On this episode of Road Gang Radio, host Jimmy Mac dives into the chilling world of true crime and psychology with Rachel Corbett, award-winning author and journalist, discussing her new book The Monsters We Make: Murder, Obsession, and the Rise of Criminal Profiling (W. W. Norton & Company; October 14, 2025).

Corbett unpacks the real history behind criminal profiling—from its roots in Victorian England’s Jack the Ripper era to its evolution through the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. She separates Hollywood myths from hard truths, revealing how much of what we think we know about profilers—like those seen in Mindhunter or Silence of the Lambs—is more fiction than fact.

In the interview, Rachel and Jimmy explore:

How early “profiling” grew out of pseudoscience like phrenology and physiognomy

The infamous cases of Ted Bundy, the Unabomber, and Jeffrey Dahmer

Why most crimes are still solved by traditional police work or luck, not psychological profiling

How today’s predictive policing and surveillance tools mirror the same flawed logic in digital form

Blending history, true crime, and social science, Corbett’s work challenges our fascination with monsters—and the methods we use to find them.

Learn more about Rachel and her work:

Website: https://www.rachel-corbett.com/book

The Monsters We Make: Murder, Obsession, and the Rise of Criminal Profiling

(W. W. Norton & Company; October 14, 2025)

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