Author: Matthew Clemente

Pedophile Support Group

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Pedophile Support Group

This weekend, the popular This American Life podcast aired an episode entitled “Tarred and Feathered.”  It featured stories of public shame.  Particularly interesting was a story titled “Help Wanted,” which discusses a young man’s struggle with pedophilia and child pornography.  

Here is a description of the story:

 There’s one group of people that is universally tarred and feathered in the United States and most of the world. We never hear from them, because they can’t identify themselves without putting their livelihoods and reputations at risk. That group is pedophiles. It turns out lots of them desperately want help, but because it’s so hard to talk about their situation it’s almost impossible for them to find it. Reporter Luke Malone spent a year and a half talking to people in this situation, and he has this story about one of them. More of Luke Malone’s reporting on this topic will appear next month on Medium.com. (27 minutes)

Pedophile Support Group

/ Matthew Clemente / 1 Comment

Pedophile Support Group

This weekend, the popular This American Life podcast aired an episode entitled “Tarred and Feathered.”  It featured stories of public shame.  Particularly interesting was a story titled “Help Wanted,” which discusses a young man’s struggle with pedophilia and child pornography.  

Here is a description of the story:

 There’s one group of people that is universally tarred and feathered in the United States and most of the world. We never hear from them, because they can’t identify themselves without putting their livelihoods and reputations at risk. That group is pedophiles. It turns out lots of them desperately want help, but because it’s so hard to talk about their situation it’s almost impossible for them to find it. Reporter Luke Malone spent a year and a half talking to people in this situation, and he has this story about one of them. More of Luke Malone’s reporting on this topic will appear next month on Medium.com. (27 minutes)

Fareed Zakaria on Flight 370 and Conspiracy Theories

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Fareed Zakaria on Flight 370 and Conspiracy Theories

Recently, Fareed Zakaria began his show with a commentary on Flight 370 and the human tendency to subscribe to conspiracy theories.  What I find so interesting (and so true) about “Fareed’s Take” discussion of psychology.  He describes Hanlon’s Law which he describes as the maxim: “never attribute to malice what can be better explained by incompetence.”  This is a principle that too many lawyers and policy makers fail to appreciate. 

 

Here is how the segment began: 

For those of you tired of the coverage of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, I want you to try an experiment.

When you’re with a group of friends – whose eyes might roll over when you even bring up the issue – ask them what they think happened to the plane. Very quickly you will find yourselves in the midst of a lively discussion – with many, different, competing theories, each plausible, each with holes.

The plane was hijacked, someone will say. But then why were there no demands? It was an accident, someone else will say. But then why were there no distress signals? This mystery of what actually happened is at the heart of the fascination with this story. And the mystery has now morphed into an ever increasing number of conspiracy theories about what actually happened that fateful day last month when the aircraft disappeared.

There are YouTube clips suggesting that aliens are involved, blog posts accusing the Iranians of hijacking the plane, and many who believe that the passengers and crew are still alive, perhaps on an island somewhere – like in the television show “Lost”.

I was thinking about some of these theories the other day as I was looking at a new book by Harvard law professor and former Obama official, Cass Sunstein. It’s titled, Conspiracy Theories – and Other Dangerous Ideas. The lead essay in the book explains why conspiracy theories spread – and Flight 370 is a perfect example of his logic. Sunstein treats conspiracy theories seriously, by which I mean he doesn’t assume that people are crazy to believe them. . . .

Why the Internet is Faster in the UK

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Why the Internet is Faster in the UK

Last Friday, the Planet Money podcast did a story about how American communications law has lead to the United States to have fewer internet service providers and slower internet connections than the United Kingdom.  

Here is a description of the podcast from the NPR website: 

People love to complain about their internet service, but the thing that seems to make people the craziest is they can’t switch. No matter how slow. No matter how bad the customer service. There isn’t much choice. But, this isn’t true for people in lots of other countries. In Europe, in parts of Asia, there is a real choice of who brings your internet to you.

Today on the show: Why do Americans have so few options when buying internet service? Where’s my internet jetpack?

Sunday Funday: Daily Show on SCOTUS and Campaign Finance

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Sunday Funday: Daily Show on SCOTUS and Campaign Finance 

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down McCutcheon v. FEC, striking down campaign finance law which limited aggregate federal campaign contributions. The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart lampooned the decisions and the majority Justices’ alleged political naivete.

Here is a description of the opening clip:

A historic Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance offers a resounding victory for the rich that pales only in comparison to the gains Citizens United made for corporations.

Here is a description of a clip with “Senior Legal Analyst” Aasif Mandvi:

Senior Legal Analyst Aasif Mandvi explains how political representation in America is relative to net worth.

This post was originally published on the SLACE Archive.  For more public policy related video/audio, be sure to check out the SLACE Archive for daily podcast recommendations.