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Our American Stories

Patty Hearst: From Kidnapping Victim to Bank Robber?

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6817 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1974, Patty Hearst, granddaughter of publishing giant William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. But what happened next stunned the country: Hearst eventually joined the group and took part in a bank robbery. Our American Stories regular contributor Ashley Hlebinsky shares the remarkable story behind one of the strangest criminal cases in modern American history.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is an I-Heart podcast.

0:02.6

Guaranteed Human.

0:14.1

And we continue with our American stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

0:20.4

In 1974, Patricia Hearst, heiress of the William. the show where America is the star and the American people.

0:23.4

In 1974, Patricia Hurst,

0:27.1

heiress of the William Randolph-Hurst newspaper empire,

0:31.2

was abducted by an American far-left militant organization,

0:33.6

and she eventually joined their cause.

0:37.0

Here to tell the story is Ashley Lubinsky.

0:44.9

Ashley is the former co-host of Discovery Channel's Master of Arms and the former curator in charge of the Cody Firearms Museum.

0:46.6

Here's Ashley.

0:56.6

The 1960s and 70s in American history was, to say the least, a tumultuous time, wrought with violence and unrest as various activist groups sought a range of different changes in American culture.

1:04.6

So it was anything from civil rights and human rights, but in some cases, these organizations

1:10.6

moved into domestic terrorism

1:12.7

and sought to completely topple and reconfigure the government. And a lot of those groups were

1:17.2

inspired by communism and China's chairman Mao. But one of the more bizarre stories from this time

1:24.4

frame involved a socialite and the first domestic terrorist organization in the country,

1:29.3

the Symbionese Liberation Army,

1:31.3

which is also known simply as the SLA.

1:34.3

And it's a history about kidnapping,

1:36.3

potential brainwashing,

1:38.3

and accountability for crimes against the state.

...

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