Author Matt Miksa trained at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, learning how to analyze crime scene evidence, elicit information from informants, and detect liars. He joined host Ian Punnett (Twitter) to discuss his novels and how delving into the paranormal might benefit FBI agents and analysts since those accounts train readers to expect the impossible, shake off unconscious bias, and examine the world from unorthodox points of view. "It's not just the stereotypical 'men in black' that we see from the movies — it really takes people who have very different ways at looking at the world and thinking that help us understand some of these cases," Miksa explained. The main character in his latest novel, Don't Get Close, is approached at her exhibit and recruited from art school. She uses her skill as a painter to synthesize the random bits of information that come in from cases, he noted.
According to Miksa, 'paranormal' is essentially science that has yet to be further explored and phenomena for which we do not currently have the full picture. Before people understood electricity it was considered paranormal, he suggested. Miksa outlined the benefits of bringing paranormal thinking into the early training of FBI agents and analysts, and including paranormal thrillers as part of the curriculum. "What's more important than learning how to open your mind to accept that there could be difficult to explain circumstances that are related to the evidence," he said. Miksa also commented on still unexplained events, such as Roswell, where the mystery may simply be that a division of the Air Force tested an unknown craft but did not communicate with other governmental departments about it. "If there is anything happening in our airspace that isn't easy to explain... it needs to be investigated," he added.
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Canceling Student Loan Debt
Student loan debt commentator Alan Collinge thinks the entire student loan lending system has catastrophically failed and COVID was the final nail in the coffin. According to Collinge, before the pandemic had arrived in the U.S., over half of all federal student loan borrowers were not making payments on their loans. In the first hour, he made a case for canceling student debt. Collinge spoke about issues with for-profit colleges who target vulnerable populations. "Some of the for-profits are just shameless about how they advertise," he said. According to Collinge, it's not unusual for a student loan of $10,000 to explode to $20,000 or $30,000 with fees and penalties. Federal student loans are stripped of bankruptcy protections and statutes of limitations. "It's never been done for any other type of loan... it gives the lending side a license to steal," he revealed. Collinge shared the story of a woman who originally borrowed $26,000, fell into default, and now owes $132,000 on the debt even though she has repaid $93,000. "There's no recourse for her," he added.