Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From the Radiolab podcast: How an idea born in a Swedish bank wormed its way into all of our brains.
In August of 1973, Jan-Erik Olsson walked into the lobby of a bank in central Stockholm. He fired his submachine gun at the ceiling and yelled “The party starts now!” Then he started taking hostages. For the next six days, Swedish police and international media would tie themselves in knots trying to understand what seemed to them a sordid attachment between captor and captives. And this fixation, later pathologized as “Stockholm Syndrome,” would soon spread across the globe, becoming an easy, often flippant explanation for why people—especially women—in crisis behave in ways outsiders can’t understand. But what if we got the origin story wrong?
Today on Radiolab, we reexamine that week in 1973 and the earworm heard 'round the world. Is “Stockholm Syndrome” just pop psychology built on a pile of lies? Or does it hold some kernel of truth that could help all of us better understand inexplicable trauma?
Special thanks to David Mandel, Ruth Reymundo Mandel, Frank Ochberg, Terence Mickey, Cara Pellegrini, Kathy Yuen, Mimi Wilcox and Jani Pellikka.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Sarah Qari with help from Alice Edwards (also contributed research and translation).
Produced by Sarah Qari with help from Rebecca Laks.
Original music and sound design contributed by Jeremy Bloom.
Additional Field Recording by Albert Murillo (CC-BY) with mixing help from Jeremy Bloom.
Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton.
Edited by Alex Neason.
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Videos/Documentaries:
"Bad Hostage" by Mimi Wilcox — badhostage.com
"Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult at Sarah Lawrence" — hulu.com/series/stolen-youth-inside-the-cult-at-sarah-lawrence-0336ebcf-9f28-4a55-993b-012aedd47325
Podcasts:
The Memory Motel Episode #13: The Ideal Hostage, hosted by Terrence Mickey — memorymotel.podbean.com/e/13-the-ideal-hostage
Why She Stayed, hosted by Grace Stuart — https://tr.ee/QrEH4OI5sW
Talk to Me, The True Story of The World’s First Hostage Negotiation Team, hosted by Edward Conlon — podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-to-me/id1650466269
Partnered with a Survivor with David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel — open.spotify.com/show/3unEhibJ5qGGvR2cuMyCyv?si=39e3952158204012
Social Media:
Grace Stuart on Tiktok — tiktok.com/@gracestuart
Books:
"Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome" by David King — bookshop.org/p/books/six-days-in-august-the-story-of-stockholm-syndrome-david-king/15252712?ean=9780393867541
"See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control, and Domestic Abuse" by Jess Hill — jesshill.net/home/see-what-you-made-me-do
"Slonim Woods 9," a memoir by Daniel Barban Levin — bookshop.org/p/books/slonim-woods-9-a-memoir-daniel-barban-levin/15004953?ean=9780593138854
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Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by W. Harry Fortuna
From the Radiolab podcast: How an idea born in a Swedish bank wormed its way into all of our brains.
In August of 1973, Jan-Erik Olsson walked into the lobby of a bank in central Stockholm. He fired his submachine gun at the ceiling and yelled “The party starts now!” Then he started taking hostages. For the next six days, Swedish police and international media would tie themselves in knots trying to understand what seemed to them a sordid attachment between captor and captives. And this fixation, later pathologized as “Stockholm Syndrome,” would soon spread across the globe, becoming an easy, often flippant explanation for why people—especially women—in crisis behave in ways outsiders can’t understand. But what if we got the origin story wrong?
Today on Radiolab, we reexamine that week in 1973 and the earworm heard 'round the world. Is “Stockholm Syndrome” just pop psychology built on a pile of lies? Or does it hold some kernel of truth that could help all of us better understand inexplicable trauma?
Special thanks to David Mandel, Ruth Reymundo Mandel, Frank Ochberg, Terence Mickey, Cara Pellegrini, Kathy Yuen, Mimi Wilcox and Jani Pellikka.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Sarah Qari with help from Alice Edwards (also contributed research and translation).
Produced by Sarah Qari with help from Rebecca Laks.
Original music and sound design contributed by Jeremy Bloom.
Additional Field Recording by Albert Murillo (CC-BY) with mixing help from Jeremy Bloom.
Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton.
Edited by Alex Neason.
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Videos/Documentaries:
"Bad Hostage" by Mimi Wilcox — badhostage.com
"Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult at Sarah Lawrence" — hulu.com/series/stolen-youth-inside-the-cult-at-sarah-lawrence-0336ebcf-9f28-4a55-993b-012aedd47325
Podcasts:
The Memory Motel Episode #13: The Ideal Hostage, hosted by Terrence Mickey — memorymotel.podbean.com/e/13-the-ideal-hostage
Why She Stayed, hosted by Grace Stuart — https://tr.ee/QrEH4OI5sW
Talk to Me, The True Story of The World’s First Hostage Negotiation Team, hosted by Edward Conlon — podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-to-me/id1650466269
Partnered with a Survivor with David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel — open.spotify.com/show/3unEhibJ5qGGvR2cuMyCyv?si=39e3952158204012
Social Media:
Grace Stuart on Tiktok — tiktok.com/@gracestuart
Books:
"Six Days in August: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome" by David King — bookshop.org/p/books/six-days-in-august-the-story-of-stockholm-syndrome-david-king/15252712?ean=9780393867541
"See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control, and Domestic Abuse" by Jess Hill — jesshill.net/home/see-what-you-made-me-do
"Slonim Woods 9," a memoir by Daniel Barban Levin — bookshop.org/p/books/slonim-woods-9-a-memoir-daniel-barban-levin/15004953?ean=9780593138854
🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab wherever you listen to podcasts: lnk.to/radiolab!youtube
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab on YouTube: bit.ly/3I9KI53
🖋 Subscribe to Radiolab’s Newsletter: radiolab.org/newsletter
🌱 Check out Radiolab's Starter Kit Playlist: bit.ly/3sX8f4P
👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment!
Follow Radiolab:
Instagram — instagram.com/radiolab
X — https://x.com/Radiolab
Facebook — facebook.com/Radiolab
Threads — threads.net/@radiolab
TikTok — tiktok.com/@radiolab
Our newsletter includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up here: radiolab.org/newsletter
Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: radiolab.org/the-lab
Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by W. Harry Fortuna
