Jun 7, 2025
First we cover a few things on our radar: Ben is reminded of an old mail-based scam, Celestia gets excited over a few astronomical news items, and we both lament the MAHA report and its seemingly made-up citations. Then Robert Bartholomew joins us to discuss the new book he wrote with Paul Weatherhead, "Social Panics and Phantom Attackers: A Study of Imaginary Assailants." Have you heard of the Mad Gasser, Spring-Heeled Jack, the Monkey Man, Whipping Tom, or any of the pet eaters, needle spikers, drones or zeppelins menacing innocent people? In the right time and place, these attackers seemed not only plausible but terrifying. Bob goes over patterns in these attacker phenomenons, as well as the social function they serve -- often a cautionary tale grounded in current moral context, with a dash of xenophobia and fear of technology thrown in. These attackers, while complete fiction, nevertheless had victims: not just those who believed a scratch or bruise was surely from the evildoer, but those who were mistakenly arrested or beaten by vigilante mobs. The societal cost can also be measured in thousands of extra police hours as well as heightened anxiety and stress.