Christopher Havens was a smart kid. While it mightn’t have been the best move for his social status in the fourth grade, he was so keen on maths that he even tutored his classmates. Nerd alert! Maybe that’s why he eventually got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just wanted to fit in and be cool like everyone else.

And of course, being cool meant smoking weed and drinking alcohol, which led to mushrooms and LSD. And then things eventually spiralled into pain pills and crystal meth, which spiralled even more out of control, resulting in him murdering someone. Sigh.

Before going to prison, Haven’s dad gave him some helpful advice to survive incarceration - be the shark, not the clownfish. So, of course, Haven interpreted that advice as beating up another prisoner so he could join a gang. While that act might have confirmed his loyalty to the gang, it also opened the door to his new accommodation in solitary confinement. AKA Hell on earth. 

Nothing but blank concrete walls, the smell of your own shit, and a bright fluorescent light to keep you company all day and all night. It was enough to drive a person mad, and by the sounds of the constant kicking and screaming next door, his neighbours were already there. Thankfully Havens was thrown a lifeline…in the form of a maths puzzle.



CHAPTERS:
00:00 The Horrors of Solitary Confinement
02:42 Christopher Havens' downward spiral
03:30 Algebra: A Solitary Confinement Lifeline
10:06 Flow State in the Midst of Hell
14:31 Solving the Unsolvable for Umberto Cerruti
21:36 Giving Back with the Prison Math Project
23:17 The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons
26:31 Recidivism and Rehabilitation
28:50 The Power of Education in Reducing Recidivism
32:40 Spoiler Altert: Solitary Confinement Doesn’t Work
34:04 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show?



SOURCES:
A conversation with Christopher Havens, Prison Mathematics Project
A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year update
An inmate’s love for math leads to new discoveries
How a maximum security prison offers a pathway to academic excellence and a PhD
Moving from prison to a PhD
Pioneering Advanced Math from Behind Bars
Recidivism Rates by Country 2024
This Inmate Used Solitary Confinement to Learn Math. Now He's Solving the World's Hardest Equations
Why Prison Education?

Christopher Havens was a smart kid. While it mightn’t have been the best move for his social status in the fourth grade, he was so keen on maths that he even tutored his classmates. Nerd alert! Maybe that’s why he eventually got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just wanted to fit in and be cool like everyone else.
And of course, being cool meant smoking weed and drinking alcohol, which led to mushrooms and LSD. And then things eventually spiralled into pain pills and crystal meth, which spiralled even more out of control, resulting in him murdering someone. Sigh.
Before going to prison, Haven’s dad gave him some helpful advice to survive incarceration - be the shark, not the clownfish. So, of course, Haven interpreted that advice as beating up another prisoner so he could join a gang. While that act might have confirmed his loyalty to the gang, it also opened the door to his new accommodation in solitary confinement. AKA Hell on earth. 
Nothing but blank concrete walls, the smell of your own shit, and a bright fluorescent light to keep you company all day and all night. It was enough to drive a person mad, and by the sounds of the constant kicking and screaming next door, his neighbours were already there. Thankfully Havens was thrown a lifeline…in the form of a maths puzzle.
 
CHAPTERS:
<ul>
<li>00:00 The Horrors of Solitary Confinement</li>
<li>02:42 Christopher Havens' downward spiral</li>
<li>03:30 Algebra: A Solitary Confinement Lifeline</li>
<li>10:06 Flow State in the Midst of Hell</li>
<li>14:31 Solving the Unsolvable for Umberto Cerruti</li>
<li>21:36 Giving Back with the Prison Math Project</li>
<li>23:17 The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons</li>
<li>26:31 Recidivism and Rehabilitation</li>
<li>28:50 The Power of Education in Reducing Recidivism</li>
<li>32:40 Spoiler Altert: Solitary Confinement Doesn’t Work</li>
<li>34:04 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show?</li>
</ul>
 
SOURCES:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://inclusionexclusion.org/2022/11/28/a-conversation-with-christopher-havens-prison-mathematics-project/">A conversation with Christopher Havens, Prison Mathematics Project</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6743246/">A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year update</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://theconversation.com/an-inmates-love-for-math-leads-to-new-discoveries-130123">An inmate’s love for math leads to new discoveries</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2021/10/how-a-maximum-security-prison-offers-a-pathway-to-academic-excel">How a maximum security prison offers a pathway to academic excellence and a PhD</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03370-1">Moving from prison to a PhD</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pioneering-advanced-math-from-behind-bars/">Pioneering Advanced Math from Behind Bars</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country">Recidivism Rates by Country 2024</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a34887986/chris-havens-math-inmate/">This Inmate Used Solitary Confinement to Learn Math. Now He's Solving the World's Hardest Equations</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://prisonstudiesproject.org/why-prison-education-programs/">Why Prison Education?</a></li>
</ul>

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed.

Science stories for people who sit up the back of…

The Wholesome Show

Prison Mathematician Christopher Havens' Redemption Through Maths

Submit feedback/questions/rebuttals/abuse to cheers@wholesomeshow.com or comment below and you'll be featured/glorified/shamed in the next episode!

We are heading back into the wholesome lab to re-jig our format so we are creating the best possible show for you all. Nothing is sacred during this rebuild so we are tearing it all apart! We'll be back under a different name, with a different show, still presented by your two favourite truant beer-wielding academics! See you in the future!

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Submit feedback/questions/rebuttals/abuse to cheers@wholesomeshow.com or comment below and you'll be featured/glorified/shamed in the next episode!
We are heading back into the wholesome lab to re-jig our format so we are creating the best possible show for you all. Nothing is sacred during this rebuild so we are tearing it all apart! We'll be back under a different name, with a different show, still presented by your two favourite truant beer-wielding academics! See you in the future!
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We are heading back into the lab!

In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market. 



Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream!



In theory, red mercury could produce enormous pressures and temperatures, sufficient to initiate a mini pure fusion explosion. Traditionally, fusion weapons need a fission component to trigger the deuterium fusion. However, with red mercury, this fission step is supposedly unnecessary. Cohen described it as a remarkably non-exploding high explosive. Sounds like something from a Marvel movie right?

SOURCES:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood

https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html

https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/



CHAPTERS:

00:00 Samuel T. Cohen Concerns About New Raw Material

03:05 Red Mercury: Doomsday Dreams

07:41 Mass Destruction or Myth?

10:06 Red Mercury Hoaxes 

14:23 Cohen Claims Red Mercury Exists

17:28 Frank Barnaby’s Investigations

23:30 Scammers and Fake Red Mercury

31:12 The Mystical and Sexual Properties of Mercury

41:16 The Enduring Red Mercury Scam

In the 1990s, Samuel T. Cohen, the father of the neutron bomb, became extremely vocal about the fact that the Soviets had discovered a new raw material that could potentially spell the end of organised society. Red mercury had hit the market. 
 
Apparently, when detonated in combination with conventional high explosives, it could create city-flattening blasts like a nuclear bomb. And, it would help make nuclear fusion weapons more efficient and considerably smaller. It was an arms dealer’s dream!
 
In theory, red mercury could produce enormous pressures and temperatures, sufficient to initiate a mini pure fusion explosion. Traditionally, fusion weapons need a fission component to trigger the deuterium fusion. However, with red mercury, this fission step is supposedly unnecessary. Cohen described it as a remarkably non-exploding high explosive. Sounds like something from a Marvel movie right?
SOURCES:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3qQhoqhFeZit2LdrGv_Ljw">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/sep/30/thisweekssciencequestions1</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen%23Red_Mercury_claims&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1vtPa2FCwLDvWAvnYTkycT">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Cohen#Red_Mercury_claims</a>
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1_qy4CxEpwIaxIy9H__-qs">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00963402.1997.11456737</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Ky9goVHKGGtz143m-fmkP">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazher_Mahmood</a>
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http:/www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http:/www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3i1LiQxVbhncnQyc8xZoVs">https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050603/http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/douglass/2003/0311.html</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Do-dvvxuQhG0-oHGIwvsX">https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/the-doomsday-scam.html</a>
<a href="https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw06lV5D6xRSOVF8pWrqxS2g">https://www.gizbot.com/internet/news/what-is-red-mercury-and-why-people-are-ready-to-pay-lakhs-for-it-068487.html</a>
<a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723185199653000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vy9Ryrzw4AdsG9ITQV7ji">https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13418241-900-only-fools-still-hunt-for-elusive-red-mercury/</a>
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Samuel T. Cohen Concerns About New Raw Material
03:05 Red Mercury: Doomsday Dreams
07:41 Mass Destruction or Myth?
10:06 Red Mercury Hoaxes 
14:23 Cohen Claims Red Mercury Exists
17:28 Frank Barnaby’s Investigations
23:30 Scammers and Fake Red Mercury
31:12 The Mystical and Sexual Properties of Mercury
41:16 The Enduring Red Mercury Scam

Red Mercury: Snake Oil, Witchcraft and Nuclear Bomb All In One

Born just outside Vienna, Austria in November 1860, Hanns Hörbiger was an engineer by trade. He invented a steel valve for a blast furnace blowing engine which changed the game for efficient steel production. He also played a key role in the design and construction of the Budapest subway, the third in the world at the time. He was obviously a clever man. A real thinker. And some might say, a complete nut job. 

A keen astronomer, one evening Hörbiger pointed his telescope at the moon and suddenly realised, it was all made of ice. It was so shiny! How could it not be ice? He looked at Mars. He looked at Neptune. He looked at the Milky Way…Everything in the cosmos was ice. And not only was it made of ice, but ice was the driving force of the entire universe.

Strangely, the German scientific community at the time thought Hörbiger was bonkers and didn’t pay attention to anything he said. World War I was happening so, you know, people had other things to think about.

But Hörbiger was not dissuaded. He became a total zealot and decided that all he needed to do was convince the masses of his ideas. Then the academic scientists would be pressured to agree. 

SOURCES:
Willy Ley: Pseudoscience in Naziland
Christina Wessely: Cosmic Ice Theory—Science, Fiction and the Public, 1894–1945. 
Eric Kurlander: Hitler’s Monsters
Eric Kurlander: A Song of Ice and Fire 
Philip Ball: How 2 Pro-Nazi Nobelists Attacked Einstein’s "Jewish Science" 
The Occult History of the Third Reich: Horbiger

CHAPTERS:

00:00 The Dark Side of the German Students Union

03:12 Hans Hörbiger: Engineer & Inventor

05:35 Hörbiger's Cosmic Ice Theory

06:25 A Prophetic Dream and Pendulum Science

11:09 The Origin of the Solar System According to Hörbiger

17:23 Cults and Cosmic Theories

19:14 Hobiger's Zeal and Post-War Tactics

20:16 The Rise of the World Ice Movement

22:38 Hitler Embraces World Ice Theory

29:52 The Pseudoscience Impact on Nazi Germany

33:39 The Downfall and Legacy of the World Ice Theory

Born just outside Vienna, Austria in November 1860, Hanns Hörbiger was an engineer by trade. He invented a steel valve for a blast furnace blowing engine which changed the game for efficient steel production. He also played a key role in the design and construction of the Budapest subway, the third in the world at the time. He was obviously a clever man. A real thinker. And some might say, a complete nut job. 
A keen astronomer, one evening Hörbiger pointed his telescope at the moon and suddenly realised, it was all made of ice. It was so shiny! How could it not be ice? He looked at Mars. He looked at Neptune. He looked at the Milky Way…Everything in the cosmos was ice. And not only was it made of ice, but ice was the driving force of the entire universe.
Strangely, the German scientific community at the time thought Hörbiger was bonkers and didn’t pay attention to anything he said. World War I was happening so, you know, people had other things to think about.
But Hörbiger was not dissuaded. He became a total zealot and decided that all he needed to do was convince the masses of his ideas. Then the academic scientists would be pressured to agree. 
SOURCES:
<ul>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="http://www.alpenfestung.com/ley_pseudoscience.htm">Willy Ley: Pseudoscience in Naziland</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/DeptIII-ChristinaWessely-Welteislehre">Christina Wessely: Cosmic Ice Theory—Science, Fiction and the Public, 1894–1945. </a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Eric Kurlander: Hitler’s Monsters</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/song-ice-and-fire">Eric Kurlander: A Song of Ice and Fire </a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-2-pro-nazi-nobelists-attacked-einstein-s-jewish-science-excerpt1/">Philip Ball: How 2 Pro-Nazi Nobelists Attacked Einstein’s "Jewish Science" </a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="http://thirdreichocculthistory.blogspot.com/2011/07/">The Occult History of the Third Reich: Horbiger</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
CHAPTERS:
00:00 The Dark Side of the German Students Union
03:12 Hans Hörbiger: Engineer &amp; Inventor
05:35 Hörbiger's Cosmic Ice Theory
06:25 A Prophetic Dream and Pendulum Science
11:09 The Origin of the Solar System According to Hörbiger
17:23 Cults and Cosmic Theories
19:14 Hobiger's Zeal and Post-War Tactics
20:16 The Rise of the World Ice Movement
22:38 Hitler Embraces World Ice Theory
29:52 The Pseudoscience Impact on Nazi Germany
33:39 The Downfall and Legacy of the World Ice Theory

Prison Mathematician Christopher Havens' Redemption Through Maths

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