Fighting for truth: The struggle to overcome pathological lying

Do pathological liars always believe the stories they tell?

What does it take for them to see the patterns behind their lies?

And what does honesty sound like from someone who has spent most of their lives making things up?

Two people talk about what it’s like to learn to tell the truth, and a researcher on deception shares how you can most effectively spot a lie.

Special thanks to Ellen Barry for her New York Times article, Can This Man Stop Lying?, which inspired this episode.

GUESTS: 

• Dr. Christian L. Hart: Teaches courses in deception and forensic psychology and conducts research primarily on lying and deception at Texas Women’s University. He’s the co-author of Pathological Lying: Theory, Research, and Practice, and of the forthcoming book, Big Liars: What Psychological Science Tells Us About Lying, and How You Can Avoid Being Duped
• Chris Massimine: Began compulsively lying in the second grade. After lies on his resume were made public, he came out about his struggles with pathological lying in Newsweek
• Vironika Wilde: Poet, spoken word artist, and author of Love and Gaslight, has learned to control her compulsive lying, which began in middle school

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