MasterClass Announces Former FBI Special Agent John Douglas to Teach How to Use the FBI Profiling Method in Everyday Life

Unveils the stories and action behind some of the most notable serial killer cases to help members improve their awareness and safety

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MasterClass, the streaming platform where anyone can learn from the world's best across a wide range of subjects, today announced that former FBI Special Agent John Douglas will teach a class on how to think like an FBI profiler. In his class, Douglas will take MasterClass members into the interrogation room to examine the most infamous serial killers, kidnappers and cult leaders from the last century—including David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz, Charles Manson, Ed Kemper and John Wayne Gacy—and help them understand people's behavior and motives to make more informed decisions in everyday life. Douglas' class is now available exclusively on MasterClass, where subscribers get unlimited access to all 180+ instructors with an annual membership.

"If there's one person's career who encapsulates the true crime genre, it's John's," said David Rogier, founder and CEO of MasterClass. "As the inspiration behind Silence of the Lambs and Mindhunter, John has helped catch some of history's most notorious serial killers and knows how they work. Now, he's sharing it all with MasterClass. In his class, he will teach members how to improve their intuitions, read body language, and become more mindful of other people's motives. For the first time ever, he will also talk through his cases, sharing never-before-heard details from his investigations of the most infamous crimes."

In his class, Douglas will share the backstories to the notorious cases of Ed Kemper, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz, the Trailside Killer, Robert Hanson, Darryll Gene Devier and more. Each lesson in the class will include a case that illustrates the workings of the criminal mind and a practical takeaway of predicting behavior. For example, in the lesson "Avoiding Cults and Manipulators: Charles Manson," Douglas will share insights about Manson and explain to members how they may know people in their own lives who share the same characteristics of a manipulative personality. In "Spotting a Liar: John Wayne Gacy," Douglas will do a deep dive into Gacy's compulsive mendacity, and lay out ways for members to read someone's behavior to determine if they're being untruthful. Douglas will also share examples of cases in which intuition potentially saved lives—and walk members through ways to develop their own intuition. Members will learn how to read the motives behind people's behavior to predict their actions and gain awareness of the telltale signs—verbal and nonverbal—that someone is being deceitful. By understanding how to put themselves in other people's shoes and navigate the world with a more discerning and insightful eye, members will gain the ability to be alert and stay safe in any situation.

"My career covered over 50 years of working violent crime cases and I learned a lot about criminal behavior—including the stressors, signals, and motivations that drive us toward it," Douglas said. "In this class, I'll show members how to use a set of profiling methods in everyday life—not so they can play amateur detective, but so they can understand the motives that drive us all, and spot body language and behaviors that signal manipulation and deceit."

Douglas is a retired special agent and unit chief in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has spent more than 25 years researching and culling the stories of America's most notorious criminals. Douglas has earned four university degrees, including a doctorate in education. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he has directly worked in more than 5,000 violent crime cases over the past 50 years, inspiring multiple films and series based on his life and professional work. He is currently chairman Emeritus of the Cold Case Foundation.

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Credit: Courtesy of MasterClass

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Media Contact:
Tawnya Bear, MasterClass
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SOURCE MasterClass