Jodie Foster & John Hinckley Jr. (with RedHanded)

Summary

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WHAT WENT WRONG – Jodie Foster & John Hinckley Jr. (with RedHanded)

Podcast: What Went Wrong
Hosts: Lizzie Bassett & Chris Winterbauer
Guests: Saruti Bala & Hannah McGuire (RedHanded)
Date: April 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

This dynamic and deeply-researched episode explores one of Hollywood and America’s most disturbing true crime intersections: how the film Taxi Driver (1976) and Jodie Foster’s performance became the focal point for John Hinckley Jr., culminating in his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Joined by Saruti Bala and Hannah McGuire of the true crime podcast RedHanded, hosts Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer examine Taxi Driver’s lasting cultural impact, Jodie Foster’s harrowing experiences as a child star, and the chilling psychology driving Hinckley’s obsession. The episode also explores the evolution of the insanity defense, public reactions, and the legacy of the case on both the justice system and gun control laws.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Revisiting Taxi Driver and Its Relevance

• Parallel to True Crime Culture: Hannah connects the decaying world of Taxi Driver and Travis Bickle's anger to the experiences of a true crime podcaster and modern “manosphere” anger.

  "Am I Travis? Has it got like that now?" – Hannah McGuire [02:29]

• Taxi Driver’s Lasting Modernity:

  "I could not believe how much this movie could have been released yesterday... Even down to Jodie Foster talking about, you know, being a Libra and, like, that’s why we get along.... It really freaked me out. It feels extremely modern, particularly as it relates to the manosphere." – Lizzie Bassett [05:13]

• Film’s Themes: The group discusses how Taxi Driver diagnoses American obsessions with “lone gunmen,” societal alienation, and the fetishization of youth, which have remained disturbingly current. [06:22]

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2. Jodie Foster: Child Star Under Siege

• Early Career and Dangers on Set:

  "She was the breadwinner for her family before she was even a teenager.... At about nine years old, she filmed a Disney movie... and was actually mauled by a lion." – Lizzie Bassett [11:39]

• Taxi Driver Backlash: Foster was just 12 years old when she played the child sex worker Iris. Though controversial even at the time, the reality of seeing an actual child in those scenes was meant to be a visual gut punch on the horrors of exploitation.
• On-Set Experience:

  "Martin Scorsese, when he was trying to instruct her to unzip Robert De Niro’s fly... just started laughing hysterically because he didn’t know what to do... She ended up bonding with Robert De Niro..." – Lizzie Bassett [16:01]

• Lasting Impact: Foster credits early traumas for her emotional resilience but notes how survival skills developed in childhood can be damaging later in life.

  “There’s a part of me that has been made resilient by what I’ve done for a living... unfortunately, her survival skills will definitely come into play today.” – Jodie Foster via Lizzie Bassett [17:56]

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3. John Hinckley Jr.: Alienation, Obsession, and Delusions

Family and Psychological Background [21:28]

• Hinckley Jr. grew up in wealth and privilege but was withdrawn, passive, and not the “golden child” like his siblings. His relationship with his parents, particularly his father, was strained; he drew more and more inward.

  "[He was] a non-guy... Please, I hope no one ever describes me as that." – Lizzie Bassett/Chris Winterbauer [24:49]

• Possible schizotypal personality disorder and early obsessive tendencies—first with The Beatles, later with Jodie Foster—established patterns of delusion and magical thinking [26:09].

Descent into Obsession [27:34]

• Hinckley saw Taxi Driver 15 times, fixating on Travis Bickle, whom he viewed as both a reflection and a roadmap for his own life.
• Began keeping a diary, adopting Bickle’s Army jacket, habits, and ultimately, Bickle’s dangerous trajectory.

Fictitious Relationships and Psychosis [32:40]

• Hinckley invented a girlfriend, “Lynn Collins,” describing an entire shared life in letters to his parents. His mother mourned this entirely fictitious person.

  “All delusional... It’s just really, really, very desperately sad, isn’t it? But it’s not something we haven’t come across before.” – Saruti Bala [33:05]

• His first gun purchase, fascination with “Devastator” bullets, and deepening obsession with Jodie Foster—seeing Taxi Driver as a message to him—built toward a breaking point.

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4. The Stalking of Jodie Foster at Yale [37:45]

• Hinckley followed Foster to Yale (under the pretense of a fake writing course), dropped notes under her dorm door, and made repeated, increasingly disturbing phone calls—some recorded and played in the episode.

  “Jody, I love you six trillion times. Don’t you maybe like me a little bit?...” – Hinckley note [40:35]

• Foster’s poise in handling the calls underscores her forced maturity; she did not grasp the looming threat.

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5. Failed Attempts and The Assassination Plan

• Hinckley was not actually fixated on any particular politician—he simply saw shooting the president as a way to attract Jodie Foster’s attention. Carter was his initial target, then Reagan became president.
• He joined the National Socialist Party not out of ideology, but for “automatic acceptance.” [47:18]
• Despite multiple red flags, lax 1980s gun policies meant his weapons were only confiscated (with a $62.50 fine) after he tried to check them on a plane—no criminal charges.

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6. The Reagan Assassination Attempt [54:00]

• March 30, 1981: Hinckley shoots Reagan and three others outside the Washington Hilton, using Devastator bullets.
  • Reagan: punctured lung and other injuries (full recovery)
  • James Brady (Press Secretary): profound, permanent disability
  • Police Officer Delahanty: forced into early retirement, lasting injuries
  • Secret Service Agent McCarthy: recovered [54:48–56:51]
• Hinckley is quickly subdued by bystanders and Secret Service.

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7. Aftermath for Jodie Foster

• A media and public onslaught follows; Foster receives death threats and realizes the trauma will shape her life.

  “Being photographed felt like being shot. It still does.” – Jodie Foster [60:10]

• She never performs on stage again due to these experiences.

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8. The Trial and the Insanity Defense [62:03]

• Hinckley’s Diagnosis: Schizotypal personality disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD, rare for men to be officially diagnosed), narcissistic personality disorder, depression, and schizoid personality disorder.
• Notable Discussion: Saruti and Hannah (RedHanded) explain how rare and fraught the “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea is in practice, and the challenge of truly defining and proving legal insanity.
  • Illustrative comparison to Andrea Yates and other cases [62:44–65:10]
• Result: Jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity, which led to significant public and political backlash.

Systemic Impact [68:30]

• The case triggered sweeping legal changes, flipping the burden of proof in insanity pleas from prosecution to defense—later solidified in the Insanity Defense Reform Act (1984).
• Some states abolished the insanity defense entirely; others created a “guilty but mentally ill” verdict.

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Memorable Quotes

• "You are going to jail, sir. You’re going to jail."
  – Lizzie Bassett (on the “fantasy ending” of Taxi Driver) [10:22]

• "I think Taxi Driver is quite a good parallel to what it’s like being a true crime podcaster. Just slowly watching the world decay around you..."
  – Hannah McGuire [02:15]

• "The world of the Hinckleys was the rootless, middle class Sunbelt culture that nurtures pro family values, Christian fundamentalism, and occasional mass murderers."
  – Laura Obolensky (review, read by Lizzie Bassett) [21:55]

• "Jody, I would abandon this idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you… I hope to change your mind about me."
  – Hinckley letter (read by Saruti Bala) [52:21]

• "She would never perform on stage again. And she has acknowledged that this experience is the very understandable reason why…”
  – Lizzie Bassett [60:10]

• "If the Nazis reject you, that is really depressing."
  – Hannah McGuire [47:18]

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Notable and Disturbing Moments

• Foster’s early child star trauma: mauled by a lion at age 9 (excerpt from Graham Norton interview played) [12:10]
• The extent of Hinckley’s delusions—fabricating whole relationships, fantasizing about musical fame, and fixating upon Foster with an intensity that foreshadows the later violence.
• Repeated missed opportunities by both health care and legal systems to intervene in Hinckley's escalating instability [47:49, 50:00]
• The legal system’s subsequent overhaul of the insanity defense—an enormous nationwide consequence that makes modern insanity pleas much more difficult [68:30]
• The foundation and eventual passing of the Brady Bill, a direct result of the injuries to Press Secretary James Brady, who lived with profound disabilities for decades after the shooting [72:47]
• Hinckley's continued narcissism post-release, including claiming he caused Foster to become a lesbian [73:23]
• Enduring sadness and sympathy voiced by all panelists—for Foster, the Hinckley family, and the individuals forever altered by one man’s illness and obsession [77:36]

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:27 | RedHanded hosts introduced; Taxi Driver as true crime lens | | 04:43 | Foster’s character in Taxi Driver—discussion | | 12:06 | Foster’s lion attack/Graham Norton clip | | 16:01 | Foster’s on-set experience, child exploitation discussion | | 21:28 | Hinckley family dynamics, psychological background | | 32:40 | Hinckley’s imaginary girlfriend and delusions | | 37:45 | Hinckley stalking Foster at Yale, phone call audio | | 47:18 | Hinckley’s failed attempts, Nazi party membership | | 54:00 | March 30, 1981: The shooting of Reagan | | 60:10 | Foster reflects on trauma and permanent changes | | 62:03 | Explaining the insanity defense with RedHanded | | 68:30 | Legal changes after the Hinckley verdict | | 72:47 | The Brady Bill—background checks, gun control legacy | | 76:51 | Reflections on Hinckley’s release, mental health, and justice| | 78:10 | RedHanded and show sign-off |

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Tone and Takeaways

The discussion balances research, compassion, and dark humor—often in the gallows vein familiar to true crime/media critique podcasts. The panel brings both empathy and clear-eyed critique to all parties: Foster’s resilience, the Hinckley family’s desperation, the failures of the mental health system, and the broader implications of fame’s dangers.

The episode concludes with gratitude for RedHanded’s insights and an open, sobering question about Hinckley’s release and adequacy of current mental health supports—leaving listeners with the daunting reality that these intersections of media, mental illness, and violence can still play out today.

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Recommended if you want:

• A nuanced, conversational breakdown of the Taxi Driver/Hinckley case
• True crime and media history through collaborative storytelling
• Insights into the evolution of the American insanity defense

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Listen for:

• Jodie Foster on surviving literal and figurative lions
• Chillingly calm audio from Hinckley's calls to Foster
• A sharp, insightful exploration of pathology and responsibility—without easy answers

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Transcript

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[Lizzie Bassett]

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[Lizzie Bassett]

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[Lizzie Bassett]

Hello, and welcome back to what Went Wrong. Your favorite podcast, Full Stop, that just so happens to be about movies and how it's nearly impossible to make them, let alone a good one, let alone a movie that maybe kind of inspired someone to try to kill the President. I am one of your hosts, Lizzie Bassett, here as always with Chris Winterbauer. But because we are talking true crime today as it relates to Taxi Driver, spoiler alert, that's the movie. We have enlisted some experts to join us. I am extremely excited. I'm an enormous fan of their show. I've listened for years. We have Saruti Bala and Hannah McGuire here with us from Red Handed. Thank you both so, so much for being here.

[Saruti Bala]

Thank you for having us.

[Hannah McGuire]

Thank you for having us. We're really excited and I think Taxi Driver is quite a good. I was gonna say microcosm. That's not quite the right word. It's a good parallel to what it's like being a true crime podcaster. Just slowly watching the world decay around you and getting more and more angry every time someone else turns out to be a pedophile. I have to admit, I rewatched the first half an hour just now and I was like, am I, am I Travis? Has it got like that now?

[Lizzie Bassett]

I don't know.

[Hannah McGuire]

I'll just stay inside for a bit. No taxis for me.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Oh, no.

[Saruti Bala]

I reckon you've got two good years. Two good years in you before we get there. I was also meant to watch it, and I failed in the mission. I was told about it with ample notice. But I have been very bad because I have been either writing the Corey Richen script because obviously she's been found guilty day before yesterday. And also watching Married at First Sight Australia. I'm not gonna lie, because I'm a trash person.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Chris is mad at me because I've been watching Love is Blind instead of Seven Samurai. So we're in the same.

[Saruti Bala]

I've also watched all of that, so, you know, if any of those references come up, I'm all in.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Have you seen Taxi Driver before, ever?

[Saruti Bala]

Years and years and years ago. As Hannah will tell you, I am really notoriously bad at not having watched a lot of, like, the classic movies that everyone should have watched. Like, I'm quite bad at that. Like, I have really terrible taste in films because I almost exclusively watch horror films.

[Chris Winterbauer]

That's great taste.

[Saruti Bala]

And, like, the worst horror films out there.

[Chris Winterbauer]

I don't think anyone can have bad taste. You just have your taste, and that's what we want to celebrate on this show.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

And also a bunch of our audience

[Chris Winterbauer]

probably will not have watched Taxi Driver. You can be a surrogate for those people as we make fun of them relentlessly. All right, Lizzie, please continue.

[Saruti Bala]

Perfect. I'm here. I'm here for Taxi Driver.

[Hannah McGuire]

Let's go.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Taxi Driver is a bit of a horror film, I would argue. You know the premise. You've seen it before, Hannah. You watched at least part of it. Chris and I have obviously rewatched it because we are going to be covering Taxi Driver. That episode will air on Monday. But because there's so much to cover on Taxi Driver itself, we wanted to separate out the story of Jodie Foster and John Hinckley Jr. Which is what we're going to be talking about today. Before we jump in, I kind of want to get everybody's reactions to what you remember about the film or what you experienced from just watching it. And I guess particularly focusing a little bit on Jodie Foster's character in this movie. Hannah, what did you pick up on from the bit that you watched?

[Hannah McGuire]

I suppose my reaction to Jodie Foster specifically. We've just done our Patreon show under the Duvet, which is every week, and we did quite a lot of unpacking of the Louis Theroux manosphere documentary. And my sort of gut reaction to Jodie Foster was just like, oh, my God, like, how little has changed. Like, how all of these themes still exactly the same and still so at the Front of everyone's minds would be my gut reaction.

[Lizzie Bassett]

So that was my experience too, is I could not believe how much this movie could have been released yesterday.

[Hannah McGuire]

Totally.

[Lizzie Bassett]

And it would have been like, you don't have to change a thing. Even down to Jodie Foster talking about, you know, being a Libra and, like, that's why we get along. And the different air signs. It really blew me away. It feels extremely modern, particularly as it relates to. To the manosphere and the sort of red pill community. It's like, I mean, Scorsese really saw something, I think, before it had become mainstream the way that it has today. And that's what he put on screen. And it really freaked me out. Do you know how old she was when this was filmed?

[Saruti Bala]

No.

[Hannah McGuire]

In my head, she's always just Tallulah and Bugsy Malone. So, like, I just don't. She's timeless.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Wasn't she 15? Was she 15?

[Lizzie Bassett]

No, she's 12.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow. I was gonna say she looks young.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah.

[Hannah McGuire]

Wow.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Hannah's face is saying my feelings hideous about that. Chris, what's your take on this? And also, you know, her being 12.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Not great, Bob.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Well, we should mention Paul Schrader, who

[Chris Winterbauer]

wrote the movie, I think deserves a lot of the credit for diagnosing the American fascination with lone rangers and lone gunslingers. This is a very.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yes, I'm sorry, Absolutely.

[Chris Winterbauer]

American frontier based mythology. And this movie kind of follows a couple of movies. The Dirty Harry series with Clint Eastwood, which features the.44 Magnum that he buys, that he kind of fetishizes in this movie.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, it's all a fantasy.

[Chris Winterbauer]

And then this other movie with Charles Bronson called Death Wish that is totally absurd. You know, the John Wick, like, dead wife revenge fantasy. But we have now that type of movie, like, Taken. Right. With Liam Neeson like those. This is the prototype. This movie is riffing or making fun of. I feel like the prototype of those movies. And there's a scene in this movie later where he's monologuing his own descent into madness and he has to do a retake because he gets it wrong. And it's very much Scorsese just making fun of him. But I completely agree. It feels extremely modern. And yeah, this was a moment when we were. I think we think of fetishizing young women as a more modern trend because of like 90s pop stars or something like that. Britney Spears, JonBenet Ramsey. But this has been going on forever and I think back since the dawn of time.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Yeah.

[Chris Winterbauer]

And, you know, around this time, you had like, Brooke Shields, for example, if you go back and look at.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Oh, that is the creepiest.

[Chris Winterbauer]

The jeans commercial she was doing and whatnot. And Lolita. So it feels as modern as ever. It's, you know, pretty. Pretty unnerving to watch. And if anything, I feel like we've swung back into it. And I think, Lizzie, if it was released now, it would feel very timely in a weird way. I think if it had been released 10 years ago, it would have felt completely out of step. You know what I'm saying? It's really in the last 10 years that we've swung back into this. At least in the United States, I feel.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, today we're gonna find out, team, how Taxi Driver turned Jodie Foster into a superstar and why one fan would do anything to get her attention, even if it meant murdering the President of the United States.

[Hannah McGuire]

Okay, but are you gonna tell me what you think actually happens at the end of Taxi Driver?

[Lizzie Bassett]

Are you gonna tell me what you think? Oh, sure. I think it's a total fantasy.

[Hannah McGuire]

Okay.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah. I think it's not real. I think it's a total fantasy. And, you know, we watched it, we went back, we rolled it back, we watched it all again. It's the way the music, the way that Bernard Herrmann scores that section, it's very like. It goes back to the sort of very like, noir y jazz that you get earlier in the movie. It doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel grounded. The way that he's shot even looking in the mirror back at Cybill Shepherd.

[Chris Winterbauer]

You're saying the Cybil shepherd moment, specifically?

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yes, from when he shows back up with the scar on his neck and his hair regrown to the end, I think is a complete fantasy. I think he does kill those people.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Yeah, totally.

[Hannah McGuire]

No, I think he definitely kills them. I think I'm probably with you.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

I thought Schrader was trying to make

[Chris Winterbauer]

the media somewhat culpable here too. And how we're so quick to sensationalize this type of person and create a hero out of them. Right. And we show that his what's so funny is like, he was gonna. He was obviously going to try to assassinate Palatine, the presidential candidate, and then the chick, and he runs away and then he kills a bunch of easier targets effectively. But I do agree the civil shepherd moment feels like what he's dreaming at the end. I would say, to me, it feels like maybe the newspaper stuff is real, but we're splitting hairs.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I think it's all a dream.

[Chris Winterbauer]

You're probably right.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I think he's dying. And this is the fantasy that he sees as he's dying is like, oh, this is how I'll be remembered. Even you notice when they show Jodie Foster's parents. This is why I think that whole section is fake. They show her parents in the news article that's tacked to the board, and her parents are like 90 years old. Like, looking at. It's super old. People looking at the TV and it's like, there's no way she's 12. Like, those are not her parents.

[Hannah McGuire]

That's a really good point. Okay, I'm with you.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Sold. Yeah, I don't think any of it's real. And I think you're supposed to, like, laugh at how ridiculous his. Because, like, you are going to jail, sir. You're going to jail.

[Saruti Bala]

Interesting. And I thought it was interesting, you guys talking about how modern it feels. And again, I saw this film, I don't even know prior pre uni, so we're talking a very, very long time ago. But the idea of that sensationalism around, like a single, single killer, like this lone wolf kind of character, again, that feels very, very current. I mean, even when you look at things like, obviously coming from a true crime space rather than a movie analysis angle, if you take a look at cases that have happened recently, even stuff like Bryan Coburger, just the media' complete obsession with this one man lone wolf killer, and he was a genius and all of these things, and it was like, well, no, he wasn't. No, he wasn't. He was just somebody who. Who did this thing. And I think. I mean, again, much like the. The sexualization of young girls, it's. It's nothing new. It's not saying, like it's some hot take, but I think it's interesting that it's almost like Hannah was going to say like a microcosm or at least an accumulation of. Of all of these themes that we're seeing at the moment play out, especially in the world of true crime.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah. I want to start not with John Hinckley Jr. Because we're going to have plenty of time to talk about him, but with Jodie Foster. So a little bit of background. She started acting at three years old, mostly in commercials. At about nine years old, she filmed a Disney movie called Napoleon and Samantha in which she starred opposite a lion. And I would like to play you a little clip of Jodie Foster on the Graham Norton show explaining what happened to her on that set.

[Chris Winterbauer]

We're big fans of the Graham Norton show over here.

[Jodie Foster (Clip)]

I was nine years old and, well, I was working with. There were three lions. There was one really old lion with no teeth. He was the actual lion we were supposed to be working with. And then there was a stunt lion who did all the crazy, like, rawr kind of stuff. And then there was the stand in lion. So three lions. The old lion wouldn't move. And you can't make a lion move because they're £500. So I was working with the stand in lion and I guess he had

[Lizzie Bassett]

a little, you know, like a little

[Jodie Foster (Clip)]

piano wire that was pulling him. And I was. We'd finished the take and I was going up the. Up the hill and all I remember is. I remember seeing his mane come around. And then he picked me up sideways and shook me in his mouth and turned me around. And every single person on the crew was running in the opposite direction. And I'm like sideways watching everybody. And they took their equipment too. And I'm watching everybody leave going like, what's happening? Then I. Then I remember being like, oh, it's an earthquake. Because I was getting shaken. The trainer said, drop it. And because the lion was so well trained, he opened his mouth and dropped me down and I went running. And then he came after me and then just put one paw on me and then just waited like, I got her.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Good times.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, my God.

[Lizzie Bassett]

For a nine year old, that's amazing.

[Saruti Bala]

Actually reminds me of an episode we did. If you guys looked at that film Raw, which is like the most dangerous film, I don't know why I'm doing this, because it probably was the most dangerous.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Yeah. I don't think there's air quotes needed.

[Saruti Bala]

I know. Oh, my God. I was just like reminding myself and I think, like, how many people got injured? Apparently was 70 people got injured by some sort of.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I remember that being an underestimate too. Yeah.

[Saruti Bala]

That there was probably like the COVID up number. Oh, my God.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah. That's the publicly released number of maulings on that movie. Yeah. Go listen to. Did you say you covered it as well?

[Saruti Bala]

We did it on shorthand. Yeah.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Okay, so listen to their shorthand episode. Check out our episode on that as well. It is a wild ride. I never want to work with a lion, that's for sure. But she was the breadwinner for her family before she was even a teenager. She was well known and noticeable prior to Taxi Driver, which is important to remember. And then in 1976, at 12 years old, she starred as Iris opposite both Harvey Keitel. So creepy. In this movie. And Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. Now, in case you're wondering if there was backlash against her age at the time of this movie, I think the answer is yes, there was. Some people weren't just like totally chill with it, you know, but I don't know that it was as much as there would be now if you cast a real 12 year old in this. She has maintained that, you know, she's glad she did the movie. I don't think she had a bad time on set. I think she had a bit of an awkward, uncomfortable time on set. Just cause no one knew what to do with a 12 year old girl in the middle of this.

[Hannah McGuire]

And it's not just a 12 year old girl playing a sex worker.

[Saruti Bala]

I know.

[Hannah McGuire]

It's like an addiction.

[Saruti Bala]

I know.

[Lizzie Bassett]

How do you even explain that? Yeah, so they did have her sister Connie, I believe, who was 18 or 19 years old. She was a stand in for a couple of moments. The only ones that I think she actually did stand in for her were when she drops her shirt. You just see the back of her shoulders. I don't think that's Jodie Foster. And then the other one is when she's dancing with Harvey Keitel in a scene that I never want to watch again. I believe he turns away from the camera for like two seconds. And I think they swap her at that point because when they turn back around, you never see her face. And he's kissing her. And they wouldn't have had him kiss Jodie Foster. They're not Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire.

[Chris Winterbauer]

I was gonna say.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Saruti Bala]

Can I ask because I don't remember, how old is she meant to be in the film if she's 12 in real life?

[Lizzie Bassett]

12.

[Saruti Bala]

She's meant to be 12. Oh my God.

[Lizzie Bassett]

They say. I believe they reference her age and it's 12. Wow. I have very mixed feelings about this because the visual impact of seeing an actual 12 year old girl is big. And you know, the like there, this is real. There are 12 year olds who are sex workers and there are these adult men who are, you know, assaulting them. And do I think it was appropriate for a 12 year old to do this? I guess my answer is I don't know because there is something important about seeing how young she is next to these men. It really makes you realize how creepy it is. And I do think that's the intention. But yeah, really weird. And apparently Martin Scorsese, when he was trying to instruct her to unzip Robert De Niro's fly. He would just start laughing hysterically because he didn't know what to do. And so he was like, bobby, you direct her in this. You explain this. Because Martin Scorsese was like, I'm out. I don't know what to do here. So she ended up bonding with Robert De Niro. She said he was kind of like boring and weird, but that he gave her a lot of good acting advice. So, you know, she, I don't think she had a bad experience on this movie, but definitely strange for a 12 year old, but a 12 year old who was shaken by a lion.

[Hannah McGuire]

So, you know, I was going to

[Lizzie Bassett]

say, what are you doing?

[Hannah McGuire]

Handle it. And I have absolutely no doubt that Robert De Niro is actually just boring and weird. I have like a very unpopular opinion that to be an actor, well, like, to truly be like one of the greats, you have to have something quite fundamentally wrong with you. I think being alive for you is very, very difficult. I think that's what makes an incredible actor. Which.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Interesting. A hot take.

[Hannah McGuire]

Yeah, you can have that one for free.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Great. Thank you. So just this year she told NPR's Terry Gross on Fresh Air, quote, I think there's a part of me that has been made resilient by what I've done for a living and has been able to control my emotions in order to do that in a. When you're older, those survival skills get in the way and you have to learn how to ditch them when they're not serving you anymore. And unfortunately, her survival skills will definitely come into play today.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

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[Chris Winterbauer]

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[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

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[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

to chime.comdisclosures this podcast is sponsored by Drip Drop. I love running.

[Chris Winterbauer]

I love talking, as you guys know

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

and Drip Drop helps me keep my legs and my voice and maybe even my mind fresh. Drip Drop is a proven fast hydration that helps your body and mind work better. They use science based formulas for rapid hydration so you can feel results fast while getting three times the electrolytes of leading sports drinks. And it's trusted by over 90% of top college and pro sports teams. DripJop also just dropped zero sugar plus a breakthrough formula with an advanced blend of six key electrolytes, 15 essential vitamins and nutrients, and no sugar or artificial sweeteners. There are 16 original flavors and eight zero sugar plus options. I like to mix it up on the daily so I never get bored. Right now Drip Drop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code wrong. That's dripdrop.com, promo code wrong for 20% off. Stock up [e-mail] and use promo code wrong. This podcast is supported by stamps.com guys. My favorite part about making this podcast is that I get to work from home. Specifically the closet where I'm recording this right now and I record every episode. And with stamps.com, i don't have to leave the closet to go to the post post office. With stamps.com I can ship from my computer or phone, always from my closet 24. 7. No lines, no low supplies open all the time. I can print postage on demand. Yes, I still own a printer. It's perfect for my business. For almost 30 years, millions of customers have relied on stamps.com to make mailing and shipping faster and simple. The mantra used to be work smart, not hard. It should be work from your closet, not from the post office, which is what I do right now. You can try stamps.com risk free for 60 days. Go to stamps.com and use code wrong to get 60 days risk free. 60 days gives you plenty of time to see exactly how much time and money you're saving on every shipment. That's stamps.com code wrong that's stamps.com code wrong.

[Lizzie Bassett]

All right, let's Talk about a man named John Hinckley Senior. Ooh, plot twist. Known as Jack. He was a very successful businessman. He was self made. In the 50s, he was chairman and president of the Vanderbilt Energy Corporation, which was an oil and gas exploration company, and according to his employees, pretty great boss. He was frequently described as a good leader. He seemed very comfortable not micromanaging his employees, but when it came to his children, the situation may have been a little bit different. He and his wife Joanne had three children. Now, Scott and Diane were overachievers, popular golden children, and Jack was thrilled with them. And then he named his youngest child, born in 1955, after himself, John Hinckley Jr. But this boy could not have been more different from his father. John Jr. Was extremely passive. He never seemed to really apply himself to anything. And this was something his father lectured him about constantly. His father was really struggled with John Hinckley Jr. John was extremely clingy and dependent on his mother, who in turn was also very passive and not prone to discipline. By some reports, she actually may have also been agoraphobic when he was a child. Joanne and John would later write a book called Breaking Points about their struggle with John's mental illness. But I want to read an excerpt of Laura Obolensky's review of that book for the New Republic. She said, quote, perhaps it is fear of what lies outside that makes the interior of the family so rigid and subdued. Like life in a well run bunker, the world of the Hinckleys was the rootless, middle class Sunbelt culture that nurtures pro family values, Christian fundamentalism, and occasional mass murderers. Now, it should be noted the Hinckleys were Episcopalians. So fundamentalists is a little bit of a stretch there. They were religiously active, but I would not say that they were Christian fundamentalists, but you get the idea. And at around four years old in 1959, the family moved to a very, very ritzy suburb of Dallas in Texas called Highland Park. John actually did like pretty well here. And these are his like preteen years. He was the president of his homeroom, he had friends, he did well in sports, and he has even said, I'm not even sure how I did this because it never happened again. And in 1964, at only nine years old, he started to descend into very obsessive thinking. Now, nine years old, 1964. Any guesses what his first obsession was?

[Hannah McGuire]

Skinning cats?

[Lizzie Bassett]

No.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Wow. We really.

[Hannah McGuire]

Sometimes it is.

[Saruti Bala]

Often it is.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Sorry, I should have specified. It's a famous.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, I Was gonna say something specific to 1964. What was going on in 1964?

[Lizzie Bassett]

Skinning cats.

[Saruti Bala]

It was all the rage.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Is he obsessed with Lee Harvey Oswald?

[Lizzie Bassett]

No.

[Saruti Bala]

Bit early for the space race. Is it a person?

[Lizzie Bassett]

It's a group of people.

[Hannah McGuire]

The Beatles.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yes. The Beatles.

[Saruti Bala]

Ah, there we go. Good job. We got there in the end.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Started with skinning cats, ended with the Beatles.

[Saruti Bala]

Yep.

[Lizzie Bassett]

But he didn't just love the Beatles. He wanted to be the Beatles. And he was convinced that he was going to be the biggest star in the history of music. Now, over the course of high school, he started to massively withdraw to the point where he basically disappeared. This is the craziest quote I've ever seen. But one of his classmates described him as a non guy, which That's. Please. I hope no one ever describes me as that.

[Chris Winterbauer]

It's sad. The forerunner to npc, which is my least favorite descriptor.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, I do like. I do like calling people non, though it is a good adjective. Such a non.

[Hannah McGuire]

People described Dennis Nilsen as non. Just a gray man.

[Saruti Bala]

It's one of my favorite adjectives, unfortunately for those people.

[Lizzie Bassett]

His own brother actually said the last time he remembered John having any kind of, like, emotional reaction or even laughing was about 12 years old.

[Hannah McGuire]

Oh, no.

[Lizzie Bassett]

And this was especially noticeable because his siblings and particularly his sister were very charming and very popular. And it was his sister who he was extremely jealous of. Now, in 1973, the family relocated to Denver along with his father's business. And according to New York Magazine, they had oil portraits of the whole family hung over the mantelpiece in their home, except John Jr. There was no portrait of him. He's literally Buster Bluth. He's seen but not heard. It's very sad.

[Saruti Bala]

That is very sad.

[Lizzie Bassett]

So he spent his time really holed up in his room listening to the Beatles and just drifting farther and farther away from reality.

[Saruti Bala]

I was interested, actually, because we haven't covered this case. I was interested in sort of what diagnoses, if any, he has. And I don't know if you're gonna talk about that.

[Lizzie Bassett]

He has quite a few.

[Saruti Bala]

He sounds like he has quite a few. But even from what you were describing, that sort of passiveness, that sort of disconnection from reality, that sort of. Lack of. Kind of enthusiasm for anything and sort of delusional, magical thinking. I was like, oh, ding, ding, ding. Yeah, no surprises. Schizotypal personality disorder. And also one linked with a lot of. Would be killers. A lot of killers, A lot of mass murderers. So Very interesting.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yes. Spoiler alert. He has quite an array of mental health issues which we are going to get into, which are, because this was the 60s and 70s, not treated appropriately. So that same year, he enrolled in college at Texas Tech in Lubbock. And according to John himself, this was around the time that he took the first steps out of his mind, which is such a spooky way to say that. And by the way, when I read quotes from John, they are from the book that he wrote in 2025, which was actually about this whole experience. Okay, so by April of that year, John had left college, moved to Hollywood to fulfill his destiny of becoming a famous singer songwriter. And he sat in his apartment day after day, just waiting for someone to call and offer him a recording contract because he thought that's how this is supposed to work. He said, quote, it would be nothing for Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, hell, even George Harrison to show up at my door and say, john, we heard you play and we were wowed. It doesn't work like that.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, damn.

[Chris Winterbauer]

I thought that way for, like, a little while in fifth grade. You know, you do have those fantasies of. I think when we're very young, you know, someone will recognize this brilliance, this genius. And that is where, as you were mentioning, you know, sirday, I think you need those touch points of the people in your life who provide the reality checks for you in hopefully a loving way, you know, as my mom did in third grade, like, you're probably not gonna be in the NBA, but

[Lizzie Bassett]

this is where you are tall.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Not for the NBA. I'm tall for women's college basketball. But I do think this is where community is just so. It always, you know, that reinforcement of the need for community and with the modern manosphere and Taxi Driver, like, the worship of self, the worship of the individual. Like, these things are so, I think, detrimentally devastating to a lot of people.

[Saruti Bala]

Absolutely. And you kind of would think, though, with his family being quite harsh towards him, and, you know, that's one of the roles that siblings can play, which is knock you down a peg or two when you think, oh, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be, you know, the next fucking Beatle solo. And they're like, no, you're not, you weird freak.

[Lizzie Bassett]

They were very protective of him.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, really?

[Hannah McGuire]

I know.

[Saruti Bala]

Okay, so they're not introducing.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I actually think his siblings. No, his dad is the one who was really hard on him. His mom was not at all. And I think his siblings were kind of always pretty concerned. Like, people were his siblings in Particular were like, something is wrong.

[Saruti Bala]

Okay. So he's not being included in oil paintings, but they're kind of not really telling him that.

[Chris Winterbauer]

My guess is that's the father, you know, like, that's technically senior, more sensitive.

[Ad Voice]

Okay.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Okay. Yeah, that would be my guess.

[Saruti Bala]

Got it.

[Lizzie Bassett]

So he wrote back to his mother in Denver and told her, united Artist is interested in signing me. And his mom is like, great.

[Jodie Foster (Phone Call Clip)]

Mom.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Get your shit together. You've heard him. You know that's not true, but whatever. So here's what was actually happening over the course of that summer. In 1976, John Hinckley Jr. Saw Taxi Driver 15 times in theaters. Now, I would like to note, I have mentioned on this podcast before that I saw Lord of the the Fellowship of the Ring 13 times in theaters. And I am beginning to rethink how many people I've told that fun fact to. Given this story. I don't think I've ever watched cinema twice.

[Saruti Bala]

No, I've seen it.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Brilliant.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

I've seen some movies a couple times in theaters.

[Chris Winterbauer]

No more than two or three. Never.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I should stop saying that. 13 is a little weirder than I realized.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

13 is like.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, he did 15.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Okay.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Yeah, well, that's.

[Lizzie Bassett]

And it was taxi driver 15 times. I was really in love with Orlando Bloom, but only with his beautiful long hair. As Legolas, we should mention, because of

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Lord of the Rings running time.

[Chris Winterbauer]

You spent more hours in the theater watching that than he did watching Tony.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Than John Hinckley Jr.

[Ad Voice]

I'm aware.

[Mom (Verizon Ad)]

Yeah.

[Ad Voice]

I did the math as well.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I didn't want to share that. But yeah. Okay. So John was so completely taken with the movie because he couldn't believe how much he identified with Travis Bickle. And I think that, you know, this is picking up on something that we've all mentioned. But, like. And Surrugi, you mentioned, you know, the diagnosis here. We see it in Travis. Like, Travis is very sort of disassociated. He has a lot of trouble interacting with the actual people around him. So it makes complete sense to me, having watched this, knowing this story, that he would identify so heavily with Travis Bickle and. But he also started to really focus on Bickle's relationship with Iris in a way that I think, I'm sure is not quite the way that Scorsese and Schrader intended. But here's what he had to say. He said, here you had a guy who had hardly anything going on, who had no issue spending time with the dregs of society, who'd been shit on by so many, but still had a certain compassion for someone else, someone he hardly knew. And I think he starts to kind of idolize Travis because of this in particular. At the end of that summer, he left Hollywood, moved back to Colorado, and at 21 years old, he started keeping a diary. Wearing an army fatigue jacket and boots, drinking peach brandy and developing a fascination with guns. Who does that sound like?

[Chris Winterbauer]

Andrew Tate? Travis Bickle.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Travis Bickle, Yes. Bingo. But he had not completely given up on becoming John Lennon. So he actually went back to Hollywood one more time to give it one more shot. And he kept sending out his recordings to companies hoping to be discovered. But spoiler alert, he was not. So he gave up again. And the mounting failures were really doing a number on his mental health. He was descending into deeper and deeper depression at this point. He returned to college, dropping in and out of classes, switching majors, and after seven years, he would still never get a degree. He wrote home to his parents during this time, though, detailing a very serious relationship with a woman named Lynn Collins. He told them about the trips they'd taken together, the dates they'd gone on, how they'd met, breakups that they'd had. But Hannah and Sirutti, if there was one problem with this relationship, what do you think it might be?

[Saruti Bala]

Might it be that Ms. Lynn doesn't exist?

[Lizzie Bassett]

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Lynn did not exist. That's right. And later, when the FBI would reveal this fact to John's mother, Joanne, she was actually devastated because she felt like she had lost someone. Because in her mind, Lynn was the only person she'd ever known to have a relationship with her son.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, that's so sad. All delusional.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Really sad.

[Saruti Bala]

It's also delusional, but it's so sad. It's just like you would hope that parents have some extra level of insight into their children and are able to.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Oh, God, I have a one year old daughter. I'm so scared.

[Saruti Bala]

But then again, you know, he didn't get it from nowhere. There's obviously some delusion, you know.

[Hannah McGuire]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

[Saruti Bala]

Like she hanging about in the gene pool there.

[Hannah McGuire]

So it's the way he is. Yeah, it's.

[Saruti Bala]

It's just really, really, very desperately sad, isn't it? But it's not something we haven't come across before. And I'm sure that him lying to them is partly, obviously to make himself feel better. I'm sure he was engaging in that fantasy and maybe even writing it down was providing some sort of like, Relief for him, some sort of like way.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, it's like fan fiction.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, exactly. Fan fiction for yourself, for your own life. And I'm sure it was also pro, probably a way to try and get the approval of his father. Look, dad, I'm a normal person. I found a woman who loves me and you know, here's all the things that we're doing in our life and yeah, it's just. Oh yeah, all very sad, I know.

[Lizzie Bassett]

So In August of 1979, he purchased his first gun. In 1980, he added Devastator bullets to this collection. Those get their name because the nose contains a dynamite cap that actually explodes inside the victim's body. All this time he identified more and more with Travis Bickle. And as he slid deeper into this character, his obsession turned almost completely to Iris and then to Jodie Foster. Now, in his 2025 retelling, he said that the film was not the first time he'd seen Jodie Foster. And that quote, taxi driver didn't get me interested in Jodie, but it reached out and yanked me into her world, or at least the world I saw on screen. It didn't just make me fall further for her, it showed me who I could become and why I should try so hard to do so. In June of 1980, John went to see Dr. Baruch Rosen complaining about pains in his forearm, ringing in his ears, heart palpitations, dizzy spells and stomach pains. Now, Rosen did note that John had a stone like appearance and didn't seem to respond to any kind of emotional stimuli. So he prescribed him an antidepressant and a tranquilizer. He prescribed him Valium.

[Hannah McGuire]

Delicious. Thank you.

[Lizzie Bassett]

The research on this is pretty mixed, but one of Hinckley's doctors later on in his trial would argue that Valium can impair self control in patients with severe mental illness like John. There is some evidence to back this up. There's also plenty to the contrary. So I don't really know how much of a role this played in this. But worth mentioning one month earlier though, in May of 1980, Jodie Foster shocked Hollywood by saying she was taking a break to attend college at because yes, she's smart as shit. And I would like to just take a quick little look, see at the COVID of People magazine announcing this information. Can either of you describe what you're seeing on screen?

[Hannah McGuire]

Right now we're looking at Jodie Foster looking very angular and beautiful as usual on the COVID of People magazine. And it says, foxy Jodie Foster stuns showbiz by Putting her career on hold for college. Lucky Yale in brackets. The first thing that came into my head was it was probably the Sun. I cannot remember specifically which, like gutter press, tabloid, it was here in the uk, but they had a countdown to when emma Watson turned 16, which is the age of consent in the UK.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Ew.

[Chris Winterbauer]

They did the same thing with Natalie Portman here, and it was almost the exact same coverage when she went. She went to Harvard. It was very much the same.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, I remember that she was receiving

[Chris Winterbauer]

letters from men saying, I can't wait for you to turn 18. I can't wait for you to be your first nude scene. And this was when she was 15, you know, coming off of the professional. So clearly there's a recipe here that we continue to follow.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah.

[Hannah McGuire]

And Emma Watson went to Columbia, I think, or Brown, so.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Brown. That's right. I remember that.

[Hannah McGuire]

Hideous. But, you know, it was ever thus.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, John obviously clocked this immediately and asked his parents to pay for a short writing course at Yale. And it was only 3,600 bucks. That seems like a great deal for a short writing course at Yale. And his parents agreed. And John promised that he would work his butt off at this writing course. Just writing and writing in the course that. Any guesses what might be wrong with this course?

[Hannah McGuire]

I'm just not sure that Yale off a short courses. They might, but they didn't offer this one that anyone can just walk into. I'm just not. Not sure about that.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, it was not real. But John headed to New Haven, Connecticut all the same. And In September of 1980, Hinckley, armed with a fake name, walked into the registrar's office and said he was looking for his friend. She was a freshman, but he wasn't sure exactly where she was living. So they handed him the student directory to flip through, and he found exactly what he was looking. Alicia Christian Foster, better known as Jody. Even though I work from home, I've been trying to put a little more effort into my daily outfits lately. Now, I obviously want to be comfortable, but I also want to feel put together. So I've been slowly restocking my closet with pieces that feel elevated and are super easy to mix and match. And I only have to go one place to find Quince. Their lightweight linen pants, dresses and tops start at $30 and are effortless, breathable, and easy to wear on repeat. In fact, everything at quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. I absolutely love my washable silk skirt. It goes with everything and it's so easy to take care of. Also, don't sleep on Quince's accessories either. I got a black Italian leather wallet that feels extra luxurious and I literally wear my little gold hoops from Quince every single day. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality and craftsmanship, not brand markup. And seriously, I've said this before and I will say it again. If you're on the hunt for a new dress jacket, skirt, clothes for your kid, purse, earrings, sheets. Seriously, please, please, please check Quint's first. Before you spend way more money than you need to somewhere else, refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quince.com wentwrong for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com wentwrong for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.

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[Lizzie Bassett]

You too.

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[Lizzie Bassett]

A better help ad.

[Saruti Bala]

Hold on one second. I just need to. What if you had a room where no one interrupts? No notifications, no expectations, just space to talk with.

[Lizzie Bassett]

BetterHelp therapy happens in a space that's yours.

[Saruti Bala]

Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your

[Lizzie Bassett]

first month of online therapy. Right away, he starts dropping notes under her dorm room door. Here's one. Jody, I love you six trillion times. Don't you maybe like me a little bit? You must admit it. I am different. It would make all the difference. John Hinckley Jr. On September 20th, he finally made contact. He called six times. And then Jodie Foster actually picked up on this first call. She's confused. She doesn't know who he is, even though he keeps insisting that she might know him and proceeds to tell her what she was wearing that day. Eventually, she says she has to go, and she really isn't supposed to talk to people she doesn't know. And so she hangs up. Up. A few days later, he manages to get her on the phone again. This time around midnight. Now, Hinkley recorded many of these calls with Foster. And I would like to play you this one. This is courtesy of cnn.

[Jodie Foster (Phone Call Clip)]

Who is this? Oh, no. Who is this? Who is this?

[Ad Voice]

This is John.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Oh, no, not you.

[Jodie Foster (Phone Call Clip)]

A cat. Look, I really. I really can't talk to you, okay? But, dude, do me a really big favor. You understand why I can't, you know, carry on these conversations with people I don't know. You understand that it's dangerous and it's just not done. It's not fair and it's rude. All right, well, I understand that. It's just. It's the same thing. Okay?

[Hannah McGuire]

So you just don't ever want to

[Jodie Foster (Phone Call Clip)]

get no really nice, fun deal?

[Lizzie Bassett]

It's hard to hear, but what he says on that call is, oh, but I'm not dangerous. I think it's very interesting the way that she handles herself on these calls. She feels very mature at times, but then also clearly doesn't understand the gravity of what's happening at all, which makes sense. She's 18 years old. It's funny to her. And I understand why that would be your reaction.

[Hannah McGuire]

I also, just having to live in a world with no caller ID makes me want to jump off a bridge. Like, she has to pick up my phone. I know. She literally never knows who it is. I was thinking that when she has

[Lizzie Bassett]

roommates, like, they could pick up.

[Hannah McGuire]

Well, that's true. I think that was my overwhelming response to watching Travis call Betsy over and over again of like, every one in five phone calls is going to be him.

[Saruti Bala]

But she doesn't know which one, Right?

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah. There's no way you can screen calls the way that you could now. So while hanging out in New Haven trying to talk to Jody Hinckley would also make trips into New York City, frequenting Times Square, particularly the X rated theaters a la Travis, and sinking deeper into his Travis Bickle fantasy. During this time, he did also start seeking out sex workers and sleeping with at least four of them, three of whom were teenagers, one of whom looked just like Jodie Foster. He reportedly tried to find that one again, but was unable to locate her. It was during this time that he began planning to kill President Jimmy Carter. He said, quote, I was going to kill the President. The individual name of the man was Irrelevant. Maybe for the first time in my life, I could say that I had accomplished something. And it definitely was irrelevant, given that the president he eventually shoots is not named Jimmy Carter. So he really didn't care. The whole idea revolved around getting Jodie Foster's attention, and he figured, well, surely murdering the president would accomplish that. And he is correct. That would get a woman's attention, certainly.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah. This is definitely, again, I mean, not unsurprising that we've come across this multiple times on a true crime podcast, but this idea of people whose lives aren't amounting to much or going in the direction that they feel that they should be. Obviously, there's multiple motives that can exist for a murder, but with something like this, which is an assassination, not something that's personally connected to you, especially when it's, like, a public figure, this is such a classic motivation. It's like, I don't have enough eyes on me. I. I am owed more dues than this. The world isn't paying attention to me. In this case, it's very specifically around Jodie Foster, but I think it probably is also his dad and other people. And I'm gonna do something that is so, you know, reality shifting. So it's going to force everybody to.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, they'll have to know my name.

[Saruti Bala]

And also for himself. Also for himself. The psychology there of, like, nothing I do makes a difference. I have no agency in life. Everything just happens to me. It's happening around me. If I go out, take a gun and shoot the President of the United States, whoever that might be, by the time I get this plan in action, then it will mean I have changed reality in some way, and therefore I do really exist. Which for somebody with schizotypical personality, which is just one of the many disorders, as you said, he was diagnosed with, it's not unsurprising, that feeling of, like, not even existing, not even being in reality, and this being a way for him to almost breathe on, like, a window and be like, oh, look, I do exist. Like, you can see something tangible of yourself reflected back.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, and he's doing what Travis couldn't pull off. Right. Like, we'll get into this a little bit more. But the way that he is perceiving Travis Bickle and Taxi Driver at this point is that he is Travis and they are reflecting his life back to him. It's like someone has done him a favor and they're putting his life up on the screen so he can see it both sort of past and present. And, like, what to do next. And to your point, like, that is the only way I think he feels like he has an identity is that it's this identity up on the screen that's me. Which is really scary when you think about, like, what Taxi Driver is. I mean, I think it's a very important movie. I think it's an excellent movie. I also totally understand how someone like John Hinckley Jr. Watched it and felt that. Beginning in October of that year, he started taking quite a few trips. First to Dayton, Ohio, requesting a room with a view of the convention center where Carter was giving a speech. Don't give somebody that room. Hotel. If they're asking for a view of the place the president is, say no. Then to Lincoln, Nebraska, to try and meet with, quote, one of the leading ideologicians. Ideologi. I don't know how to say that. One of the leaders of the American Nazi party. Now, there is some debate about whether or not he actually joined the National Socialist Party, but he did confirm it himself in his book that he did. And he explains it was literally because he figured, I'm white and Christian. It's a club where they have to accept me. It is one of the few places that I can, like, automatically belong to.

[Hannah McGuire]

I mean, if the Nazis reject you, that is. Is really depressing.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, that's the last club. I think you should.

[Hannah McGuire]

That would probably push me over the edge, to be honest.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, they didn't reject him.

[Hannah McGuire]

So finally there's some good news.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Then he hopped on another flight to Nashville to catch up with Carter's campaign again. But there was a little hiccup because it turns out, Even in the 80s, you couldn't bring guns on the plane in your luggage. But it was still the 80s. So his guns were just confiscated, and he was fined $62.50.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, it's a bargain.

[Lizzie Bassett]

And he was not charged with anything for the rest of that month. He kept flying all over until he burned through his parents $3,600 and he was forced to go back home, where he overdosed on antidepressants. His parents took him to a doctor, who, of course, expressed grave concern about his mental health. And they all made it their priority to get him the help that he needed. Just kidding. This doctor basically said, he's lazy, needs to get a job, and you should probably cut him off financially. This doctor would later admit that he had misdiagnosed John. So John said, don't worry, parents. I will find a job and I will fix everything. But on December 8th of 1980, Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon in front of his Manhattan apartment building. And this was in many ways the final straw for Hinckley. He spiraled into an incredibly deep depression to the point where he contemplated suicide. And then slowly but surely, this obsession with John Lennon's murder pivoted back to Jodie Foster. And now she was all he could think about. He recorded this monologue on December 31st. Quote, My obsession is Jodie Foster. I've gotta. I've gotta find her and talk to her some way in person or something. That's all I want her to know is that I love her. I don't want to hurt her. I think I'd rather just see her not on Earth than being with other guys. I wouldn't want to stay here on Earth without her.

[Saruti Bala]

It's really similar to how he thinks, thinks he's gonna get discovered when he's younger. I mean, he is at least taking some. Not that I'm giving him credit or saying this was a good thing, but he's taking some proactive actions here where he's like, I'm actually gonna find her. But it's like he thinks, I just need to be in front of her. And then she'll see, she'll get it

[Lizzie Bassett]

and then she'll love me.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, she'll get it.

[Lizzie Bassett]

By March of 1981, John Hinckley Senior, or Jack, told John he was not welcome in their home any longer because he had not found a job. Now, so John's siblings were extremely concerned about his mental health and they expressed that he should be institutionalized. But his parents did not agree. They thought, ah, maybe he's depending too much on the Valium. And they tried to get him into a drug treatment center in Arizona, but that doctor said, none of the above. Friends. John is a. Okay. Why?

[Saruti Bala]

Like the fact that it wasn't even. I get that the, the siblings are like, okay, there's something wrong with him. We should, we should get him diagnosed. So maybe the parents were like, you know, somewhat reluctant. The shame of like a few crazy mental disorders thrown in is not like that. Something they're like, particularly keen on with him. And, you know, maybe they're in denial. But why, if they've got to the point that they've got him in front of a doctor, this doctor is like, no, he's fine. There's nothing to worry about here.

[Lizzie Bassett]

That's the thing. And that's.

[Saruti Bala]

I'm shocked.

[Lizzie Bassett]

That's where like, you blame, you know, people are blaming the parents. Like, how could you not see this? Well, they have a literal doctor telling them that he's fine. And also to their credit, later on, they become very active in the world of mental health and like recognition, recognizing it earlier. And so, you know, I. I think they are aware that this was not handled appropriately. So on March 25, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. Flew back to Los Angeles, California and stayed for one day before hopping on a cross country bus to Washington, dc. So why fly west to eventually go east? Investigators believe it was to retrieve a gun. After all, he'd learned his lesson. You can't put those on plates, but you can certainly get them on a bus.

[Hannah McGuire]

You shouldn't be able to, though. That seems like something that should not be allowed anyway.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I agree.

[Hannah McGuire]

What do I know? I'm just a dumb Brit. We don't have guns.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I was gonna say, come on, get out of here.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

There's a reason your lives are terrible

[Chris Winterbauer]

over there and you don't have to live in the fear of being shot all the time.

[Hannah McGuire]

We just stab each other instead.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Don't worry.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Yeah. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is an even worse guy with a gun. And so that's what we follow here in the United States.

[Lizzie Bassett]

That's right. It's fun over here. We feel good and are doing great. All right. Well, on the morning of March 30, John ate breakfast at McDonald's and picked up a copy of the Washington Star, which listed President Reagan's schedule for the day. Brand new President Ronald Reagan. Maybe don't list his schedule. Just a thought. He went back to his hotel room and he wrote a letter to Jodie Foster after explaining to her what he was going to do, that he might die in the process, just like the letter Travis Bickle writes, and most menacingly, that he knows what a topic of conversation he had been in her dormitory at Yale, very heavily implying that he'd been hanging around physically, which he had, he wrote this quote, jody, I would

[Saruti Bala]

abandon this idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it be in total obscurity or whatever. I will admit to you that the reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you. I've got to do something now to make you understand in no uncertain terms that I am doing all of this for your sake. By sacrificing my freedom and possibly my life, I hope to change your mind about me. This Letter is being written only an hour before I leave for the Hilton Hotel. Jodi, I'm asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance, with this historical deed, to gain your respect and love. I love you forever. John Hinckley.

[Lizzie Bassett]

A very good blind reading.

[Saruti Bala]

Happy to help.

[Lizzie Bassett]

He's writing this an hour before he's about to leave. She's in New Haven. She's not gonna get this note, so I don't know how she's supposed to step in and stop this.

[Saruti Bala]

No, it's never about that.

[Lizzie Bassett]

This is just complete disconnection from reality at this point.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, Total disconnection. Or it's never about that, and it's just about. Maybe he's thinking, like, oh, I don't want everyone to just think I said this later. I need Jodie to know I was thinking it before I did it.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Right. It's like the theater of it.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah.

[Hannah McGuire]

Well, he's in Assassins. He's in a musical. John Hinckley Jr. Is a character in Assassins, the Sondheim Show.

[Lizzie Bassett]

That's true.

[Hannah McGuire]

That has been the back of my head for the last 10 minutes, and it only just cropped to the front of my brain. So I was. Yeah, I had to look it up whether he was, but he was. He is a character in Assassins.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Okay. So he hopped in a cab to the Washington Hilton, where brand new President Ronald Reagan was speaking to 5,000 members of the AFL CIO, which is the largest federation of labor unions in the US at 2:27pm as Reagan walked from the hotel to his limousine, John Hinckley Jr. Stepped forward out of the crowd of media and onlookers and fired six shots from his Rome R6 14 revolver. And he was using the Devastator bullets. You can actually see footage of what happened on YouTube. The immediate aftermath. But Hinckley was tackled by the crowd, like, so fast. It's actually pretty impressive how many people jumped on this guy as soon as he fired. And Secret Service officers jumped in immediately to handcuff him. But the bullets had struck four people.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Press Secretary James Brady was hit in the left temple. Police Officer Thomas Delahanty was hit in the neck. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy was hit in the stomach. And the sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and struck Ronald Reagan in the left chest.

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[Lizzie Bassett]

All four were rushed to the hospital. Reagan underwent surgery immediately after suffering from a broken rib, punctured lung, and pretty substantial internal bleeding. He did make a full recovery, as did Special Agent Timothy McCarthy. Now, Thomas Delahanty suffered major injuries from the bullet, which had lodged in his spine, damaging his arm and shoulder permanently and forcing him into early retirement. And unfortunately for Press Secretary James Brady, his life was also changed forever. The bullet had struck his brain. TV commentators declared him dead following the shooting because of the extent of his injuries, but he did actually pull through. He was, however, left partially paralyzed with permanently slurred speech. Back in Colorado on March 30, Joanne Hinckley received a call from a reporter who was the first to inform her that her son had shot the President. She assumed it was a joke.

[Saruti Bala]

I like that she doesn't believe that, but she believes everything that her son had been telling her up until this point.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I know, Joanne. Oh dear.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

But I mean, I do think because

[Chris Winterbauer]

it's the president, right?

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

If it's like John hurts someone, I

[Chris Winterbauer]

think she probably would say, oh, no. You know, I believe that I feel like it's the inaccessibility of the. It's like, how would he even get close enough? It just doesn't compute.

[Saruti Bala]

He's so passive.

[Hannah McGuire]

I can't believe he kind of.

[Saruti Bala]

I can't believe he shot the President.

[Chris Winterbauer]

The logistics involved, right? You know, he's so lazy.

[Saruti Bala]

That's far too much work. And he's so busy with his writing course.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Oh, no. And his girlfriend. So as for Jodie Foster, she'd just finished the first weekend of her big play and was enjoying a hard earned break on Monday before getting ready for the second weekend of shows. Now, as she crossed the quad that afternoon, someone yelled at her that Reagan had been shot. And Foster detailed an Esquire article entitled, why Me? What Happened Next. She and her friends went about their day, obviously concerned about the news, but not really paying too much attention to it. They're college kids. They're freshmen in college. Until she opened the door to her dorm that night and was greeted with one word from her. John, her roommate told her she was pretty sure John Hinckley Jr. Jodie Foster's biggest fan, was the one who had shot Reagan. And Jody didn't believe her. Then her phone rang. It was the dean, informing her that the FBI was in the office waiting to speak with her. She vacillated between laughing and crying. The following weekend, she insisted on going on stage for the remaining performances of her play because she felt like she had to prove that she was strong and that this did not impact her and that this wouldn't stop her. In retrospect, I think she realized she probably should not have done this. During her performances, she noticed a bearded man sitting in the same seat both nights, and something about him didn't quite feel right. After one of the shows, she received a death threat ended up being a prank. But a few days after the play closed, she received a very real death threat, this time under the door of her dorm. The next morning, her security team told her the man who had left the death threat had been apprehended. His last name was Richardson and he had a beard. He'd been arrested on his way to Washington, D.C. carrying a loaded gun with the intention of finishing what John Hinckley Jr. Had started, killing the President. He too was obsessed with Jodi, but had decided she was too pretty to kill after seeing her on stage in her play.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, wow.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Jody said, quote, I started perceiving death in the most mundane but distressing events. Being photographed felt like being shot. It still does. I thought everyone was looking at me in crowds, perhaps they were. Every sick letter I received, I made sure to read, to laugh at, to read again. People were punishing me because I was there. They were sending bullets, pulling triggers, exercising the simple law of cause and effect. They were hurting me intentionally, without any physical contact. They were manifesting a need to wound. And I just happened to be the victim. Jodie Foster would never perform on stage again. And she has acknowledged that this experience is the very understandable reason why. As for Hinckley, while he awaited trial, he underwent extensive psychiatric evaluation. And the lead expert of his defense team, Dr. William Carpenter, determined that Hinckley suffered not from a lack of motivation to do better at life. This is the the earliest diagnosis, but he said it was schizophrenia. His defense team, backed by many experts, Argued that even though, yes, he seems to intellectually understand. That murdering the president was wrong. He did not understand it emotionally, nor did he understand the human ramifications of it. Now, some were quick to point out Hinckley hadn't been claiming to hear voices. Or any of the common symptoms of schizophrenia. That a layperson might be familiar with. But again, his defense made the point. This is actually an indicator that he's not faking the mental illness. Because he didn't try to check all of the boxes. People suffering from schizophrenia can also struggle to define their own identity. Potentially why he had come to believe that he and Travis Bickle were one and the same. Now, there's a lot more we could get into here, but TL doctor, is that he was absolutely suffering from severe mental illness. At the time of the assassination attempt. But the question became, was he legally insane? Because they entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Maybe you two could talk a little bit here about how rare this plea is. And if it ever even works.

[Hannah McGuire]

It's a dangerous game. Very rarely is someone actually found not guilty by reason of insanity. And I think the reality of it is if you murder someone and you get sent to prison for it, you will have a date when that ends. Obviously, it can go on and on based on behavior. If you are committed to a psychiatric hospital, there is no end date. So I don't think being found not guilty, being found criminally insane is actually better. Because it's really hard to get out of prison. It is almost impossible to get out of a psych unit.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, it's a very, very rare, as Hannah said, successful defense. That you're going to be able to mount in a court of law. And I think people misunderstand it sometimes. I think they think that it means that, you know, did this, was this person completely out of their mind when they did it? That is a part of it, but it isn't as simple as that. Because the definitions of right and wrong in a, in a, there doesn't have a legal definition to that. There isn't a legal weight to that. What they're actually looking for is what was the reason that you were doing it. And there's a really good example of a case that we've covered, for example, that really dug into this, the case of Andrea Yates who murdered her children. Now, Andrea Yates wasn't well when she did what she did. But there are lots of different definitions of what not well can mean. But the difference with Andrea Yates was that she knew what she was doing was wrong because as soon as she did it, she actually called the police. So it wasn't that she knew what, she didn't know what she was doing was wrong, but she felt that by the way in which her brain was working, the mental illness she was suffering from, the delusion she was suffering from, she still believed that even though legally what she did was wrong, morally what she was doing was right. Because she believed that by killing her children, she was sending them to heaven instead of allowing them to become sinners, in which case they would then go on to burn in eternity, burn in hell for all of eternity. So it is very, very complicated and I think it isn't as black and white as people think it is and I think that's why it's so hard to prove. It's also very hard to prove if people are malingering or not, if they're pretending to have a ment mental illness when they don't. And yeah, I think it's very rare that you even see it brought up for these very reasons. Very hard to prove. And then if you do prove it, as Hannah said, not necessarily the best outcome anyway.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

Isn't there a case right now going

[Chris Winterbauer]

on in the UK with that? It's an American, Henry McGowan. He was just found not guilty. He killed his 66 year old father, John McGowan. It was by reason of insanity. That was.

[Jodie Foster (Clip)]

Wow.

[Saruti Bala]

Oh, no, I haven't come across that one, no.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Looks like a wealthy kid from New York.

[Chris Winterbauer]

Really, really tragic story. The New York Times did a profile on it and shows the complication of dealing with a child that has, you know, mental health issues and whatnot, and how difficult it is to reach that child. And this man was just trying to get his son back. Blah. Blah, blah.

[Saruti Bala]

Anyway, so it's very hard, and I

[Lizzie Bassett]

guess it makes me think of Rob Reiner.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. A case that we are definitely keeping our eyes on because I think this is it. People sometimes think that, that just as long as the condition of mental illness is achieved, that that means that that is enough for a not guilty by reason of insanity. That's also not true. That isn't a sufficient condition. The condition has to be then that the mental illness somehow impaired their understanding or ability to understand what they were doing.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Right.

[Saruti Bala]

And it's just so hard, so hard. And sometimes I said, is it even worth it? Because it could lead to a far worse situation for you if you don't want to be indefinitely incarcerated.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Well, I would love to hear you all cover this case on red handed at some point because it actually marks a pretty major change in the way not guilty by reason of insanity works. So prior to and including this trial, if you pled not guilty by reason of insanity, the burden of proof was on the prosecution to prove that the defendant was sane, not on the defense to prove insanity. We'll get into why that changed momentarily. So Hinckley agreed to cooperate with his defense team on this plea on one condition. He insisted that Jodie Foster should testify, and he wanted to be present in the room when she did. And his lawyers made it happen in a closed testimony that would be videotaped and played later at trial. Only the lawyers, Judge and Hinckley were in the room when Foster took the stand. And when he found out that he'd gotten his wish, he told his parents. Mom, dad, dad, I'll be right there in the same room.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow.

[Lizzie Bassett]

But her testimony disappointed him. She didn't look at him or address him directly at any point. And when she finished, he threw a pen at her and screamed, I'll get you, Foster. Following her deposition, he wrote a poem. Here is an excerpt quote, she is scared to death about me. She knew I had bad intentions. In my eyes. She couldn't come to me, so I raped her and killed her and shot myself. According to the staff at St Elizabeth's Hospital where he was being housed, he seemed to feel like he'd achieved his mission in terms of the assassination attempt attempt, because he was famous now. But there was one part of his plan that was still missing, and that was Jodie Foster. When asked during evaluations if he was dangerous to her, he said, quote, not now. If released, I would go the other way. But in one or two years, if things go on the same, no response from her, then I'll kill her. The prosecution argued that Hinckley wasn't insane at all. He just had behavioral issues. And your run of the mill obsession with a starlet. After all, he'd booked all those trips and flights. He'd concealed a handgun. He had known when the president was going to be outside the hotel. He was capable of extensive planning and premeditation. And besides, his parents had thought he was fine. They were shocked by the shooting. How could they not have known if he had really been suffering from such severe mental illness as the defense says to which I say, you took him to the worst doctor in the world. In the world. And also, no one wants to believe there's something wrong with their kid. If you have somebody telling you that they're fine, you're gonna listen to them. But the burden of proof was on the prosecution to prove that Hinckley was sane at the time of the shooting. And on June 21, 1982, after seven weeks of testimony and three to four sources differ, days of deliberation by the jury, John Hinckley Jr. Was found not guilty by reason of insanity. And the backlash was immediate. Some people claimed that it was due to the jury being predominantly black and that this verdict had been turned in. And I guess the argument was that because black people don't like Reagan, and therefore they must have let his assassin off the hook. It doesn't. It's not. It's not true. It's because the burden was on the prosecution to prove that he was sane at the time of the shooting, and they couldn't do it. So Senator Arlen Specter said, let's flip the burden of proof in insanity cases. Instead of the prosecution having to prove a defendant was sane, the defendant would have to now prove that they were insane. And Reagan unsurprisingly backed this. In 1984, the insanity defense Reform act was passed. So defendants now had to prove that they had a severe mental illness. That left them, as you said, unable to understand that what they were doing was wrong in their definition of right and wrong. And that they could no longer argue that they just couldn't control themselves. Within years of The Hinckley verdict, 2/3 of states had made it harder to claim insanity. Eight states introduced a middle ground verdict of guilty but mentally ill. And some states actually abolished the insanity defense completely. After the acquittal, St Elizabeth's the hospital where he was receiving treatment, diagnosed him with the following conditions. And this is where we get the official diagnosis that you referenced earlier, Saruti. So the main Primary diagnosis is schizotypal personality disorder. You really hit the nail on the head as to what this is, if anyone is curious, because I was not super familiar with this. It is similar to schizophrenia. It is not identical to it. It does not include the same type of psychosis present in schizophrenia. He also has borderline personality disorder.

[Hannah McGuire]

It's very rare for men to get diagnosed with bpd. Usually they just chuck it at women that they don't really know what to do with. But if you look up the. It's vastly more likely that you'll be diagnosed with BPD if you're a woman.

[Lizzie Bassett]

If you're a woman. Yeah.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah. Because they tend to diagnose men who trul have BPD with having antisocial personality disorder because of the way in which it presents itself. So typically in women, the BPD can present as sort of histrionic behavior, overly emotional, which is like they're more. They're more primed to see that link to bpd. But with the men, when they see the violence and the anger presenting itself, they tend to diagnose, misdiagnose them with antisocial personality disorder. But I'm not surprised he's got bpd. And I'm not surprised that that's the connection being made with stalking, because it's that fear of rejection. Even though he doesn't ever really seem to see that. He seems to think like, Jodie Foster will love me. It's just a matter of time. But it's interesting. It is interesting. Yeah.

[Hannah McGuire]

There's a really famous book about BPD which has been sort of like, essentially debunked now because it's not particularly sensitive wording, but it's called I hate you, Please don't leave me. And I think it's if for people who have literally no information about bpd, that is quite a good stepping stone into understanding what it is adjacent to, if not definitely.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah, I mean, that tracks here. You know, he's. He's saying, if you don't respond to me, I will. You know, I will eliminate you basically totally. He also was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, recurrent major depression, and schizoid personality disorder as well. The hospital noted, though, that all of these diagnoses taken together were still not enough to encompass the severity of his obsession with Jodie Foster. As of 1982, he thought every single day about killing her. Now, through time and extensive treatment, the hospital reported many years later that Hinckley's mental illness was in full sustained remission. And in 2016, he was released to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, under the following no contact with past or present presidents or their relatives, homes, or graves. No contact with Jodie Foster or any other entertainers. No watching of violent movies, television, or online digital materials. No traveling knowingly to places where current or former presidents may be present. And he may play his guitar in private, but in the interest of containing his narcissism, he may not play gigs.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow.

[Hannah McGuire]

I mean, that last one I wish I could apply to several people I know. Oh, I feel quite sad for him.

[Saruti Bala]

It's that bad.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I know. In September of 2021, he was approved for unconditional release. And in 2023, he released an album followed by the book in 2025. In 2024, he went on TV following the Trump assassination attempt and urged people to forego violence and instead, quot quote, give peace a chance.

[Hannah McGuire]

But has he appeared as himself in Assassins?

[Saruti Bala]

That's the real.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I'm sure he's waiting for the call, Hannah.

[Hannah McGuire]

I'll ring him myself.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I think he would just. In January of this year, he told TMZ that he believed he was the reason Jodie Foster was a lesbian. It was simply all due to the trauma that he had inflicted on her. Alert, alert. Narcissism alert. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Saruti Bala]

Yeah, Again, classic narcissistic behavior like we were talking about before. Like this feeling of I don't actually mean anything. I bet I don't have an impact on the world. And here is a way I had a major impact on this woman. She became a lesbian because of me. Yeah, it tracks. It makes sense.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I would like to end, though, with former press secretary James Brady. Now, for decades after the shooting, Brady and his wife Sarah fought endlessly for tougher gun control laws, particularly waiting periods for guns. During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1989, he was asked if he thought a waiting period would be too much of an inconvenience for gun buyers. And he said, I need help getting out of bed, help taking a shower, help getting dressed, and damn it, I need help going to the bathroom. I guess I'm paying for their convenience. In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention act, which was the largest change in federal firearms regulation in years. The law required background checks and, critically, a five day waiting period to buy handguns, both of which might have stopped John Hinckley Jr. Or at least slowed him down. Unfortunately, in 1998, a new law passed that dropped the federal waiting period in favor of an instant background check, which is what we have today. Only 13 states currently implement a waiting period. In August of 2014, James Brady died at age 73 due to complications from his injuries. His death was ruled a homicide, but the district attorney declined to charge Hinckley in the murder. And that is the story of John Hinckley Jr. And his obsession with Jodie Foster.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow, thank you. That was really interesting. I knew so little about that, actually. I knew so little about that whole story. And yeah, I'm gonna go watch Taxi Driver now. Very late in the game.

[Lizzie Bassett]

It's a weird experience when you know this story to watch it. It honestly is more upsetting.

[Hannah McGuire]

Yeah, I can't get over how easy it is to get a gun. Like that has really thrown me because it's so not in our existence. We just don't even consider.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Depends on where you are. California is one of the states that does have. I could be wrong. I believe it's a 10 day waiting period in California. But today only 13 states and the District of Columbia implement a waiting period that applies to some sort of firearm. 13 states wild.

[Hannah McGuire (Ad Segment)]

So what went right, Lizzie?

[Chris Winterbauer]

Just kidding. It's a segment we do on a normal episode, not these ones.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I have. This is. This is maybe bad to say. I have very mixed feelings about the fact that he was released. Obviously these are mental health professionals that were treating him. They're saying that he's in remission. That's good. Obviously I'm very happy for him that that's the case. But I don't know, some of his comments, some of the stuff that he has released since then, it doesn't make me feel great about it.

[Hannah McGuire]

I think it's tricky because in order to be comfortable with release, you have to really believe that he has consistent access to the help and support that he needs. And I. In order to stop him from being a danger to others and himself. And I just, I'm never convinced. I don't think I'm convinced enough that he has that access, which isn't his fault, but I don't think it's there.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I don't know enough to say whether he does or doesn't have enough support, to be honest. But I should note that I think both of his parents have said, although I believe his brother did move in order to be closer to John.

[Saruti Bala]

Wow.

[Hannah McGuire]

I hope he's all right. I like, I feel for him.

[Lizzie Bassett]

I do too. I mean, this is a case where like just based on the fact that he continued to say every day, like, yes, I am obsessed with Jodie Foster, I think about killing her. Like, this was not faked. This was not someone who understood fully what, like, the actual human repercussions of what he was doing. Anyway, thanks for joining us on this bummer of a journey.

[Saruti Bala]

No, that was really interesting. Really interesting.

[Hannah McGuire]

Yeah, we're in the business of bummerinos. We love it.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Yeah.

[Saruti Bala]

And thank you for telling us the story. It was really interesting.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Of course. Thank you so much for being here. If you've not listened to Red Handed, you absolutely must. It is one of my all time favorite podcasts. I love the work that you do, the amount of research you do, the writing is so good and you just handle it all so beautifully. So I'm truly a fan. Listeners, if you have not checked out their show, you absolutely must. I think if you like our show, you would really like Red Handed. You are such excellent storytellers that it just always sucks me in.

[Hannah McGuire]

Aw, thank you.

[Lizzie Bassett]

And I love your True Crime Adjacent episodes too. Your shorthand episodes are honestly some of my favorites.

[Saruti Bala]

Thank you very much and thank you, Chris. Thank you both for having us. We had a really great time. It was nice to listen and just react, which we don't get to do very often. So it was very compelling and yeah, fantastic storytelling. That was really good. And yeah, I feel like I've learned a lot. I'm going to go look into this case and watch that movie.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Let us know what you think of Taxi Driver. Watch, rewatch the whole thing. Because it's. It is. It's a tough one to wrap your head around. And listeners, come back on Monday for a main feed episode on Taxi Driver itself. All right, well, thank you both so much for being here and I'll be listening to you.

[Ad Voice]

To support what Went Wrong and gain access to bonus episodes episodes subscribe on Patreon, Apple or Spotify for $5 a month. Patreon subscriptions also come with an ad free RSS feed. You can also visit our website what WentWrongPod.com for more info. What Went Wrong is a sad boom podcast presented by Lizzie Bassett and Chris Winterbauer. Post production and music by David Bowman. This episode was researched by Laura Woods.

[Lizzie Bassett]

Sam.