The Infinite Mind/LCMedia Online Store : CDs/Transcripts of award-winning public radio show : Shoplifting
This week on The Infinite Mind we’re talking about Shoplifting. We explore the science behind the urge to steal, and the paradox of how a petty crime and a compulsive behavior remain celebrated in our society. Host Dr. Peter Kramer discusses shoplifting as a teen rite of passage with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, and speaks with director and star of the film "Thirteen," Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed who give us their take on why teens steal. Criminologist Richard Hollinger details the motives behind shoplifting and tracks the billions of dollars of losses to the retail industry. And, psychiatrists Dr. Jon Grant and Dr. Eric Hollander dissect what’s going on in the brains of people with kleptomania. Historian Elaine Abelson takes us back 200 years to the origins of the kleptomania diagnosis and explains how wealthy shoplifting women used biology as a defense in court. And comedian and jazz singer Lea Delaria performs her take on Jane’s Addiction’s hit college rock song Been Caught Stealin’. With commentary from John Hockenberry.
