Since the high school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, parents and teachers are looking for warning signs that the children in their lives might suddenly strike out. But the dividing line between normal childhood aggression and social pathology can be hard to spot. Writer Paul Bravmann tells a story from his own boyhood in a West coast suburb about the difficulty of spotting that line. (14 minutes)
More in Crime
Act One
When Lissa’s niece, Carla Yellow Bird, went missing in 2016, Lissa threw everything she had into figuring out what happened to her—including talking for hours on the phone with someone she suspected was involved.
Act Two: Conning The Con Men
The story of a con man, one of the most successful salesmen in a long-running multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam, who finally got caught when he was conned himself.
Act Three: A Criminal Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Sometimes criminals return to the scene of their misdeeds — to try to make things right, to try to undo the past. Katie Davis reports on her neighbor Bobby, who returned to the scene where he robbed people and conned people.
Staff Recommendations
Harold
The story of Harold Washington and the white backlash that was set off when he became Chicago's first black mayor.
Kindness of Strangers
A locksmith tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. That, and other stories of kindness in New York City.