Hard Knox with Amanda Knox
Episodes
#58 - Dark Side of the Moon (Christian)
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When our guest today, Christian, was checked into a psych ward in the midst of a manic episode a few years ago, he had no prior history of mental illn...
#57 - There's Other Ways to Do the Things (Lee Turnbull)
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Few people can say that they have remade themselves as completely as Lee Turnbull. He went from being a violent young man in London to being a happy, ...
#56 - Before Evil (Brandon Gauthier)
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Before Adolf Hitler was a genocidal autocrat, he was a young art student who loved his mother. Before Vladimir Lenin was a Marxist revolutionary, he w...
#55 - If This Doesn't Fix You, Nothing Will (Molly Bloom)
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard Molly Bloom's name from tabloid headlines about a "poker princess" or from the 2017 movie, Molly's Game. But Molly has a deeper sto...
#54 - Acknowledging the No (Chris Ballew)
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Ballew never expected or even particularly wanted mainstream success. But when his band, the Presidents of the United States of America, hit it ...
#53 - Pet Theft (Bobby Kumparak)
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Before Bobby Kumparak adopted Lucy, a French bulldog, he had never thought of a dog as a member of his family. But Lucy was different. The bond Bobby ...
#52 - The Point of No Return (Roz Savage)
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Twenty years ago, Roz Savage was a management consultant living in London with her husband. From the outside, it looked like a good life, but Roz was ...
#51 - Live at the VCA
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A few months ago, we sat down to do something we'd never done before: a live Labyrinths episode! And we knew there was no better place to do it than o...
#50 - Everyone's Biased But Me (Itiel Dror)
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Itiel Dror is used to facing resistance to his work. It comes with the territory when you're a neuroscientist studying cognitive bias in experts: ...
#49 - On the Edge (Andrew Gold)
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Andrew Gold explores the extreme in his podcast On the Edge, where he’s interviewed controversial people, including a former white suprem...
#48 - The Post-Partum Shadow (Amy Kuber)
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, we brought you through the labyrinths of infertility and pregnancy, but what happens after birth? What happens when you find yourself utter...
#47 - The Summit Can't Be the Goal (Alison Levine)
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to succeed when you fail? Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton did just that, and so has modern adventurer and mountaineer Alison Levin...
#46 - The Aha Moment (AJ Jacobs)
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris get lost in the wide world of puzzles with AJ Jacobs, author of the The Puzzler: One Man's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles e...
#45 - The Ultimate Putz (Jens Soering)
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When we first met Jens, he was still serving a life sentence for a double homicide he didn't commit. We devoted a whole season of our prior podcast, T...
#44 - Modeling Cruelty, Modeling Courage (Emily Wilson)
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Wilson traveled the world over the course of her modeling career. But one photoshoot always...haunted her. She was accustomed to be valued for h...
#43 - A Slight Change of Plans (Maya Shankar)
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a young teen, Maya Shankar was on a path to becoming a professional, world-class violinist, until an accident changed the course of her life, leadi...
#42 - The Fungus Effect Part 7: Through the Looking Glass
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the final installment of our miniseries, Chris takes an ego-obliterating dose of mushrooms, and Amanda pokes her head through the looking glass for...
#41 - The Fungus Effect Part 6: The Mycocosm (Paul Stamets)
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Psilocybin isn't just a psychedelic compound, it's the product of a mushroom. In Part 6 of our miniseries, renowned mycologist Paul Stamets takes us t...
#40 - The Fungus Effect Part 5: The Way Is Not Difficult (Sam Harris)
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What is the self? How can we find tranquility without reaching past the present moment? And what does all this have to do with psychedelics? Sam Harri...
#39 - The Fungus Effect Part 4: Sacred Plants (Bia Labate)
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1955, a Mazatec shaman introduced a westerner to sacred mushrooms. That event has had tremendous ripple effects. In part 4 of our miniseries, we sp...
#38 - The Fungus Effect Part 3: Mental Health, Politics, & Mushrooms (Eckert & Chapman)
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, Oregon didn't just decriminalize drugs, it legalized a framework for safe and equitable psilocybin therapy. In part three of our miniseries, ...
#37 - The Fungus Effect Part 2: Shaking the Snow Globe (Robin Carhart-Harris)
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's growing evidence that psychedelics can be useful tools for mental health and wellbeing. In part 2 of our miniseries, neuroscientist Robin Carh...
#36 - The Fungus Effect Part 1: Down the Rabbit Hole (Michael Pollan)
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The psychedelic renaissance is here, but will it last? In this 7-part series, Amanda and Chris deep dive into the history, neuroscience, politics, and...
BONUS - WHO'S RIGHT? - Can you remake yourself?
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Every other week, Amanda and Chris debate an ethical question, from suicide and abortion to whether it's okay to trap your cat in the laundry hamper! ...
#35 - 280 Days Part 3: 3rd Trimester (Emily Oster)
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hang onto your hats! Third trimester is a wild ride with an early rush to the hospital and fears of dying in childbirth. Emily Oster, author of the Fa...
#34 - 280 Days Part 2: 2nd Trimester (Emily Oster)
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Amanda and Chris enter their second trimester, they face anxieties about the genetic testing of their fetus, and Amanda is feeling less like a Godd...
#33 - 280 Days Part 1: 1st Trimester (Emily Oster)
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After an early miscarriage, Amanda and Chris began their journey into parenthood anxious to understand the data about their actual risks so they could...
#32 - Fan Fiction (Brent Spiner)
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brent Spiner is not the android Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but so many seem to want him to be that fictional character. Contending with...
#31 - Killer Looks (Zara Stone)
02 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What role does beauty play in criminal justice? Why was everyone so fixated on Amanda's eyes while she was on trial for murder? Can beauty be a privil...
#30 - The Pleasure of Pain (Mistress Cyan)
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda was accused of orchestrating a sex-game gone wrong that ended in murder. But what does a sex-game gone right look like? To find out, Amanda and...
#29 - Infertility Part 5: A Global Crisis (Dr. Shanna Swan)
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sperm counts are dropping; miscarriage rates are rising. Renowned environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Dr. Shanna Swan alerts us to the globa...
#28 - Infertility Part 4: The End of the Road
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The labyrinth of infertility has many dead ends. The miracles of science are not a guarantee, and even adoption can be an insurmountable challenge. At...
#27 - Infertility Part 3: Science to the Rescue?
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly half a million babies are born each year thanks to assisted reproductive technologies like in-vitro fertilization. But modern science is a doub...
#26 - Infertility Part 2: Miscarriage
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's a club nobody wants to join, and one few people talk about. These brave women are helping destigmatize pregnancy loss, and searching for hope aft...
#25 - Infertility Part 1: No heartbeat
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris thought it was a straight-line from unprotected sex to baby. They were painfully wrong. They relive their miscarriage and step into t...
#24 - Goodbye Pandemic, Hello World
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic is ending; the world is reopening. What should we leave behind, and what should we resurrect? And what about raging parties? Amanda and C...
#23 - Sex, Violence, & Pestilence (Mark Olshaker)
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Olshaker is a writer masquerading as a detective, tracking down serial killers with John Douglas (Mindhunter), and tracking down infectious disea...
#22 - Exonerated Nation (Obie Anthony)
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Obie Anthony served 17 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. On Oct 4th, 2011, he was released, the very same day as Amanda, his exoneree twi...
#21 - You Can't Wait for Happiness (Cheryl Hines)
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Long before Curb Your Enthusiasm, Cheryl Hines was thirty, waitressing, and stuck in a rut, her biggest acting credit, a small role on Swamp Thing. Wo...
#20 - The Ship of Theseus (Jack Ballard)
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jack was a rising stand-up comic and single dad, but then he started crumbling, piece by piece, due to an unknown illness. Amanda and Chris learn how ...
#19 - Hot Shit (Jason Flom)
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Flom leads a double life. He's a founding board member of the Innocence Project, but also the CEO of Lava Records, with wild tales of rehab and ...
#18 - The Last Fun Thing
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris got married on Leap Day 2020, just before the pandemic hit, in a wild sci-fi time-travel costume-ball. Hear all about it, and solve s...
#17 - Radical Acceptance, A Valentine's Special
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris tell their own meet-cute story, read some love poems from their book, The Cardio Tesseract, and talk with Amanda's grandparents, Bill...
#16 - Tales from the G-Man (Special Agent Steve Moore)
06 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The day Amanda got out of prison, a former FBI agent was there to help her escape Italy. Special Agent Steve Moore takes Amanda & Chris on a tour of h...
#15 - Who's the Real Criminal?
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda went to prison despite having a spotless record. The irony! Now she interviews Chris about all the times he's broken the law. Get early access...
#14 - Defending a Monster (Shannon Smith & Molly Blythe)
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When defense attorneys Shannon Smith and Molly Blythe agreed to represent Olympic doctor Larry Nassar, who pled guilty to sexually abusing young gymna...
BONUS - Happy New Year?
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world is still on fire, sort of. Amanda and Chris offer some thoughts on the New Year, and a hint of what to expect from Labyrinths in the coming ...
#13 - Three Jewels in the Crown (LeVar Burton)
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris step through a crack in the space-time continuum with LeVar Burton, who is simultaneously Kunta Kinte, Geordi La Forge, and the host ...
#12 - A Whole Suitcase of Diapers
25 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda's friend Tom finds himself separated from his pregnant girlfriend by a pandemic, politics, and thousands of miles of Pacific ocean. Get early ...
#11 - It's OK to Not Be Fine (Dave Navarro)
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Guitar legend Dave Navarro lost his mother to a murder when he was 15 years old. The trauma has been haunting him ever since, but there's hope in conn...
#10 - One Bite of the Elephant at a Time
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two parents struggle to support their 20 year old son after he's accused of something terrible. But are the authorities in the wrong here? They turn t...
#09 - The Forgotten Killer
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Nov 1st, 2007, Rudy Guede raped and murdered Meredith Kercher, and blamed Amanda Knox. On December 7th, 2020, after serving 13 years of a 16 year s...
#08 - A Humorous Journalist Out of His Depth (Jon Ronson)
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People in power have secrets, and sometimes, nefarious schemes. But how should we calibrate our skeptic’s filter? Amanda and Chris are guided into t...
#07 - No Escape, Even in Death (Yasmine Mohammed)
27 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when freedom of religion and feminism clash? Amanda and Chris traverse the cultural minefield of radical Islam with Yasmine Mohammed, who...
#06 - Plato the Primate Pooped (Tim Urban)
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our nation is more polarized than ever during the pandemic. But why? Could the answer be found 50,000 years ago? Amanda and Chris search for the root ...
#05 - It's OK to Be OK (Samantha Geimer)
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1977, Roman Polanski raped 13-year old Samantha Geimer. But strangely, the rape itself wasn't as bad as what followed. Amanda and Chris join Samant...
#04 - The Half-life of Prejudice (Malcolm Gladwell)
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda knows what it's like to be judged by decade-old distortions of her behavior. But how does that kind of thinking shape society? Join Amanda and ...
#03 - Living in the Gray (Tarra Simmons)
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What would you do with a second chance, especially if you never had a first one? Amanda and Chris connect with Tarra Simmons, who clawed her way out o...
#02 - Money Is Winning; Humans Are Losing (Andrew Yang)
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Humanity itself is stuck in a labyrinth. And an Asian man who likes math is determined to help us navigate the blind corners ahead. Join Amanda and Ch...
#01 - Lost at Sea
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Could Hell be a Caribbean cruise? Amanda and Chris lose themselves on a pleasure boat, and fellow cruisers help them find their way again. Get early ...