Mike Safo

Joined today by the definitive voice of true crime, best-selling author Dr. Harold Schechter.  Harold and I chat about his recent retirement as a professor from Queens College, how he balanced writing and teaching. Also, what made him finally decide to retire. Harold tells us how he’s protecting the world as a CIA op in Call of Duty and what other video games have been consuming his time during quarantine. Despite not giving me credit for coming up with the book, Harold talks about his upcoming book “Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer”. He describes how Andrew Kehoe killed 38 children and 6 adults in 1927. Harold explains why some tragedies live in American lore, while others fade away. We discuss his previous book, “Ripped from the Headlines: The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies’ Most Memorable Crimes”. With over 40 movies to choose from we briefly chat about “Alpha Dog”, “The Hills Have Eyes”, and “Double Indemnity”. Both of us being collectors of rare newspapers