230: Nuance, Complexity, and Social Media

Lindsay Clancy is a 32-year-old Massachusetts woman who is on trial this week after confessing to murdering her 3 small children in 2023. Her defense contends that she was suffering from a postpartum psychosis that was responsible for her actions. She's testified that she heard voices telling her to kill the children, and that at the time of the killings, she was suffering from extreme mental illness, and a shocking cocktail of psychiatric medications. While it's difficult to analyze this particular trial without sitting in the courtroom and hearing all of the testimony, it's not difficult to analyze the deep flaws within American culture right now, as we look at the social media responses to this trial. Let's see what we can find out.

Samuel D. James, “Lindsay Clancy and the problem of therapy culture”, August 24, 2026.
Christina Grube, “Defense rests in viral Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial”, August 21, 2026.
Steven Wedgeworth, “A Canadian liturgy of death?”, August 5, 2026.