What Is Stockholm Syndrome? The Answer Starts With a Bank Heist (Podcast)
This should be a movie. We’d cast Bill Skarsgård and Armie Hammer
Tim Molloy | July 5, 2018 @ 10:21 AM
Last Updated: July 6, 2018 @ 4:58 PM
The men behind the phrase "Stockholm" syndrome and the actors we would cast to play them
If you’re like most people, you’ve gone through life vaguely aware that “Stockholm syndrome,” the phenomenon of captives coming to sympathize with their captors, had something to do with a hostage situation in Sweden.
But did you know that the hostage situation unfolded from an utterly insane 1973 bank heist in which a series of improbable, extraordinarily 1973-kind-of-things happened? It’s the subject of our latest “Shoot This Now” podcast, which you can listen to on Apple or right here:
Every week on “Shoot This Now,” we talk about a different story that should be a movie. The story of “Stockholm syndrome” is one of those stories that would seem fake if it hadn’t all happened — which may explain why it hasn’t gotten the big-screen treatment it deserves.
The story begins with Jan-Erik Olsson (we’d cast Swedish “It” star Bill Skarsgard in the role) walking into a bank in August 1973. He took down two guards, and commanded one to sing. Then he took hostages and locked them in the bank’s vault.
Next, he made demands — ridiculous demands. First: He wanted Sweden to release his old prison buddy, Clark Olofsson, a celebrity criminal known in Sweden as a “pop gangster.” We’d cast Armie Hammer as Clark.
Inexplicably, the authorities agreed to reunite Olsson and Olofsson. And so they met again, within the bank’s walls.
“I think you are sitting there playing chequers with our lives,” Kristin Ehnmark told the prime minister during hostage negotiations. “I fully trust Clark and the robber. I am not desperate. They haven’t done a thing to us. On the contrary, they have been very nice. But you know, Olof, what I’m scared of is that the police will attack and cause us to die.”
The situation got stranger still, as Matt Donnelly and I discuss on the podcast. And so the concept of Stockholm Syndrome was born.
“Stockholm syndrome” is perhaps most often associated with Patty Hearst, the heiress who was kidnapped by the bizarre Symbionese Liberation Front in 1974 and later helped the group stage its own bank robbery.
Hearst’s case — and “Stockholm syndrome” — are investigated in Jeffrey Toobin’s excellent book “American Heiress,” which provided part of the inspiration for today’s episode of “Shoot This Now.”
If you like the podcast, please tell a friend or give us five stars on iTunes.
12 Podcasts That Should Be Turned Into TV Shows (Photos)
With a slew of recent podcast-to-TV adaptations -- from "My Brother, My Brother, and Me" to "Startup" to "2 Dope Queens" -- the industry is primed for even more. With so many podcasts to choose from, which ones should get the small screen treatment? We looked at ones that make for the best long-form series that tackle a unique subject and that have the elements to translate into a visual medium. Here are our picks.
"You Must Remember This"
Karina Longworth has a unique perspective on classic Hollywood that is readily apparent the moment you put on an episode. Just listen to her "Dead Blondes" series, which is running at the time of this writing, and it's clear we need more women educating people about "Hollywood's first century."
Wikimedia
"99% Invisible"
It's like "This American Life" but for the smallest, least interesting sounding stories. Somehow, the producers make something like cargo containers seem interesting. I'd be very curious to see how that would work on TV.
99% Invisible
"The Black Tapes" A fiction podcast about a batch of supernatural tapes and people with a lot of secrets seems like it should've been a TV series to begin with.
"The Black Tapes"
"Hardcore History With Dan Carlin" The internet is filled with history podcasts, but few are as intricate and detailed as "Hardcore History." I think it's time to bring back classic History Channel with some long, educational, but entertaining documentaries on history.
"Hardcore History"
"Hello From the Magic Tavern" It's an improvised story podcast about a guy who fell into a dimensional portal behind a Burger King and ended up in a magic land. It has a homespun, low-key feel that could work as a show if you kept it looking as amateurish as possible.
"Hello from the Magic Tavern"
"How Did This Get Made"
There are plenty of bad movie podcasts on the internet, but few go beyond the typical format, where a bunch of friends talk about, well, a bad movie. "How Did This Get Made" has a number of different segments, a slew of celebrity guests and a visual element that would translate well to TV.
"How Did This Get Made"
"Judge John Hodgman" Comedian John Hodgman is a judge in this podcast, where he takes the most mundane and absurd cases from everyday people. Now you just need to put that in a "Judge Judy"-style setting.
"Judge John Hodgman"
"Pod Save America"
Any of the Crooked Media podcasts would work on television. The podcasters are incredibly smart and educated in politics (two of the hosts were speechwriters for President Obama) and have a lot of inside scoop. We have enough politics on TV, but Jon, Jon and Tommy can be the "no-bulls--" commentators we need, combined with a bit of White House gossip.
"Pod Save America"
"With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus" "With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus" is a spiritual successor to "Comedy Bang Bang." Each episode has a different celebrity guest, who engages in improv with Lapkus in a false talk show scenario. It works over audio, but costumes and a set will only heighten the entertainment factor.
"Special Guest With Lauren Lapkus"
"This American Life" "This American Life" already ran as a Showtime series for two seasons that ended in 2009. Please bring it back? We want to see and not just hear where and how the show's subjects live.
"This American Life"
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" NPR's weekly trivia show is already good as it is, but imagine if you could see the special guest comedians or the contestants instead of having them call in on the phone?
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me"
"Alice Isn't Dead"
The sister podcast to "Welcome to Night Vale" isn't as popular, but it might work better as a visual adaptation. The narrator is so good at explaining the grotesque horrors around her that we almost want to see some of them in action.
"Alice Isn't Dead"
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Which ones can translate the best into a visual medium? We broke down some of our favorites
With a slew of recent podcast-to-TV adaptations -- from "My Brother, My Brother, and Me" to "Startup" to "2 Dope Queens" -- the industry is primed for even more. With so many podcasts to choose from, which ones should get the small screen treatment? We looked at ones that make for the best long-form series that tackle a unique subject and that have the elements to translate into a visual medium. Here are our picks.