August 02, 2013

Random Murders aren’t so Random

If you always thought most big city murders were random, the results of a new study may surprise you: turns out most victims know their attackers. Then – a neuroscientist explains one secret about controlling addictions, and a lot more about how our brains work.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Random Murders in Big Cities Dr. Andrew Papachristos is an expert in Social Network Analysis and he used this emerging field of science to analyze the rate of random murders in big cities. He found that the vast majority of homicides are anything but random. Homicide victims and their killers tend to be criminally active and more than two-thirds know each other.
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InfoTrak: Connection Addiction and Pleasure in the Brain Dr. David J. Linden, author of The Compass of Pleasure said whether it involves eating, taking drugs, engaging in sex, gambling or doing good deeds, the pursuit of pleasure is a hardwired, central drive of humans and many other animals. He outlined recent neurobiological research that explains the reasons behind many forms of addiction and pleasure, and why they are interconnected.
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InfoTrak: Is Default the Better Option? In the last five years, almost four million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure. Steve Chaouki is Group Vice President of TransUnion's Financial Services Business unit His organization studied the differences between two groups who defaulted: those who struggled to keep paying their mortgage along with other debts like car loans and credit cards, and others who walked away from their mortgage while they kept up their other payments. He shared the surprising results of the study and what consumers can learn from it.
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