Podcast appearances and mentions of anja shortland

On this week's Tech Nation, what is ransomware? And is it still going strong?Moira speaks with King's College London Professor of Political Economy, Anja Shortland, about her book “Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware.” Then, Dr. Jonas Hannestad & Dr. Joanne Taylor discuss how Gain Therapeutics is taking a new approach to treating Parkinson's by targeting the disease itself. And, Dr. Daniel Kraft shares how he thinks the future of healthcare could be more like a Waymo

“Fraud makes up between 40 and 50 percent of all crime in the UK. Police resource dedicated to fraud: 1 percent. No country is giving fraud the attention it deserves.” — Becky Holmes Was Shakespeare a fraud? Possibly, says Becky Holmes, the Stratford-upon-Avon-based writer and the lady behind the X account @deathtospinach. She should know. Best known as the author of Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You, a cult hit among the romance fraud crowd, Holmes' latest book is The Future of Fraud. It's a short, sharp, witty history and anatomy of fraud, from the first recorded case in ancient Greece to today's AI-enabled deepfakes and romance scams. Holmes' most alarming statistic is that fraud accounts for between 40 and 50 percent of all crime in the United Kingdom, while only 1% of police resources are dedicated to investigating it. No wonder so few fraudsters are ever prosecuted. Holmes wants more Sherlocks. She wants fraud awareness on every school curriculum. And she wants our language to change. No, you didn't “fall for” a scam. Your money was stolen from you. As if you were mugged on the street or your home was broken into. The internet was bad enough for fraud. But AI, she warns, offers online criminals even more opportunity. It's not just Keanu Reeves who isn't in love with you. Never trust a handsome soldier, she says. Especially a virtual one. Five Takeaways •       The First Recorded Fraud: 300 BC, Greece: A Greek merchant took out an insurance policy on his boat, borrowed money, and planned to sink it and collect the proceeds. It didn't go according to plan. But the basic structure — a false representation designed to extract money or goods from another party — has not changed in 2,300 years. Every fraud since, from the South Sea Bubble to Bernie Madoff to AI-enabled romance scams, is a variation on the same theme: getting something from someone by not telling the truth. •       AI Has Erased All the Red Flags: Holmes used to advise romance fraud victims and potential victims: if he won't do a video call, that's suspicious. If the voice sounds wrong, that's suspicious. If he can't meet in person, that's suspicious. AI has rendered all of these warnings useless. You can now have a fully convincing video call, voice message, and real-time conversation with someone who doesn't exist. Deepfakes mean you can't even trust what your eyes tell you. The “red flags” that protected fraud victims for thirty years are gone. •       40 to 50 Percent of Crime, 1 Percent of Resource: In the United Kingdom, fraud accounts for between 40 and 50 percent of all recorded crime. Police resources dedicated to investigating fraud: 1 percent. Holmes cites a comparable US statistic: in one state, there were millions of people and ten police officers dedicated to cybercrime — and not one of them did it as their primary job. No country, Holmes argues, is giving fraud the attention it deserves. The gap between the scale of the problem and the resources devoted to it is not a funding issue. It is a political choice. •       You Didn't Lose Your Money. It Was Taken from You: Holmes has a crusade about language. The phrase “fell for a scam” implies the victim's credulity caused the loss. “Lost their money” implies carelessness. Both are wrong: in fraud, money is taken by a deliberate criminal act. Holmes wants the language changed because language shapes understanding, and understanding shapes policy. If fraud victims are seen as complicit in their own victimhood, society finds it easier to underfund investigation and under-prosecute offenders. Reclaiming the language is not symbolic. It is strategic. •       Fraud Awareness Should Be on Every School Curriculum: Holmes's most concrete prescription. Every person on the planet will encounter fraud at some point. Teaching children to recognise it should be as basic as teaching them to cross the road safely. It should be age-appropriate: fraud awareness around gaming sites and online chat when children first go online; around bank accounts and credit cards when they turn eighteen; around investment fraud at university level. The alternative — leaving it to parents, who are often themselves uneducated about fraud — is not good enough. The next generation of fraudsters is already on the gaming headsets. About the Guest Becky Holmes is the creator of the X account @deathtospinach, a fraud prevention speaker and writer, and the author of The Future of Fraud (Melville House, April 2026) and Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud. She lives in Stratford-upon-Avon. References: •       The Future of Fraud by Becky Holmes (Melville House, April 2026). •       Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud by Becky Holmes (Unbound, 2024). •       Episode 2890: Anja Shortland on Dark Screens — ransomware as the companion episode on the booming business of cybercrime. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters: (00:31) - Introduction: Was Shakespeare a fraud? (01:35) - Everyone has been into fraud at some point in history (01:44) - What is fraud? A working definition (02:41) - Anja Shortland and the British women and fraud connection (03:16) - How Becky got into fraud: handsome soldiers on Twitter during lockdown (03:32) - @deathtospinach: the origin of the handle (04:53) - Where does romance fraud end and marketing oneself begin? (05:27) - Motive is the line: wanting money from a relationship (06:09) - Fraud for sex and power: a different kind of romance fraud (06:50) - The spinach debate: raw vs. cooked (...

What if ransomware did not begin with criminals, but with curiosity? In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Noah talk with Anja Shortland, professor of political economy at King's College London and author of Dark Screens. This conversation explores how playful hacking evolved into professionalized cybercrime, why ransomware gangs operate like morally questionable internet startups, how cryptocurrency made ransomware scalable, and why hospitals, governments, universities, and critical infrastructure remain especially vulnerable. We also dig into the mathematics behind encryption, asymmetric cryptography, game theory, negotiation, cyber insurance, and the uncomfortable trade-offs between freedom, privacy, and regulation. Chapters 00:00 The origins of ransomware and early hacker culture 02:13 The evolution of ransomware attacks since 2013 03:14 The paradox of cybercriminals as entrepreneurs 06:19 Early hackers: Steve Jobs and Wozniak as pioneers 12:34 The moral and legal landscape of hacking and cybercrime 13:39 The importance of cybersecurity awareness for individuals 15:03 The arms race: attackers vs defenders and the role of math 16:02 The technological innovations behind ransomware 19:21 Asymmetric encryption and cryptocurrency in ransomware 20:53 Bitcoin and the dark web: enabling cybercrime 22:45 The impact of AI on future cyber threats and defenses 34:07 The future of ransomware and cybersecurity challenges Follow Anja Shortland on LinkedIn (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anja-shortland-53133b231)Book (https://amzn.to/4d6pB4X) Follow Breaking Math on Substack (https://breakingmath.substack.com/) Twitter (https://x.com/breakingmathpod) X (https://www.instagram.com/breakingmathmedia/) Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/breakingmath.bsky.social) Website (https://www.breakingmath.io/) Follow Noah onInstagram (https://www.instagram.com/profnoahgian/)Twitter (https://x.com/ProfNoahGian)Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/profnoahgian.bsky.social)Follow Autumn on X (https://x.com/1autumn_leaf) Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/1autumnleaf.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/1autumnleaf/) Substack (https://substack.com/@1autumnleaf) email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com

“It's like wrecking a car to steal a pair of sunglasses. The sunglasses are the ransom. The damage to the car is fifty to seventy-five billion dollars a year.” — Anja Shortland Cybercrime is booming. Ransomware attacks — where criminal gangs encrypt your servers and hold your data hostage until you pay — cost victims somewhere between fifty and seventy-five billion dollars a year in damage. The hackers themselves pocket around a billion. As Anja Shortland, professor of political economy at King's College London and author of Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware, puts it: “it's like wrecking a car to steal a pair of sunglasses.” The sunglasses are the ransom. The wrecked car is the damage to the rest of us. Shortland is an expert in extortive crime — transactions where a legal entity has to make a deal with a criminal group under conditions of zero trust. She has studied kidnap for ransom, Somali piracy, art theft, and now the booming business of ransomware. What fascinates her is not the crime itself but the institutions that emerge in the space between the legal world and the criminal underworld: the insurance companies that price the risk, the negotiators who manage the transaction, the norms that make it possible for a corporation to pay a criminal gang and actually get its data back. In Russia, hacking Westerners isn't even a crime. In North Korea, it's an actual department with a small army of government employees. In Iran, it's a foreign policy. Criminality, Shortland thus argues, is defined by whoever holds power. The game-changer, she argues, is cryptocurrency. Without it, ransomware doesn't work — you can't move money anonymously at scale without it. Regulate cryptocurrency, and you take the profit motive out of most of what she studies. The irony is that the current American administration is amongst the most crypto-friendly in history. Meanwhile, AI — specifically Anthropic's Claude Mythos, the hacking model that was leaked rather than released — is about to give criminals tools that only well-resourced banks and corporations can currently deploy defensively. So cybercrime will continue to boom. Expect a pile-up of wrecked cars on our information highway.Five Takeaways •       We Know You Can Pay a Million: The title of the UK edition of Shortland's book is the most revealing line in ransomware. Criminal gangs don't pick ransom figures arbitrarily. They spend weeks inside the victim's systems, studying cash flow, cash reserves, and insurance coverage, before setting a demand on the painful side of affordable. The victim usually pays — because the alternative is losing access to patient records, customer data, or patents permanently. The hackers know this. The negotiation that follows is, in Shortland's framing, a transaction between parties with zero trust and one thing in common: both want a deal. •       In Russia, It's Not a Crime: Ransomware is not a uniform global crime. In Russia, theft and extortion directed at Westerners is not considered a criminal act. In North Korea, hacking is organised as a government department — a state revenue stream, not a criminal enterprise. The line between crime and legitimacy is drawn by whoever holds power. This complicates any enforcement response: you cannot extradite a North Korean government employee. You cannot prosecute a Russian hacker in a Russian court. The only effective levers are diplomatic, financial, and technical — and all three are currently being weakened. •       Insurance Orders Criminality: Shortland's most counterintuitive argument: insurance companies are not passive bystanders in ransomware. They are active market-makers. By pricing the risk, they create the conditions under which a corporation can make a rational decision to pay. By negotiating on behalf of victims, they create norms — what a fair ransom looks like, what proof of decryption looks like, what happens if the hackers don't deliver. Insurance, in Shortland's telling, is what makes the criminal market function. Most people think insurance is boring. They are not thinking about this. •       Cryptocurrency Is the Real Game-Changer: Ransomware as a profitable business model did not exist before cryptocurrency. Without the ability to move money anonymously at scale, without blockchain verification that payment has been received, the transaction between criminal and victim cannot be completed. Regulate cryptocurrency — apply the anti-money-laundering frameworks that govern wire transfers and bank accounts — and you take the profit motive out of most of what Shortland studies. The irony: the current American administration is among the most crypto-friendly in history, and the president's own family has direct financial interests in the sector. •       Claude Mythos and the Asymmetric AI Problem: Anthropic's Claude Mythos — the AI model built to find software vulnerabilities, which was leaked rather than formally released — is the next phase of this war. The defensive use case is real: a well-resourced bank can use it to find and fix its vulnerabilities before attackers do. The problem is asymmetry. A large financial institution can deploy Claude Mythos defensively. Wiltshire County Council, a local hospital, a dental practice, a legal firm — the soft targets that ransomware gangs prefer — cannot. The hackers will eventually get it. The debate about who should be allowed to use it, and under what conditions, has not happened. That is what worries Shortland most. About the Guest Anja Shortland is a Professor of Political Economy at King's College London and the author of Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware (Princeton University Press, 2025; US edition April 2026) and Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business. She was a member of the Ransomware Task Force. References: •       Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware by Anja Shortland (Princeton University Press, US edition April 2026). •       Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1984) — referenced in the interview as the origin story of hacking culture. •       Episode 2885: Keith Teare on Adulting — the week Anthropic's Claude Mythos was discussed; the Shortland interview is the companion piece on what it means in practice. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the histo...

Lawfare Book Review Editor Jonathan Cedarbaum sits down with Anja Shortland, professor of political economy at King's College London, to discuss her new book, "Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware." The book offers a history of the development of ransomware into perhaps the most important form of cyber crime, costing the global economy $75 billion a year. In the book, Shortland depicts the evolving strategies of ransomware organizations and the efforts by governments and corporations to defend themselves from this often crippling type of cyber attack. Shortland and Cedarbaum talk about the emergence of organized criminal groups specializing in digital extortion over the past 15 years, some of their most spectacular hacks, how target organizations have worked to make themselves more resilient to ransomware attacks, and how governments have sought to disrupt ransomware groups.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailA talk with Dr Anya Shortland about the economics of ransomware and the gray-zone institutions that let extortion markets function when nobody can truly enforce trust. We dig into how cyber insurance quietly becomes a form of governance, why data leaks change the game, and what national security risks emerge as everything gets connected. • criminal markets that sit between legal firms and underworld gangs • insurance as governance through protocols, repeat play, and incident response packages • why victims amplify risk when they throw money at crises • the origin story of early ransomware and the transaction costs that made it fail • step-by-step ransomware mechanics from phishing to exfiltration to encryption • how gangs price ransoms by reading cash flow and insurance certificates • leak sites, privacy regulation, and third-party liability as bargaining leverage • why cyber insurance is fragmented and slow to enforce security standards • deductibles, coverage caps, and market hardening that push better cybersecurity • AI-enabled phishing and the asymmetric arms race between attackers and defenders • state-linked ransomware, impunity jurisdictions, and critical infrastructure threats • efficiency versus resilience in smart cities and the Internet of Things Anja Shortland at Kings College LondonShortland's book, Dark Screens:  https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Screens-Hackers-Shadowy-Ransomware/dp/1541705750Shortland's first TAITC episode: "Deals with shadows"Links mentioned in podcast:Alex Danco's pirate puzzlePete Leeson's book, The Invisible HookDavid Deutsch's book, The Beginning of InfinityIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com !You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz 

This episode hosts Professor Anja Shortland, returning to the podcast following her previous appearance in 2021,  to examine how ransomware has evolved into a sophisticated and highly organised form of cybercrime, operating as a global market shaped by incentives, reputation, and weak governance. The conversation explores the scale of the threat, with billions in annual losses, and how attacks extend far beyond encryption to include data theft, business disruption, and systemic risk across both public and private sectors. We discuss how ransomware groups operate in practice, from initial access and reconnaissance to pricing ransoms based on a victim's ability to pay, as well as the rise of “double extortion” tactics that increase pressure even when organisations have strong backups. The episode also considers the broader ecosystem that sustains ransomware, including the blurred lines between criminal and state-linked actors, and the expanding role of insurers, negotiators, and cybersecurity specialists in managing incidents. A central theme is the tension between individual and collective responses: while paying ransoms may minimise immediate damage for victims, it reinforces the long-term viability of the model. Professor Anja Shortland is Professor of Political Economy at King's College London. Her research focuses on how criminal markets function in environments where formal governance is weak or absent, including piracy, kidnapping, art theft, and ransomware. She is the author of We Know You Can Pay a Million: Inside the Dark Economy of Hacking and Ransomware (published in North America as Dark Screens: Hackers and Heroes in the Shadowy World of Ransomware), where she examines the economic structures, incentives, and actors shaping the global cybercrime ecosystem. The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global experts, frontline practitioners, and senior decision-makers who are shaping how we understand and respond to international risk. From geopolitical instability and organised crime to cybersecurity threats and hybrid warfare, each episode explores the forces transforming our world and what smart leaders must do to navigate them. Whether you're a board member, policymaker, or risk professional, The International Risk Podcast delivers actionable insights, sharp analysis, and real-world stories that matter.The International Risk Podcast is sponsored by Conducttr, a realistic crisis exercise platform. Conducttr offers crisis exercising software for corporates, consultants, humanitarian, and defence & security clients. Visit Conducttr to learn more.Dominic Bowen is the host of The International Risk Podcast and Europe's leading expert on international risk and crisis management. As Head of Strategic Advisory and Partner at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms, Dominic advises CEOs, boards, and senior executives across the continent on how to prepare for uncertainty and act with intent. He has spent decades working in war zones, advising multinational companies, and supporting Europe's business leaders. Dominic is the go-to business advisor for leaders navigating risk, crisis, and strategy; trusted for his clarity, calmness under pressure, and ability to turn volatility into competitive advantage. Dominic equips today's business leaders with the insight and confidence to lead through disruption and deliver sustained strategic advantage.Tell us what you liked!

An extra half hour of The Panel with Wallace Chapman, where to begin, he's joined by Nights host Emile Donovan. Then: how do art thieves actually get rid of their stolen treasures and turn a profit? It turns out organised crime sometimes uses stolen art as bargaining chips. Anja Shortland from King;s College in London has studied the stolen art economy and guides us past the lasers and glass cabinets for a behind the scenes look at the art thieves world.

The pattern of violence and kidnapping that has been sweeping across northwest Nigeria has been confusing to say the least. There didn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it until we came across a book written by Anja Shortland. In this mini episode,  we attempt to place the events happening in northwest Nigeria in the context of protection theory and well...the situation is (to put it lightly) not good.  ——————————————— This episode was produced by Rahmat Muhammad, Anthonieta Kalunta, Alexandra Gekpe, Uche Mbah, Dominic Tabakaji and Sam Tabakaji. Executive producer Rahmat Muhammad. Copyright (c) 2022 Triple-E Media Productions. All rights reserved. ——————————————— ▶︎Follow us @234.audio on Instagram, @234audio on Facebook, and @234audio on Twitter ▶︎Subscribe to our 234Audio YouTube channel ——————————————— If you are interested in sponsoring or licensing this program, reach out to us via WhatsApp at +234 818 230 1234 or send us e-mail at info@234audio.com ——————————————— We used several sources for this episode including: ▶︎Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business by Anja Shortland https://www.amazon.com/Kidnap-Inside-Business-Anja-Shortland-ebook/dp/B07L5PKK5M/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1659634997&refinements=p_27%3AAnja+Shortland&s=books&sr=1-1 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebackstoryng/support

Every year thousands of people are kidnapped for ransom. Their families, friends, or employers are forced into a fiendishly complex and harrowing transaction with violent criminals to retrieve them. How do you agree a ‘fair' price for a loved one—who may be tortured or killed as you deliberate? How do you securely deliver a sack of cash to the criminals' lair? Sean was joined by Anja Shortland who wrote a book examining the intricate governance system created by special risk insurers at Lloyd's of London to guide and shape their customers' interactions with the criminal underworld, rebel groups, and traditional elites.   Listen and subscribe to Moncrieff on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.    Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.     You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.

Anja Shortland is a professor of political economy at King’s College, London who specializes in the economics of crime. She is the author of Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business and Lost Art: The Art Loss Register Casebook Volume One. What We Discuss with Anja Shortland: How many people are kidnapped every year for ransom, and how many actually return from the ordeal alive? What incentives do kidnappers have to treat hostages nonviolently and bargain for their release in good faith? How do insurers keep vulnerable clients from letting down their guard once a policy has been obtained? The protection theory that explains how crime organizations (e.g., the mafia) effectively stabilize the kidnap-for-ransom industry. Why offering a higher ransom than demanded is the worst strategy for ensuring a hostage's safe release. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/651 Sign up for Six-Minute Networking -- our free networking and relationship development mini course -- at jordanharbinger.com/course! Miss our conversation with Somali pirate hostage Michael Scott Moore? Catch up with episode 115: Michael Scott Moore | What It’s Really like to Be a Pirate Hostage here! Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with risk management specialists from around the world. Our host Dominic Bowen, originally from Australia, is one of Europe's leading international risk specialists. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss risk. The International Risk Podcast - Reducing risk by increasing knowledgeFollow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for all our great updates. Anja Shortland  is a Professor of Political Economy at King's College, London. Her teaching is on the economics of crime and she researches the world's trickiest trades: the resolution of hostage crises and piracy incidents, stolen and looted art, and ransomware. She is particularly interested in the role of insurers in helping crime victims to conduct business transactions across the ragged edge between the legal economy and the economic underworld. Her 2019 book "Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business" studies how the market for hostages functions, while her recent book "Lost Art" analyses how people resolve competing ownership claims over valuable artworks. You can read more about Anja Shortland at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/anja-shortland-1Thank you for listening to another International Risk Podcast. Do you know someone who would like to listen to this episode? Share it with them now.Connect with us on LinkedIn here  The International Risk Podcast: LinkedInAnd at The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge website.Thank you for listening.

Countless dollars of art are stolen or looted every year, yet governments often consider art theft a luxury problem. With limited public law enforcement, what prevents thieves, looters, and organized criminal gangs from flooding the market with stolen art? On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke and Anja Shortland explore this question and many others as they discuss volume one of Shortland's "Lost Art: The Art Loss Register Casebook." As part of the conversation, we'll also hear how Shortland's career in studying illicit markets has developed and how private governance institutions arise when public governance measures fall short. CC Music: Twisterium

You've taken a hostage, but what are they worth? 97.5% of all hostages who are taken for ransom are returned but pricing is as important a factor as the negotiating. In this episode of I've Been Thinking Peter is in conversation with Professor Anja Shortland from King's College London on the economics of kidnapping and also the world of art theft where the usual rules of law and to an extent crime, don't apply. Do visit Professor Anja Shortland's page at King's College London with links to further papers and books - www.kcl.ac.uk/people/anja-shortland-1 Keep up to date with Peter on Twitter - @peterfrankopan Produced, edited and mixed by @producerneil

Anja Shortland joins Dominique Shelton Leipzig and David Biderman to describe how the underground ransomware ecosystem functions and why cybersecurity experts have created a scale to define the reliability of information hostage-takers. She outlines some of the simple data protections that companies can follow to comply with President Biden's executive order and shares how cyber insurance helps or hinders real-life information safety. Anja is a professor of political economy at King's College London, specializing in the economics of crime. She studies private governance in the world's trickiest markets—hostages, fine art, and antiquities—and how people live, trade, and invest in complex and hostile territories. Although often based on data analysis, her work frequently cuts across disciplinary boundaries adopting techniques and insights from sociology, engineering, geography, politics, international relations, and economics.

Economist and author Anja Shortland of King's College London talks about her new book, Lost Art, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. When a famous painting disappears into the underworld of stolen art, how does it make its way back into the legitimate world of auction houses and museums? Drawing on the archives of a private database of stolen objects--the Art Loss Register--Shortland discusses the economics of the art world when objects up for sale may be the result of theft.

Today’s guest is Anja Shortland, Professor In political economy at King’s College London. Prof. Shortland does some really interesting work on the economics of crime and will speak to us today about the economic dynamics at play in hostage situations. Yes, that's correct – today’s episode is on the economics of kidnapping! Prof. Shortland has a book entitled "Kidnap" that I would recommend if you would like to learn more about this topic. Don't forget the patreon - www.patreon.com/AtTheMargin. If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support this work, please consider subscribing to the patreon. Thanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Prof. Dr. Anja Shortland, Professor für Politische Ökonomie am King’s College in London, spricht mit uns über Piraten und Polizeigewalt, Klavierspielen und Langsamkeit in der Wissenschaft.

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Christopher Coyne interviews Anja Shortland on her book "Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business." Listen as they unpack the many puzzles of kidnapping, such as which incentives influence the perpetrators, how a powerful private governance system has ordered the negotiation and transaction process, why most kidnappings end peacefully, and what happens when kidnapping goes wrong. CC Music: Twisterium

Behind Movie Sound Effects (0:34)Guest: Marko Costanzo, Emmy Award-Winning Foley ArtistWe know there's a lot of movie watching going on right now with everyone cooped up at home, so here's a conversation about the really surprising origin of the sounds you hear when you watch a film. Marko Costanzo's done sound effects for a bunch of hit movies and TV shows, including The Irishman, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Mary Poppins Returns. (Originally aired 2/6/19) In the Surprisingly Organized World of Kidnapping for Ransom, Insurance Companies Are Key (25:35)Guest: Anja Shortland, Professor in Political Economy, King's College London, Author of “Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business”A lot of people are probably kicking themselves for not buying travel insurance for trips they had to cancel due to the pandemic. But no one could have foreseen that happening. There's another kind of insurance you will probably never need: kidnap insurance. There's a surprisingly organized industry built around kidnapping people for ransom globally. The companies that provide insurance against the possibility that you'll get kidnapped for ransom play a strange and important role, according to the research of Anja Shortland. (Originally aired 9/25/2019) First It Burned Them, Then It Froze Them. How an Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs. (50:41)Guest: Sean Gulick, Research Professor, University of Texas at AustinYou've heard that a massive asteroid caused the dinosaurs to go extinct. But how exactly? I've never understood why a giant rock crashing to Earth would kill all the dinosaurs. One asteroid couldn't smash them all. What about the dinos on the other side of the planet – how does an asteroid kill them? Geologist Sean Gulick at the University of Texas at Austin is part of a team that's pieced together the most detailed timeline yet of just how the extinction happened. (Originally aired 9/26/2019) Human Trafficking Is More Prevalent Than Previously Thought, Know the Signs (1:07:14)Guest: Amy Farrell, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern UniversityHuman trafficking still happens right here in the United States. And it's happening more often than the official data suggest. Police departments often don't have a category for “human trafficking” when recording crimes in state and federal databases. Criminologist Amy Farrell at Northeastern University says that – coupled with insufficient training of police officers – has led to a “massive undercount” of human trafficking cases in the US. (Originally aired 10/7/2019) Processing Processed Food Guilt (1:24:23)Guest: Ruth MacDonald, Department Chair / CALS Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University When people rushed to stock up on food at the start of pandemic quarantines, the cereal and pasta shelves emptied – but there was still plenty of fresh produce at my grocery store. Which makes sense, because if you don't know how long you'll be stuck at home, you want stuff that won't go bad as quickly.  And there's the rub of processed food – it lasts longer and is often easier to cook. But it's also not good for us, right? (Originally 10/14/2019)

Marko Costanzo on Foley artists. Anja Shortland of King’s College London on kidnapping insurance. Sean Gulick,Univ of Texas at Austin, on dinosaur extinction. Amy Farrell of Northeastern Univ on human trafficking. Ruth MacDonald of Iowa State Univ on processed foods.

KIDNAP - Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved. Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College London, explores this lucrative but tricky business. Also, Jatin Dua, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, examines the upsurge in maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia, taking us inside pirate communities in Somalia. In what ways are modern day pirates connected to longer histories of trade and disputes over protection. Producer: Jayne Egerton

KIDNAP - Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved. Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College London, explores this lucrative but tricky business. Also, Jatin Dua, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, examines the upsurge in maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia, taking us inside pirate communities in Somalia. In what ways are modern day pirates connected to longer histories of trade and disputes over protection? Producer: Jayne Egerton

KIDNAP - Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved. Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College London, explores this lucrative but tricky business. Also, Jatin Dua, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, examines the upsurge in maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia, taking us inside pirate communities in Somalia. In what ways are modern day pirates connected to longer histories of trade and disputes over protection. Producer: Jayne Egerton

President Trump, Ukraine, a Whistleblower and ImpeachmentGuest: Ryan Vogel, JD, Director of the Center for National Security Studies, Utah Valley UniversityHouse Democrats have begun a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, stemming from a phone call the president had with the newly elected president of Ukraine on July 25th. The White House has released a rough transcript of the call. It shows President Trump asking Ukraine's president to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and offering the US Attorney General's help in that. It's illegal for a US politician to solicit campaign support from a foreign country. That seems to be the reason a whistleblower raised the alarm about this phone call with Ukraine's president. Research Shows How Ostracism Can Lead People to ExtremismGuest: Andrew Hales, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of VirginiaBeing excluded and left out never feels good. It didn't feel good as a kid on the playground and, it doesn't feel good when you get left out of a lunch with coworkers or old friends. The question is, so what? Does being ostracized lead people to behave in worrisome ways? Sure, parents, teachers and bosses care about the answer. But, so do leaders of nations where whole groups of people are ostracized because of their race, religion or immigrant status. Adapting to Life as an Empty NesterGuest: Jeffrey Arnett, Research Professor of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and Co-Author of “Getting to 30: A Parent's Guide to the 20-Something Years”A lot of parents dropped off their 18-year-old kidat college in the past few weeks. Sending off that child is a moment of excitement and pride, but it can also be really sad for parents who don't have any children left at home anymore. Some of those “empty nesters” now face loneliness and a bad marriage, but for others, it means freedom with their spouse. In the Surprisingly Organized World of Kidnapping for Ransom, Insurance Companies are KeyGuest: Anja Shortland, Professor in Political Economy, King's College London, and Author of “Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business”You've probably got a bunch of insurance –for your house, your car, your health, maybe even your life. Ever heard of kidnap insurance? There's a surprisingly organized industry built around kidnapping people for ransom globally. The companies that provide insurance against the possibility that you'll get kidnapped for ransom play a strange and important role, according to research of Anja Shortland. Students with SchitzophreniaGuest: Cecilia McGough, CEO and founder of Students with Schizophrenia The first indication of schizophrenia often appears in young adulthood. That's also when many are experiencing the stresses of college life. The combination can be lethal. It nearly was for Cecilia McGough who attempted suicide her freshman year in college. She was finally able to get a diagnosis and treatment for her schizophrenia. And then she turned to helping other young people overcome the stigma. Cecilia McGough is founder of the nonprofit advocacy group Students with Schizophrenia. Why Kids from Homes with Lots of Books Do Better in SchoolGuest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting on BYUradio, Education and Juvenile Collections Librarian, BYUIn a recent research report, written by sociologists, the phrase, Family Scholarly Culture, was used to describe the quality of life inside homes where books regularly serve as levers for inserting new ideas and experiences into the ongoing family conversation. This research was conducted in 27countries (of every economic level and every political persuasion) over a 20 year period. These scientists made comparisons of families using a range of criteria and then statistically matched those up with the records of school success of the family's children. As it turns out, the single best predictor of school success was the number of books in the home. The authors however, divined that the presence of books altered the kind of conversation that goes on in the home.

From Somali pirates who've turned kidnapping into a global enterprise to cybercrime and fraud - the worlds of business and wrongdoing potentially have much in common. Clever criminals build business empires and fraud is sometimes carried out by well paid workers at legitimate companies. What the two worlds can have in common is a pursuit of profit and a series of apparently rational calculations. Evan Davis and guests explore why some bright, talented people try to get rich the wrong way, while others manage to do it within the rules. Guests Barrister, Sara George, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP Michael Corrigan, Chief Executive at Prosper 4 - a training and recruitment firm for former prisoners and Dr Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy at King's College, London.

Anja Shortland of King's College London talks about her book Kidnap with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Kidnapping is relatively common in parts of the world where government authority is weak. Shortland explores this strange, frightening, but surprisingly orderly world. She shows how the interaction between kidnappers, victims, and insurance companies creates a somewhat predictable set of prices for ransom and creates a relatively high chance of the safe return of those who are kidnapped.

Anja Shortland of King's College London talks about her book Kidnap with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Kidnapping is relatively common in parts of the world where government authority is weak. Shortland explores this strange, frightening, but surprisingly orderly world. She shows how the interaction between kidnappers, victims, and insurance companies creates a somewhat predictable set of prices for ransom and creates a relatively high chance of the safe return of those who are kidnapped.

This week Susan talks to German researcher and writer Anja Shortland about her fascinating new book 'Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business' published by Oxford University Press.

Kidnap for ransom is a lucrative but tricky business. Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved - often for remarkably low ransoms. In fact, the market for hostages is so well ordered that the crime is insurable. This is a puzzle: ransoming a hostage is the world's most precarious trade. What would be the "right" price for your loved one - and can you avoid putting others at risk by paying it? What prevents criminals from maltreating hostages? How do you (safely) pay a ransom? And why would kidnappers release a potential future witness after receiving their money? My guest on the podcast today is Anja Shortland, author of Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business. Anja is a Reader in Political Economy at King's College London. She's worked as an academic economist at Leicester and Brunel Universities, rising to fame for her work on the economics of Somali piracy. She now studies private governance in the world's trickiest markets: hostages, fine art, and antiquities - and how people live, trade, and invest in complex and hostile territories. Her book, Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business, uncovers how a group of insurers at Lloyd's of London have solved a series of thorny problems for their customers. Based on interviews with industry insiders (from both sides), as well as hostage stakeholders, it uncovers an intricate and powerful private governance system ordering transactions between the legal and the criminal economies. Here's my conversation with Anja Shortland, author of Kidnap, in episode 399 of Informed Choice Radio.

Today's guest on Economics Detective Radio is Anja Shortland of King's College London, discussing her new book Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business, where she brings an economist's perspective to the shady world of the kidnapping for ransom business and to the professionals who specialize in getting hostages home safely. The book's description reads as follows: Kidnap for ransom is a lucrative but tricky business. Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists are surprisingly rare and the vast majority of abductions are peacefully resolved - often for remarkably low ransoms. In fact, the market for hostages is so well ordered that the crime is insurable. This is a puzzle: ransoming a hostage is the world's most precarious trade. What would be the "right" price for your loved one - and can you avoid putting others at risk by paying it? What prevents criminals from maltreating hostages? How do you (safely) pay a ransom? And why would kidnappers release a potential future witness after receiving their money? Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business uncovers how a group of insurers at Lloyd's of London have solved these thorny problems for their customers. Based on interviews with industry insiders (from both sides), as well as hostage stakeholders, it uncovers an intricate and powerful private governance system ordering transactions between the legal and the criminal economies.  

What would you pay to save a loved one who had been kidnapped? What is the price of a life? Millions of people work, live, and travel in high-risk countries; very few are kidnapped and, of those that are, almost all come home safely - how can this be? Dr Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy at King's College London, discusses her new book Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business.

There are all sorts of reasons why markets break down. A lack of trust. Incomplete information. Divergent incentives. A lack of experienced actors. So it's hard to imagine a trickier market than kidnapping. Emotions are running rampant. You know very little about your counterparty. And there's no guarantee that anyone will stick to an agreement. On this week's Odd Lots, we speak with Anja Shortland, who is the research group leader for Political Economy of Peace and Security at King's College in London, about the economics of ransom payments, which she terms "the trickiest trade in the world." We talk about the role of kidnapping insurance and professional negotiators -- and the huge mistake that most cinematic depictions of kidnapping make.

Tom Hanks stars as Captain Phillips in the new film from Paul Greengrass; writer Writer Kevin Jackson and Anja Shortland join Matthew Sweet to discuss the film and its portrayal of Somali Piracy. Film historian David Thomson discusses the most memorable moments in films. As David Greig's play The Events opens, inspired by the Norwegian massacre by Anders Breivik, the director Ramin Gray, forensic psychiatrist Cleo Van Velsen and priest Giles Fraser discuss the possibility of forgiveness in the face of atrocity.

Anja Shortland, University of Rome, gives a talk for the OxPeace 2013 conference: The Future of Peace Building.

Dr Sarah Percy and Dr Anja Shortland give a talk on Pirates of Somalia for the Extra-Legal Governance Institute.