I'm Laura Norton, and this is one strange thing, the show where we searched the

nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained.

The famous tale of Robin Hood is just inherently appealing.

Sure, he robs the rich and gives to the poor, but it's not just any rich and not just any poor. He steals from the rich who have usurped a kingdom not rightfully theirs. After those rich had levied unfair taxes on the citizens,

driving them into poverty. It's a fundamental kind of unfairness,

a wrong that must be righted,

one that most anyone, no matter their political leanings,

might appreciate.

So, throughout modern pop culture,

it makes sense that the story of Robin Hood is one we often revisit. It also helps that Disney cast the

famous character as a very charming fox and threw in some requisite musical numbers. A good

cartoon will always cement your popularity. A Kevin Costner film with bad acting, maybe less so.

But back to the topic at hand.

We tend to like an anti-hero as long as he's not too bad.

A rogue with a heart of gold.

A rake with a fine-tuned sense of fairness who, despite his fondness for mischief,

might sweep in and enact a little vigilante justice every now and again. It's why so many newspapers will describe a certain

type of criminal as a Robin Hood. For instance, in late 2020, Forbes reported that a hacker collective, Darkside, had stolen and then

attempted to donate, quote, 200,000 in Bitcoin to the Water Project and Children International,

both of which are charities. According to Forbes, neither organization planned to keep the money.

The hackers who were being pursued by a number of authorities at press time issued a statement,

quote, we think that it's fair that some of the money the companies have paid will go to charity.

...