On June 7, 1998, a 49 year-old African-American man was brutally killed in one of the most horrific hate crimes the country has ever seen. His death brought to the surface racial and cultural tensions that had been simmering just under the nation’s collective consciousness. What makes people intolerant of people from different, ethnic, racial, or cultural backgrounds? Why do we tend to focus on what makes of different instead of what binds us together?
Read MoreThey went into the jungle looking for paradise. They found hell. What draws people into cults? What is it about our psychology that yearns for something a cult promises to fulfill?
Read MoreNearly half of Americans believe life on other planets exists. Some believe we have already been visited by extraterrestrials, and still others claim to have been abducted by aliens. Is this true, or are there other, more Earthly explanations for such experiences?
Read MoreOn April 19, 1989, 28-year-old Tricia Meili, was brutally beaten, raped, and left for dead in Central Park. Five boys, each between the ages of 14 and 16, were quickly identified as suspects. Initially coerced into confessions, each boy later recanted and proclaimed his innocence. In 2002, an individual confessed to this crime, with his DNA matching that found at the crime scene. What followed sparked a national conversation on race, police methodology, and the rights of the accused. When does the investigation method cross the line into the violation of a suspect’s rights under the Constitution? Drs. Micono and Morelos take a look at the difficult job of contemporary police work and how public accountability is demanding an evolution in how law enforcement is practiced.
Read MoreIn 2016 my father and I travelled to Mexico to see the impressive pyramids of Teotihuacan. An intriguing invitation from an old friend and fellow scholar led to something much darker and yet somehow perfectly representative of the contradictions that dance together to create one of world's most spectacular, and terrifying, cities. This episode is a narrative of our trip to Mexico City and our encounter with Santa Muerte, the Mexican folk saint of death. Along the way we'll eat tacos, drink some mezcal, and try not to let my father break his leg in a Mexican pothole.
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