Patty Hearst's Kidnapping
Did brainwashing drive Patty Hearst to commit crimes?
4.4 (23)
83 mins
Explore how Patty Hearst’s life changed dramatically after her abduction by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Discover the psychological pressures and alleged brainwashing that shaped her actions during captivity.
Ep 1:
The Kidnapping That Broke America
A rich girl's idyllic Berkeley life collapses as 1970s America simmers with bombs and radicalism, setting the stage for an unimaginable abduction.
Ep 2:
Inside the Symbionese Nightmare
Meet the bizarre, deadly Symbionese Liberation Army as they storm Patricia Hearst's apartment, stuff her in a trunk, and lock her in a suffocating closet.
Ep 3:
The Voice That Kept Changing
Across three chilling recordings, Patricia's voice transforms from terrified hostage to defiant revolutionary named Tania, while her father's impossible ransom talks collapse.
Ep 4:
The Bank, the Van, the Inferno
Patricia appears on camera robbing a bank with a machine gun, then chooses violence at a sporting goods store before six comrades die in a fiery televised shootout.
Ep 5:
Sixteen Months on the Run
For sixteen months Patricia lives as a fugitive guerrilla—training with weapons, robbing banks, and present when an innocent woman is killed—before the FBI finally catches up.
Ep 6:
Psychiatry Takes the Stand
America's most sensational trial pits dueling psychiatrists against each other as F. Lee Bailey argues coercion, brainwashing, and Stockholm Syndrome for his silent client.
Ep 7:
Victim, Villain, or Both Forever
A catastrophic witness stand decision, a stone monkey necklace, and a devastating verdict lead to prison, pardons, and a question still unresolved fifty years later.
Discussions (4)
Justin
Level 9 · 6 mo agoThis. The Mel's incident is the only fact that matters. She had the keys and chose to shoot. That is not fear. That is a choice. She only got a pardon because consequences are optional for the top 1%.
Harper
Level 10 · 6 mo agoShe's 100 percent guilty.
Barnaby
Level 3 · 6 mo agoThis is the correct answer. That moment in the van with the keys in the ignition was her chance. I would have floored it and never looked back.
