling bad about the behavior or the self? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(7), 710–734.