This is a Glassbox Media Podcast.

It's 2011 and the Arab Spring is raging.

A lesbian activist in Syria starts a blog.

She names it Gay Girl in Damascus.

Am I crazy? Maybe.

As her profile grows, so does the danger.

The object of the email was please read this while sitting down.

It's like a genie came out of the bottle and you can't put it back.

Gay Girl gone, available now.

Welcome to Human Monsters Premium.

In the 80s, the comedy movie Parenthood stuck in my mind.

One of the actors playing a lost teenager tells his girlfriend's mother about the abuse he suffered at home.

And ends his tale with the statement that you need a license to catch a fish, to drive a car, to own a television, and even to own a dog.

But any asshole can be a father.

It takes a considerable amount of unselfish work, love, and sacrifice to raise a happy, healthy, and well-adjusted child.

And I consider it the hardest job in the world.

Fortunately for many babies, the stork dropped them down the chimney of the house that is full of neglect, abuse, and hardship.

Examples of extreme abuse and depravity are plentiful enough to warrant concern.

But these children become adults, and without therapy and guidance, what happens with the sadness, the rage, and the confusion, inevitably generated by sexual and physical abuse, and neglect.

When I first watched the YouTube clip about Beth Thomas, even a hardened true crime consumer like myself, found a chilly ice finger run down my spine, as the six-year-old little girl spoke.

Looking at her with the sound turned off, you see a big-eyed little girl with a rosy blush on her cheek.

And you can almost imagine smelling bubble gum on her breath, and sunshine and strawberries in her hair.

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