People are obsessing over the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO. Why?
On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN Wellness Reporter Charles Trepany takes a closer look at the fascination some have over a murder suspect. President-elect Donald Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James are sparring over the $485 million fraud case. Plus, Manhattan prosecutors urged a New York criminal court to keep Trump's hush money case alive. Syria's interim leader says the country faces a lack of foreign currency. Paste BN Money Reporter Bailey Schulz discusses 'dry promotions,' and what employees can do about them. 77 Nobel Prize winners ask the Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, December 11th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.
Today we discuss why people are so fascinated by the murder suspect in the killing of Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, plus the latest from Syria, and how more workers are getting dry promotions.
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The suspect charged with murder and the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will fight extradition to New York. Luigi Mangione indicated that yesterday through his lawyer at a court in Pennsylvania. He was denied bail, which the judge said he could contest as well within 14 days. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed to Paste BN that it would seek a Governor's Warrant for Mangione's extradition and Mangione's lawyer made it clear he would oppose it.
Handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione arrived at the courthouse in a police vehicle and yelled out a statement that appeared to include the phrase, "completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people," as sheriff's deputies led him away.
Meanwhile, some people are obsessing over the murder suspect. Why? I spoke with Paste BN Wellness Reporter Charles Trepany for more.
Hello Charles. Thanks for making some time on this.
Charles Trepany:
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So let's just kind of start with the basics, Charles, for folks who maybe need to catch up. Who is Luigi Mangione, and what have we learned about this suspect?
Charles Trepany:
He was arrested in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania after he was recognized and people alerted authorities. He's currently being detained.
Taylor Wilson:
How are some people really showing this fascination or obsession that you outline in this piece? How is this playing out?
Charles Trepany:
I think it's interesting because his arrest has almost become sort of like a cultural phenomenon online. As soon as authorities made his name public, people did digging and they found social media profiles. They found his educational background, where he went to school. They found videos of him online, the valedictorian speech. They found reviews he left on Goodreads of different books. It's all fed into this interest, and what was going through his mind? What was he thinking? People are looking at the books he read, things that he posted, trying to decipher what his motivations were personally, politically, what was going on with him. All of that interest has sort of created this kind of cultural fascination around him.
Taylor Wilson:
Why do people find controversial, even dangerous at times, people attractive, Charles?
Charles Trepany:
Well, this is a really interesting part of the phenomenon, I think, is that so many people are making jokes about how good-looking he is, how attractive they find him. His image has almost become as much of a meme and as much of a topic, online at least, as the horrific thing that he did. And I think it speaks to a few different things. I spoke to mental health experts, and they said that it sort of drives home how visual our culture is, how superficial, looks-focused, our culture is. That's thanks to the growth of social media, people living online. We live in a highly visual culture. But there also are perhaps some evolutionary reasons behind it too. Luigi Mangione isn't the first murder suspect to be lauded in this way. I mean, I'm thinking of Ted Bundy who Netflix put out a statement a few years ago when he was back in the pop culture zeitgeist, sort of warning people about being attracted to him because people were making similar comments.
People have made similar comments about Jeffrey Dahmer. So it seems to be something that resurges in waves, even actor Penn Badgley, who stars on the show You. His show is about a fictional serial killer, but he sort of jokingly responded to fans who have talked about how smitten they are with his murderous character, saying, "Really? Are you sure? Is that a good idea?" So it's something that happens often. And one of the perhaps psychological reasons could be more evolutionary based, that if somebody is suspected of murder or is accused of murder, maybe people think, "Oh, that person's capable of violence, they can protect me. They are dominant." Kind of the animal kingdom caveman evolutionary way of looking at things and priorities. So that could be one reason why people are finding him attractive. It's interesting to me that that's what a lot of people online are latching onto.
Taylor Wilson:
It's fascinating to me too, Charles. I mean, there is another major angle to this story, specifically, of course, and that's how Mangione... Some have seen Mangione as, I guess, this heroic or Aesopic figure, and that the killing of Brian Thompson has sparked a larger conversation about issues with the affordability of healthcare. Can you just talk through some of that? I know that's been a big part of the conversation in the wake of this shooting.
Charles Trepany:
It's very complicated, I think, because so many people have grievances with the healthcare system and so many people also are in agreement that this killing was so wrong. And I think that, from the experts we've talked to, in terms of mental health, they've all said that we need to remember that two things can be true simultaneously and that you can have multiple conversations at the same time. You can talk about healthcare reform and how much American people say that they're hurting from it. And you also can talk about empathy and having empathy for everyone and understanding that murder is wrong and that we have a justice system in America for a reason. So it's all very complicated, but I think what sort of fuels into the conversation about why everyone keeps talking about Mangione's looks, I think part of it also has to do with how, for many people who've been hurt by the healthcare system, they've really kind of latched onto him, and they almost see him as a Robin Hood-esque figure.
And that's also a conversation that's happening online and a lot of commentary has been made about that. There's also been a lot of opposite reactions. A lot of people disgusted with that. A lot of people sickened by it. A lot of people pointing out that Brian Thompson was a father, he had a family, and he was a person too. So it's very complicated, but I think that that is also playing a role in people talking about Mangione. And I also think that part of why people are saying that he's attractive, he's good-looking, is like a social contagion element, that he's like the main figure in the news right now. His face is everywhere. There's the exposure effect. People are talking about him. And so that's also going to garner more interest.
Taylor Wilson:
If folks want more, they can go find Charles' full piece with the link in today's show notes. Charles Trepany covers wellness, lifestyle and entertainment for Paste BN. A complicated, sensitive topic, but I appreciate the care that you brought to it, Charles. Thanks so much.
Charles Trepany:
Thank you so much.
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Taylor Wilson:
Syria's new interim Prime Minister says he aims to bring back millions of Syrian refugees, but he's also acknowledging the country faces a cash crunch. Mohammed al-Bashir told Italian newspaper il Corriere della Sera, that the country faces a lack of foreign currency. Bashir ran the rebel-led Salvation Government in a small part of northwestern Syria before a 12-day rebel offensive moved into the capital of Damascus and toppled Autocrat President, Bashar al-Assad. As for the U.S., Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said a priority remains returning journalist and former Marine, Austin Tice. That's according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller yesterday.
Matthew Miller:
And we continue to make clear in all of our conversations, either with entities on the ground in Syria or with entities that may be in communication with those on the ground in Syria, that we have no higher priority than the safe return of Austin Tice to his family.
Taylor Wilson:
Austin Tice went missing while reporting in Syria in 2012. The Syrian regime's collapse has raised hopes that he will be returned.
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President-elect Donald Trump's lawyer and New York Attorney General Letitia James's office are sparring over whether Trump's $485 million civil fraud loss should be wiped out because he won the November election. In a letter publicly released yesterday, New York Deputy Solicitor General, Judith Vale, told Trump lawyer, John Sauer, that the Constitution doesn't require her office to ask a court to toss out the judgment Trump was hit with in light of his presidential election. Trump is appealing a judge's February determination that he owed $454 million for inflating the value of his assets to get better loan and insurance terms over several years. With ongoing interest, the judgment now totals more than 485 million. Trump has denied doing anything wrong and is currently awaiting a ruling from a New York Appeals Court about whether the judgment can stand.
He could choose to drop his appeal and just pay, but he has not expressed interest in doing that. And his lawyers are arguing the Attorney General's lawsuit went too far because they say Trump's asset valuations didn't hurt his lenders. Meanwhile, Manhattan prosecutors are urging a New York Criminal Court to keep President-elect Donald Trump's hush money case alive even if sentencing is pushed out past Trump's next presidential term. Trump was convicted in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. He was originally scheduled for sentencing in July, but the sentencing date was repeatedly pushed back. Trump is now arguing that sentencing should be canceled, and the case should be dismissed as a result of his election.
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More workers are getting so-called dry promotions. I spoke with Paste BN Money Reporter, Bailey Schulz, to learn more. Bailey, thanks for making some time today.
Bailey Schulz:
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So let's just try to define this at the top, Bailey. What is a dry promotion and just how common are they and do they impact any workers more than others?
Bailey Schulz:
Yeah, this is kind of one of those trends we're seeing that has the catchy name coming on recent years. There's been the quiet quitting. Now we're seeing dry promotion, also sometimes referred to as quiet promotions, but this is when we see an employee taking on more responsibilities, maybe a new job title, but their pay stays the same. So there is some data out there that's indicating that this is something that has been on the rise. There's one survey from a compensation consulting firm called Pearl Meyer, and they found about 13% of surveyed companies said they were using new job titles to reward employees when their funds were limited, and that's up from the 8% in 2018. Another survey from recruiting firm Robert Half found that younger employees may be seeing more of these dry promotions than their older counterparts. So, what they found is 33% of Gen Z workers said that they were offered a promotion without a raise, and that's compared to 7% of Gen Xers.
Taylor Wilson:
So, really what's the impact on workers who go through this? I mean, what are we hearing?
Bailey Schulz:
I spoke to one worker who had gone through a dry promotion where really her responsibilities grew, she took on a larger scale role. Things became more stressful, but her pay didn't budge. And so, what she told me is that that just really led to her feeling burnt out, and she since started looking for work elsewhere.
Taylor Wilson:
Are there any risks for the companies that do this, Bailey? I mean, do they risk retaining workers, for instance?
Bailey Schulz:
I think like I said with that previous example of that one employee who spoke to me, experts say that there is a risk for just having retainment issues with this sort of strategy where we're seeing some data out there that may indicate that this could be a retainment risk. So, there is a 2023 report from ADP, and they found that within a month after a first promotion, just under 30% of employees had left their employers. And so some of that may come from these sort of dry promotions, where employees are getting new job titles, not getting a pay raise, and then using those titles to find work elsewhere that is willing to pay more.
Taylor Wilson:
So folks, including the people you spoke with, Bailey, how can they handle a situation like this if they go through it at work? What do the experts say? What are some kind of examples to follow?
Bailey Schulz:
So the people I spoke to said that it's understandable for employees to not be happy if they're doing more work for the same pay, without more pay. I spoke to one associate professor of management for the story who said that a dry promotion may be worth discussing, especially if there's indications that this could lead to a pay raise down the road. But if an employee finds out that the company isn't really willing to budge and offer a pay raise or any other perks, yeah, this new title may be a way to maybe boost their resume so they can find a job somewhere else that is willing to pay more.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, folks can find this full piece with the link in today's show notes. Bailey Schultz covers money for Paste BN. Thanks, Bailey.
Bailey Schulz:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
77 Nobel laureates are urging the Senate to vote down Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the nation's top health agency. They point to his views against vaccines and fluoride in drinking water, among other things. The letter published Monday by The New York Times said, "Putting Kennedy in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees agencies handling food and drug safety, disease epidemics and health insurance would put the public's health in jeopardy." The authors point to Kennedy's opposition to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the polio vaccine. Kennedy is a leading proponent of the discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
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Knee replacement surgery is an invasive procedure often involving a several days long stay in the hospital, followed by six months to a year of physical therapy. But now there's another road to knee recovery, a less surgically complex one with a faster route to getting back to doing the things you love. Dr. Cassandra Lee, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at UC Davis joins my colleague Dana Taylor to discuss a new treatment option involving coral exoskeletons. You can hear that episode right here beginning at 4 PM Eastern Time this afternoon.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt.
I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.