Hi! I’m Jess, the creator and host of Pretty Evil.

I’ve always been fascinated by the uncomfortable space where charm, vulnerability, influence, identity, and danger overlap.

With a degree in and passion for psychology, I approach true crime less as a collection of shocking events and more as a way of exploring human behavior itself. Every story on this show is filtered through a psychological and cultural lens that asks bigger questions about power, validation, loneliness, charisma, social influence, belonging, fear, and the emotional mechanisms that shape people’s decisions.

This isn’t a podcast built around gore, sensationalism, or the idea that “evil” exists separately from ordinary human behavior. Pretty Evil is interested in the unsettling reality that some of the most dangerous people in history were also socially intelligent, emotionally observant, persuasive, charming, funny, attractive, or deeply skilled at making other people feel understood.

The goal of the show is to move beyond surface-level storytelling and explore the deeper emotional and psychological truths hiding underneath these cases and cultural phenomena. Some episodes focus on charismatic predators and manipulators. Others explore cults, collective psychology, moral panic, internet behavior, social influence, institutional failures, or the strange ways ordinary people adapt to unhealthy systems.

At its core, Pretty Evil is really about human vulnerability, and the stories we explore tend to reveal how easy it is for human needs like belonging, validation, trust, or admiration to override instinct.