The blurby bit
I’m not quite sure who this show was actually aimed at. Presumably most people who booked were, like me, hugely impressed by The Psychopath Test (which spawned a number of other books in the same vein) and interested to find what Ronson had learnt in the meantime. Which turned out to be absolutely nothing. The performance itself was peppered with material directly lifted from The Psychopath Test and even some material about Ronson’s home life, entirely unrelated to psychopathy, albeit delivered humorously. There was no mention of the current furore about Lucy Letby’s conviction for serial murder (she is either an angel painfully wronged or a sadistic psychopathic loon) which would have made it at least a bit controversial.
The only new element were the mystery guests, one of whom was author Mary Turner Thomson (The Bigamist) who told a cracking yarn, so I guess that was worth listening to. The other mystery guest though, really was a mystery. As to why he was there? As it was none other than the beleaguered Colin Stagg. Ronson introduced him only as Colin, so I really felt my age when I recognised him instantly, while the Gen Zs merely gawped: ‘Who he?’ It turns out Stagg isn’t all that intelligent and it was bloody painful watching him inarticulate his profound indifference to having been put on trial for one of the most horrific murders imaginable. Even at the time Stagg was utterly indifferent to what had played out around him, as when acquitted, the Judge storming out of his courtroom in disgust, Stagg’s only thought was sadness that he would be missing ‘Indian stir fry night’ back in the clink. It was also excruciating watch Ronson hope nobody notice his exploitation of a still very vulnerable man. We can only hope Stagg was paid a princely sum.
And that was it really. Just read the book if you need to, it’s much better, though on reflection The Psychopath Test was very much a zeitgeist.
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The Lies They Tell 
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