Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

Few ideas have gripped the public imagination quite like the idea of the “psychopath.” From Hollywood thrillers to true-crime podcasts, popular culture has led us to believe that psychopaths are dangerous and biologically distinct from the rest of us. But what if almost everything we think we know about them is wrong? In this episode, we talk with Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen, an Assistant Professor of Forensic Epistemology at the University of Toronto and author of "Psychopathy Unmasked," whose research is challenging the very foundation of psychopathy as a diagnosis. Larsen explains how the term “psychopath” is relatively new, dating to the Ted Bundy trial in the 1970s, and how TVs and movies have skewed our understanding of the “psychopath.” He discusses psychopathy tests, their impact on the criminal justice system—and what the latest science reveals about the minds we’ve long misunderstood. Follow Big Brains: LinkedIn: X: Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath? is an episode from Big Brains by University of Chicago Podcast Network.

This episode is 00:35:55 long.

This episode was published on Oct 16, 2025.

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