Fame, isolation and terror: inside the mind of a lone mass killer

What is it that drives a person to mass murder?It's a question forensic psychiatrist Professor Paul Mullen has made a life's study of.While these devastating events can at times appear random — he says that taken together, from Port Arthur to Dunblane to Texas — patterns emerge that tell us about the motivations of lone mass killers.It's often to do with isolation, vengeance and fame. Which is why a growing number of people, including Paul, are pushing never to name the perpetrators of mass killings.Today on All in the Mind: insights into denying mass killers the glory they seek and preventing future massacres.Please note, this episode covers some heavy topics including massacres and suicide. Please take care while listening.Guest:Professor Paul E. Mullen Monash UniversityForensic psychiatristAuthor, Running Amok: Inside the Mind of the Lone Mass KillerCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Antonia GauciSupport:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyond Blue  1300 22 4636

Should you consider estrangement from an emotionally immature parent? How do you process the grief of realising your more stable parent … might have been a passive enabler? And what should you do if you realise you are an emotionally immature parent?This week, clinical psychologist and author Lindsay Gibson is answering your questions about emotionally immature parents. Each family is different, but she shares some key tips and lessons that can help you navigate difficult relationships.If you missed last week's episode with Lindsay, you can find it here, or listen to our original 2021 episode with her here.Guest:Dr Lindsay GibsonClinical psychologistAuthor, How to Raise an Emotionally Mature ChildCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Roi HubermanYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you've never had good parenting modelled to you, how do you raise emotionally mature kids?Clinical psychologist Dr Lindsay Gibson has thoughts. You might remember Lindsay from our extremely popular 2021 episode titled 'The damage done by emotionally immature parents (and how to heal)'. This week, she's back on All in the Mind, talking about the next generation.From the difference between consequences and punishment, to the questionable/cruel videos some parents post on social media, Lindsay has insights, tips and 'absolutes' — her rules on what to definitely not do, in order to raise emotionally mature kids.Also, keep an eye out for next week's mailbag episode, where we ask Lindsay your questions!Guest:Dr Lindsay GibsonClinical psychologistAuthor, How to Raise an Emotionally Mature ChildCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Harvey O'SullivanYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

Rebecca figured out a brilliant way to catch her partner in a lie. It led to a career in forensic psychology…These days, Rebecca studies lie detection, and it turns out, people generally overestimate their ability to tell fact from fiction. All the classic clues — body language, eye contact, acting nervous … they don't really hold up when put to the test.In our fourth and final part of our special series, Forensic, we're discovering the truth about lie detection. Are there any giveaways that someone is lying to us? Can lying show up on a brain scan?If you've enjoyed Forensic, please leave us a review or share the show with a friend.And don't forget to send us your questions based on the series, you can reach us at [email protected]:Dr Rebecca WilcoxsonLecturer in Forensic and Social Psychology, CQ UniversityDr Arthur LeeAssistant Professor, Boston UniversityCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Roi HubermanYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you saw a crime, how clearly would you remember it? What about if you were questioned years… even decades later?Eyewitness testimony is an important part of the justice system, so how much do we know about our ability to recall details?In part three of our four-part series, Forensic, we take a deeper look at eyewitness memory. Because it's not just about what we can or can't recall, there's also the risk that we may not even recognise a crime as it's happening. It turns out we're sometimes less observant than we think, because of a phenomenon called inattentional blindness.Don't forget to send us your questions based on the Forensic series, you can reach us at [email protected]:Celine van GoldeAssociate Professor in Legal PsychologyUniversity of SydneyHayley CullenLecturerSchool of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie UniversityCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer/reporter: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Roi HubermanYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

You might remember Dr Lindsay Gibson from our 2021 episode titled 'The damage done by emotionally immature parents (and how to heal)' — it was our most popular episode ever! Turns out a lot of you have emotionally immature parents…Lindsay is coming back on the show in a few weeks, so this time, we want to ask her your questions in a mailbag episode.Dr Lindsay Gibson is a clinical psychologist, bestselling author and an influential figure in the parent-child relationships space, so we're keen for questions about everything from narcissistic parents to family estrangement to modelling good parenting behaviour when you have your own kids…Send your questions to [email protected] with the subject line "question for Lindsay Gibson". Please let us know if you're happy for us to use your first name or if you'd rather be anonymous.The deadline for questions is May 26.Thank you!

Imagine police are interrogating you over a crime you didn't commit. If you're innocent, you're safe, right? Wrong.Sometimes, being innocent can make you more likely to confess. How is that possible?In part two of our four-part series, Forensic, we learn about the police interviewing techniques that make false confessions more likely, and the bizarre cases in which people come to believe they really, truly did commit a crime – despite being innocent.Guests:Saul KassinDistinguished Professor Emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor Emeritus at Williams CollegeLisanne Adam Lecturer in Law, RMIT University School of LawCeline van GoldeAssociate Professor in Legal Psychology, University of SydneyCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Roi HubermanYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

Criminal profiling promises a lot — being able to piece together a picture of a suspect through clues, intuition and psychology sounds great. But how reliable is it?In our first episode of Forensic, a four-part series unpacking the psychological tools used to solve crimes, we examine the history of criminal profiling. How it got popular in the 1950s after bombings in New York City, its shortcomings when scrutinised by researchers, and the techniques it is built on that police deploy today (but with a lot more data).Guests:Michael CannellAuthor, Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber and the Invention of Criminal ProfilingFormer Editor, The New York TimesProfessor Craig JacksonProfessor of Occupational Health PsychologyBirmingham City UniversityDr Victoria BerezowskiLecturer, Forensic Science, Deakin UniversityCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarSenior producer: James BullenProducer: Rose KerrSound engineer: Isabella TropianoYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.Further Information:Incendiary - Michael CannellThe Organized/Disorganized Typology of Serial Murder: Myth or Model?Is criminal profiling dead? Should it be? Psychology TodayGeorge Metesky, the ‘Mad Bomber’ – WikipediaUnmasking the Mad Bomber – The Smithsonian, 2017A 16-Year Hunt For New York’s ‘Mad Bomber’ – NPR, 2011An overview of offender profiling – International Journal of Police Science and Management, 2024Offender profiling: a review of the research and state of the field – Police Psychology, 2021The Grit, Glamour and Gall of Criminal Profiling – The University of Arizona, 2021Casebook of a Crime Psychiatrist – James Brussel, 1968Dangerous Minds - The New Yorker

Forget everything you’ve learned from crime dramas.Forensic is a new podcast series from All in the Mind on ABC Radio National that takes you behind the psychological tools used to solve crimes.Across four episodes, we investigate criminal profiling, false confessions, eyewitness memory and lie detection, revealing what actually works, what doesn’t, and the surprising ways things can go wrong.Forensic gives an evidence-led look at the cracks and complexities inside modern forensic psychology.Our first episode drops this Sunday! In the mean time, check out our other true crime themed series from 2025, Criminal Psychology. You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

Would you want to live forever? The rich and powerful certainly do. There are numerous examples throughout history of people going to extreme lengths in search of immortality. These days, it's Silicon Valley tech bros, testing out everything from blood transfusions to merging our brains with the cloud.Why are they/we so obsessed with dodging death? What is it about extreme wealth that makes people dream of defying biology?Today, tech journalist and social psychologist Aleks Krotoski takes us into the world of the ‘immortalists’: what they think the future of humanity might look like, and whether the rest of us want to come along for the ride.Guest:Aleks KrotoskiInvestigative journalistSocial psychologistAuthor, The Immortalists: The Death of Death and the Race for Eternal LifeCredits:Presenter/producer: Sana QadarProducer: Rose KerrSenior Producer: James BullenSound engineer: Tegan Nicholls