Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated is at once a tale as old as time - a true believer learns the hard way that the costs of lofty ambition and hubris just might outweigh even the most optimistic upside - and a thoroughly modern story of technology overtaking the very people it is meant to serve. In this case: the ubiquitous electric gun carried by cops everywhere and inspiring comedic shenanigans in movies like The Hangover. Host and documentarian Nick Berardini has been obsessed with this story for his entire adult life. With Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated, he left no stone unturned. Taser, Inc., now known as Axon, the 800-pound gorilla in the paramilitary police equipment industry, is led by its charismatic CEO and co-founder, Rick Smith. Fueled by a self-described religious dedication, Smith’s Star Trek obsession, and an ambitious vision of a world without gun violence, Rick leads Taser, Inc. to be the key tech supplier to virtually every police force in America. But as stories of alleged misuse, deaths, and serious injuries from Tasers begin to emerge, Taser, Inc. and Rick arrive at a crossroads between Rick’s vision and reality, with cops and the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect paying the price. Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What makes Taser Incorporated such a significant story?
And just like Bone Valley, this podcast is a riveting listen that will open your eyes and tug at your heart. We've all seen the Taser carried by cops, seen it in the news and movies. Have you ever wondered how they became so ubiquitous? Nick Berardini and Lava for Good are taking a close look at Taser Inc., now known as Axon, the 800-pound gorilla in the paramilitary police equipment industry.
Their story is one of ambition, hubris, and technology overtaking the very people it is meant to serve. Look for Absolute, Taser Incorporated, wherever you hear this, and check out this clip from Episode 1.
Stay right where you are. We'll throw you a gun. Say hello to my little friend!
Chapter 2: What are the implications of gun violence in the U.S.?
Gun violence is surging across the U.S.
What would it be like to live in a world where none of this is possible? One man had a vision. A vision of a new reality.
Chapter 3: What was Rick Smith's vision for a safer world?
The whole reason we started this company is we wanted to get people to stop killing each other.
He was going to make it happen with an invention.
Technology has the power to elevate us. It can bring out the best in humanity. It makes the impossible possible. It can make dreams real. It can make tomorrow different than yesterday.
Chapter 4: How does technology play a role in modern policing?
Rick Smith is building this new reality in a real place. I visited the Space Age headquarters rising up from the Arizona desert. My tour guide put his eye up to a retinal scanner to get me into the building.
Identification is completed.
Chapter 5: What was the experience inside Taser's headquarters?
The steel doors retracted slowly, like we were entering a vault. I walked through a wide hallway and saw catwalks crisscrossing above me. Employees in glass conference rooms drew equations on the windows. I watched as an assembly line of workers built this future weapon called a taser. Electricity buzzed through the air. It felt like science fiction, but they were really doing it.
I was inside this world. I could see what this new technology could be capable of. And I wanted Rick's dream to be real. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, a story about unchecked power. I'm Nick Berardini. Episode 1, Whips, Poles, and Chains. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever fired your gun?
Chapter 6: What are the realities faced by police officers?
Rick Smith, in his space age outpost, was trying to build a world where the answer would always be no. But if you were a cop before that, like my friend Matt Masters, you were skeptical. Matt had been trained, if you think your life is in danger, shoot.
Door comes flying open and dude's running out. He's got the cash register in one hand and a gun in the other. And I'm like, robbery, robbery, robbery. So we bail out of our car in the middle of the street. I think the kid just didn't even like.
realized that the cops were there so as he's running he kind of like turned like oh shit kind of thing the gun was pointed at me and at that point i just reacted and i mean he wasn't stopping and i opened fire on him i shot uh shot him like five times and so he went down right there and uh dropped the cash register dropped the gun
I'm standing in the street, put out on the radio, shots fired, you know, officer involved shooting, whatever, whatever I said.
It wasn't until you rolled him over that you realized how young he was, right?
Yeah, yeah.
What did he look like?
He looked like a 14, 15-year-old kid, you know?
What did that feel like? Yeah, it bothered me, you know?
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Chapter 7: How do police officers cope with the pressure of their jobs?
The Taser changed everything for cops.
Changed everything for Matt, too.
I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone. Most of all, his wife Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. How far would he go to cover up what he'd done?
The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.
Listen to Betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, listeners. I'm Melissa Jeltsin, host of What Happened to Talena Zar. It's the story of a woman who disappears in the early days of COVID lockdowns and the group of online sleuths who try to find her.
I didn't want to be talked out of this plan. After I post this, I am turning off my phone for exactly this reason.
I kept just kind of asking everybody, anyone else think this is strange? You'll notice that about me. I don't lurk. I'm out there. I'm an action kind of girl. You can now get access to episodes of What Happened to Talena Zar 100% ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription. I'm a subscriber and you should be too. So don't wait.
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