History Lovers and True Crime Buffs —

History contains many sliding doors – fateful moments that seem unrelated but that are actually connected. Every season on The Thread, the history podcast that I host for OZY, we take a six-degrees-of-separation approach to sharing some of history’s greatest interconnected stories. We explore how these stories hinge on the past and influence the future.

In the first season, for example, we found unexpected connections between the assassination of rock star John Lennon and Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin. The Thread has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Guardian and was recently nominated for a Webby Award for Best Podcast Miniseries in 2019. You can listen to the first three seasons here.

In the latest season of The Thread, we explore the history behind perhaps the most controversial defense in criminal law: not guilty by way of insanity. From James Holmes to Lorena Bobbitt to John Hinckley Jr., some of history’s most notorious criminal defendants are linked by this common thread. Were they bad? Or were they mad? And how can we know for sure?

Check it out at OZY.com, or subscribe to The Thread wherever you get your podcasts.

Sean Braswell OZY Senior Writer

ABOUT SEAN

An unrepentant polymath, Sean Braswell has five college degrees from three universities and will tack on “Dr.” or “Esq.” to his name whenever the circumstances warrant, usually in complaint letters to Time Warner Cable. After stints in academia and law, Sean landed at OZY, where along with serving as the creator, host and driving force behind The Thread, he writes about history, politics, law, film and sports from his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.