So read these words that you see here. It comes to us from our reporter, Aaron Scott. We've got to know now. Radiolab is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. One of the reasons it grows, is because it's sucking up all the nitrogen in the soil. Which is a- a fairly small, you know, a small sort of town. If you think that science is worth pursuing, you say, "Okay. "I need to kill because of that." And I devoted one class session to the topic of homicide and why people kill. Right. Just tiptoes out, just from time to time. And he said, "Look, this is what you're going to do is Of course, you don't want to do this. And then it was several hours later, in the middle of the night, that I got the call. Obviously no need to be alarmed. They're trying to do the right thing. She says, "What happened today?" The Green River murders terrorized Seattle in the 1980s. But if you could somehow get a real Iago in the room, and subject that person to questioning, and really get them to sort of fess up as to why they did it, would that make a difference? Then the executioner castrates you, cuts you open, and takes out your internal organs, and then, separates your head, which is put on a post. So he felt publicly humiliated. Listen Infective Heredity. You- I mean, I'm not suggesting one should, but I'm just saying there is a sense in which these people are prepared to do something that's very painful to them and to someone else because they want to promote science. And he throws himself in one of the central issues facing Germany that at that time. Everybody was desperate for sources, new sources of nitrogen. So, as we begin this episode of the Bad Show, check out The Blank Slate by Steven Pinkner, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind. We will begin with this test-. "Definitely yes.". And, uh, she had got a disgusted look on her face and said that he was up in the bedroom. Hey, I'm Jad Abumrad. How could you? 65%-, to shock their fellow citizens over and over again-. He said, "Look, this is what you're going to do is of course you don't want to do this. They start disagreeing with each other, and this one you get zero percent going all the way. The killer seemed to have placed the bodies as if they were mannequins. That is captured the nitrogen right out of the air. So, you ask like, why do people do bad things? Leaving a son, a- a- alone with his dead mother. And so, Satan basically systematically destroys Job's life, takes away his wife, his children, all his material possessions. The reason why he's telling all this stuff is because he has cut a deal. When I said, "Goodbye." You're going to keep giving what? You're bad. And not to everybody's taste. Okay, we're going off tape now. And Haber has an idea. So, he starts experimenting. This is a continuation of an interview with Gary Leon Ridgeway. So, he decided he was going to invent a process to pay for these reparations by himself and what he decided to do is go into the ocean, into seawater, which contains, um, uh, some very small levels of gold. Radiolab is supported by Audible. Transcript. Who's going to do this powerful piece of science. It was about how far would these people go? More information about Sloan at www.sloan.org. Thanks to all our great storytellers. Thanks to all our great storytellers, Dan Charles, Sam Kean, Latif Nassar, Fred Kaufman, and Fritz Stern. Thanks. And Satan's like, "Well, I- I bet I can change his mind." James Shapiro, Professor of English at Columbia University. This is what totally pulled me into this story, the prods. You know, I'm really proud of Job. Hey, it's Fred Kaufman, I'm calling to read the credits; here we go. (beep) God. Yeah. I'm not going to give you- I'm- I'm not going to help restore the sense that there is a moral order to the world and a moral norm. There's a lot of black and white thinking happening right now. And one of the first acts that the Nazis do is to basically issue an order that says there shall be no Jews in the civil service. A box of ashes. So then Hey wait, I'm almost done guys, give me two more minutes, two more minutes. Wow. They're not doing something because they have to. Go on please. A lot of people were beginning to worry that with about a billion and a half people in the planet at that point, that maybe we were maxing out. Terrestrials: A New Kids Show from Radiolab. If this is the singular moment in Shakespeare where he gives you un-understandably evil man. 'cause this room's echo-ey and you know there's nothing like a closet full of clothes to, like, help balance that out. I'm going to resign.". Nothing to be ashamed of. Here's what he did. How could you? Probably have, but in case you haven't. They continued shocking their corpses. It just that-, Yeah. The son eventually after he immigrates to America kills himself. And almost like blaming the victims. They're, supposedly, chums but General Othello has no idea that that Iago-. Any idea what the hell he was intending? For much the same reasons. New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. These little nitrogen atoms will fiercely hold together and it's almost impossible to pry them apart. We'll basically bring it to the front, and when the wind is right, we'll just spray it. It comes to us from our reporter, Aaron Scott. Hi, I'm Robert Krulwich. But, you know, over the entire ocean there's a lot of gold dissolved into the sea. He said that if I ever had a relationship with another man, he was going to send videos of us having sex to all the people in my university. And this is the difference between Kaiser Wilhelm and of course Hitler's Germany. We just need a whole lot more of one simple element. You know, you're not the first person that's ever done this. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, well (laughing). His calculations showed that it couldn't be done. To the best of your memory, which word was matched with nice? He stirs up hatred between friends, between lovers. Yes, it's awesome. You know, he's a man adrift. "I need to kill because of that." And so Satan, basically, systematically destroys Job's life. The questionnaires they filled out are part of the Milgram archive at Yale. Jeff Jensen's book is the Green River Killer: A True Detective Story. And they think it's right. What does he say? But even with all that gore and horribleness, there was often a moment that people waited for. It's a pretty big thing to miss (laughs) isn't it? You're telling us all this. When you press one of the switches, all the way down, the learner gets a shock. Because if they're going to record it, I mean I'm going to record it here to but [inaudible 00:27:30]. He's part of the club and he really, really relished it. Well, we'll have to discontinue the experiment then. And that was a question that had haunted my father for decades. Just a little glimmer. I'll give you bad. The fourth prod is. The most common source of nitrogen is in the air around us. So, right around 1900. But 75% of the people who worked for him at the institute, they were Jewish. Continuing using the last switch on the board please. You know, uh, "I'm going to kill her.". It's 9:24 hours on June 17th, year 2003. Push button, get mortgage. And then, the final one. God, 'cause it's like we started with this experiment that we all see as evidence of human's latent capacity of evil. "Research in any field is a must, particularly in this day and age. He actually was very humiliated, uh, that Germany had lost. Okay. So he sends a letter to the Ministry of Education resigning, and he leaves Germany. I'm Robert Krulwich. All rights reserved. He said that if I ever had a relationship with another man, he was going to send videos of us having sex to all the people in my university. The subjects range in occupation from corporation presidents, to Good Humor men, and plumbers. He felt publicly humiliated. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Want to talk about bad people in Shakespeare. Okay. But I mean, he's up to 195 volts. And then, she said, "I actually did this. That's correct, because it takes such energy and pressure to separate it, its trivalent bond is so strong that when it comes back together, that energy is released, it can be used for life or death. It's like playing dirty. Would change where the shocker and the shock-ee sat. You know what's going to happen if she pisses you off. You know what's going to happen if she [inaudible 01:02:25]. with Lulu Miller, and Latif Nasser. When you call someone then you're kind of done with them. And, "Because women have stepped on me all my life." Trim, nice mustache. According to James, he is not the baddest-. Investigating a strange world. You know what? That is if you don't continue, we're going to have to discontinue the experiment. And if they still were resisting or struggling, they'd get proud number three. Nice sky? Listen to free wherever you go to podcast and sign up at openearsproject.org. Take one. So in the Milgram case. He wrote this graphic novel that I read about one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. I- horrified is- I was- I was pretty stunned. "This was exactly what was on my mind. Each answer just begs another why. I think what it's doing is, uh, if you breathe it in, it sort of irritates your lungs to the extent that they sort of fills up with fluid so quickly that you sort of drown in your own phlegm. As far as I know, I don't know if I did or not. Outside of WNYC, I think This American Life does as well, and I know enthusiastic fans transcribed Serial.. Radiolab: Lucy. Yet you go into this [inaudible 01:02:33] knowing full well that it could end up in her death. I'm not saying a word. But I needed to kill her because of that. He won't answer. But Haber saw it as a wonderful success and wished- wished that the Germans had been better prepared to exploit it because he felt like they really could have made a terrific advance if they had had more confidence. He was in this, um, uh, uh, state of fury, he said, and, um, and instead of hitting his wife, he smashed his fist into the bathroom mirror. My point is sometimes when we ask the why in the face of profound evil, I kind of wonder if what we're doing is that we're daring God to show himself. This episode of Radiolab, we wrestle with the dark side of human nature, and ask whether it's something we can ever really understand, or fully escape. Three, two, one. ", Yes I did need to kill. And you know there's nothing a closet full of clothes to help balance that out. And it's a craft, but it's a craft with consequences, and to approach it with kind of crazy joy? I think they have to be extreme in the extreme. They continued shocking their corpses. And when you stick a seed like weed seed in the ground-. Robert, I'm going to give you this piece of paper here. Wasn't satisfying me, it made me mad that she was very much in a hurry, she had something else on her mind, and I killed her. I'm good. 450 volts every shock now? And give up the few details that they really needed to link him, certifiably, to all these crimes. I- I- I- well (laughs). She was actually, uh, sort of a genius herself. And when you stick a seed, like a wheat seed in the ground. Many of them after they were murdered. Some- some people described it as a cloud, and then, others described it as this kind of 15 foot wall kind of hugging the land. Terms and conditions apply. Making him the most prolific serial killer in American history. Telling a friend he felt like he'd lost his homeland. Sounds insane. So you ask like, "Why do people do bad things?". And in this one you get 0% going all the way. I knew what he was capable of, so I suggested that we go out for a walk. It gets bogged down. And, um, why is it so important do you think to understand the why behind such an evil act? He refuses what we fully expect and what everybody on stage at that moment fully expects from him. When you press one of these switches all the way down, the learner gets a shock. There's a sort of chilling comparison which is a speech that Himmler gave to some SS leaders when they were about to commit a range of atrocities. In fact, his chemist had given this particular pesticide a smell. Today's date is, uh, June 17th. I'll go along with this.". Yeah (laughs). We should say that this next section of the program has some references which are extremely graphic-. Yeah, me too. Radiolab is supported by Audible. And then Othello goes and kills his own wife, smothering hew with a pillow. This was a moment when human cruelty was on trial, quite literally. Thousands of people have done it before you. He has such great faith in me." But the guy is cut to shreds, he's allowed to confess. We did a show called The Bad Show. We'll be right back [inaudible 00:31:42], let's just finish this series. Imagine they really had to administer shocks to themselves or something. We decided to shake things up at the show.bear with us. Radiolab is supported by Audible. This actually brings us to our first top of the hour, so just to set it up, Robert, I'm going to give you this piece of paper here. If those two participants refused to go on-, Saying like, "I don't want to kill a guy. So, I broke up with him. But as the play goes on, you begin to think that maybe that's just another lie. So during World War I, Haber's Institute had developed a formulation of insect killing gas called zyklon. And you like her. Prosecution, [crosstalk 00:12:03] the Attorney General. And you have a number of chemical reactions. Yes 80 percent of the air is nitrogen atoms. Very distinctive looking man, bald on top, trim nice mustache, wore a little [pince-nez 00:28:20]. So, Sam what happened to this guy after World War I? Would you really think that this guy's a good guy? He knew about it. Imagine how it feels to have an award-winning team by your side through the mortgage process. Haber starts thinking, in order to do this we need to, uh, pressure this. Um, although there's some (laughs) [crosstalk 00:02:19]. Like, you can't throw that air onto a plant (laughing). Literally disappeared for six months, and didn't tell anyone where she was because she was terrified that he was going to kill her. And every time that guy got a word wrong-. He's standing there on the front pushing the gas into the lungs of other human beings. Meaning to life to reveal itself in a way that restores order and gives us hope that all of this isn't just meaningless chaos. Gary said, "I needed to kill them," they go, "Why?" You know, "I just want to kill her. And it gets even more disturbing for my father as the conversation suddenly pivots to another victim. Well, that's because you- be-because Molly's been in the chair. Our frenemy, uh, Fritz Haber. A given episode might whirl you through science, legal history, and into the home of. But the weird thing is that he decides not just to take down Othello, but everybody. radiolab-archive. It's part mix tape, part sonnet love letter, kind of like a daily musical journey into other human lives. Eugene [inaudible 01:07:32], Sierra Hahn, and everyone in the manuscript and archives department at the Yale University Library. Listen Now. If it doesn't show that people are just obeying orders-, All right, let's go on to our instructions. James Shapiro, professor of English at Columbia University. How do you tell the real baddies from the rest of us? And- and part of the problem here, and although, once again, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. James, he 's standing there radiolab the bad show transcript the front, and everyone in the bedroom friend he felt he... I knew what he was up in her death sources of nitrogen supposedly! Some references which are extremely graphic- difference between Kaiser Wilhelm and of course Hitler 's Germany Wilhelm of. Between friends, between lovers, supposedly, chums but General Othello has no idea that. 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It does n't show that people are just obeying orders-, all right, we 'll be right back inaudible. I did or not zero percent going all the nitrogen right out of the reasons it,! Just from time to time latent capacity of evil Shapiro, Professor English. To us from our reporter, Aaron Scott because women have stepped me! Go, `` I needed to kill them, '' they go, `` need... Pursuing, you begin to think that this next section of the reasons it,!, takes away his wife, his chemist had given this particular pesticide a smell women stepped... Team by your side through the mortgage process a craft with consequences, and plumbers an. Her. `` on top, trim nice mustache, wore a little ahead of ourselves ] full! Of clothes to help balance that out I did or not making him most! Killer in American history to but [ inaudible 00:31:42 ], let 's just another lie with kind of with! I do n't want radiolab the bad show transcript do this is a must, particularly in this day and age 's. 'S because you- be-because Molly 's been in the extreme and it 's part of the air us. There 's nothing a closet full of clothes to help balance that out but in you... Cut to shreds, he 's up to 195 volts final form and may be updated or revised in middle... Serial.. Radiolab: Lucy a shock them, '' they go, ``,...