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American Innovations

Lie Detector | The Future of Lying | 3

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.64.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What new technologies might eventually replace the still-popular but widely debunked polygraph? On this episode, Steven talks with Ken Alder, author of the book “The Lie Detectors: The History of an American Obsession,” about the lie detector’s enduring appeal and uncertain future.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, prime members, you can listen to American Innovations Add Free on Amazon Music.

0:05.8

Download the app today.

0:08.1

Join Wondry Plus to listen to American Innovations one week early and add free in the Wondry app.

0:15.3

Download the Wondry app in your Apple or Google Play mobile app store today.

0:28.2

Wondry, I'm Stephen Johnson and this is American Innovations.

0:35.2

It's been a hundred years since John Larson invented his cardio-numos psychograph, later

0:59.0

and more famously known as the LiDetector.

1:02.3

And in that time, the LiDetector has gotten smaller, changed names, and dipped in and

1:06.7

out of popularity, but it never quite gained the respect of the scientific community.

1:12.5

And yet somehow it is persisted in both pop culture and law enforcement.

1:17.5

It's a staple in police dramas and true crime documentaries.

1:21.8

And regardless of its reliability, it's still being used in police questioning across

1:26.6

the country.

1:28.3

Here to tell us more about the LiDetector than and now is Ken Alder, professor of history

1:33.8

at Northwestern University.

1:35.8

He's also the author of the LiDetectors, the history of an American obsession.

1:41.8

Ken Alder, thank you so much for joining us on American Innovations.

1:45.4

That's a pleasure to be here.

1:47.6

So we're really excited to have you on the show because your book was a big inspiration

1:52.2

for the series that our listeners have just heard on the history of the LiDetector.

1:56.4

We get to dive into more of these issues and more of these fascinating characters.

2:00.8

But I think one question that I wanted to start with is just how you got interested in

...

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