The shift towards using public punishment as an educative and deterrent function was a part of a broader rationalistic concentration in punishment, and ran counter to the religious and crypto-materialist rituals that were previously accepted. However, this new concept of penal policy was often detrimental as it caused weak and melancholy natures to desire a form of joyful extinction.
People who believe that public executions went away because they no longer served the interest of the authorities, argue that the state eventually took the religion out of the religious ritual destabilizing the whole thing and leaving nothing left for people to enjoy it for curiosity reasons or sadistic reasons or fill in the blank reasons.
The influence of historical broadsheets on public perception is difficult to determine as it is unclear how much the people were changing due to the publications or if the publications were just following societal trends. However, the broadsheets' coverage of executions added a level of realism that appealed to audiences.
The gladiatorial games showcased the immense power of the crowd in ancient Rome. Historians describe how they called for the life or death of a gladiator, with their fate in their hands.
The hosts discuss the limits of voluntarism with regards to sharing communities and how to balance individual freedoms with collective government intervention.
The podcast explores the dichotomy of enjoying imitative arts as opposed to real violence that can alter one's mind and behaviors. Also, it delves into the impact of English experiences on public executions and crowd behavior.