{"podcast":{"title":"Mysteries and Histories","slug":"mysteries-and-histories-1576928","podcast_index_feed_id":1576928,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/10f731918/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTMJwtvyuP7XMgpofJWH5g/","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/45441686/06037aa4e36546ef.png","author":"Georgia Marie","episode_count":302,"summary":"Join Georgia as each week she talks you through important pieces of history that more people should know about or true crime cases that require more public attention - awareness and education are key!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T00:18:28.244014+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mysteries-and-histories-1576928"},"episode":{"title":"Are Polygraph Tests Really Useful In True Crime?!","slug":"are-polygraph-tests-really-useful-in-true-crime","published_at":"2026-06-26T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mysteries-and-histories-1576928/are-polygraph-tests-really-useful-in-true-crime","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mysteries-and-histories-1576928","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/georgiamariexo/episodes/Are-Polygraph-Tests-Really-Useful-In-True-Crime-e3l7er6","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO6255759713.mp3","summary":"Polygraph tests or “lie detectors” sound like the perfect true crime shortcut: strap someone in, ask the right questions, watch the needles jump, and let the machine tell you who’s lying. In reality, they sit in a murky space between science and theatre. They don’t measure lies, they measure stress, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, sweat, and then a human interpreter decides what those spikes mean, which makes them dangerously persuasive in interrogation rooms and almost useless in courtrooms. In case after case, people have “passed” while hiding horrific secrets, and others have “failed” simply because they were terrified, traumatized, or anxious, not because they were guilty. That’s why most judges won’t allow polygraph results as hard evidence, and why investigators who lean on them too heavily can end up chasing the wrong suspect or pressuring someone into a confession just to make a bad result go away.","meta_description":"Polygraph tests or “lie detectors” sound like the perfect true crime shortcut: strap someone in, ask the right questions, watch the needles jump, and let…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1959,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mysteries-and-histories-1576928/episodes/are-polygraph-tests-really-useful-in-true-crime/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mysteries-and-histories-1576928/are-polygraph-tests-really-useful-in-true-crime.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}