Patty Hearst: Brainwashing, Cyanide Bullets, and an Heiress-Turned-Terrorist 

Before Patty Hearst appeared as an actress in John Waters' movies, she captivated America on the silver screen as a hostage terrorized by the Symbionese Liberation Army. When the newspaper heiress was kidnapped by the radical organization in 1974, the country sympathized with her plight. But after just a few months, the SLA’s guns weren’t pointing at Patty anymore; suddenly, Patty was firing her own weapons during fistfights and bank robberies as a member of the same terrorist group that once kept her locked in a closet. In court, Patty claimed she was brainwashed and that she played along for her own safety. It’s true that Patty Hearst gave the performance of a lifetime — but we still don’t know which part of her life was the performance. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of violence. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at }www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices