The Chair You Never Want to Sit In: What Really Happens in a Polygraph | Rick & Ryan Holden

Mike Rhyner sits down with Rick and Ryan Holden — a father-son polygraph team whose client list ranges from federal agencies to murder suspects to people just trying to clear their names — to pull the curtain back on the world most of us hope we never have to visit.

They walk Mike through how a real polygraph actually works (and why “lie detector” is the wrong term), why the machine itself isn’t magic but the examiner better be, and why anxiety doesn’t automatically make you look guilty. Rick talks about 50+ years in the chair, from Texas death row to child abuse cases to capital murders, and Ryan breaks down how this work shows up in counterintelligence, national security, and courtrooms.

They also get into ethics: when you’re allowed to tell, when you’re not, and what it feels like to know the truth in cases that are dark, heartbreaking, and legally delicate. It’s intense, it’s honest, and it’s not reality TV.

Chapters: 00:00:00 - Welcome to Your Dark Companion 00:01:24 - Meet Rick & Ryan Holden, Human Lie Detectors (Sort Of) 00:03:53 - 52 Years in the Chair: How Rick Got Here 00:06:39 - “Lie Detector” Is a Bad Name (Here’s Why) 00:08:33 - Has the Polygraph Game Changed? Uh, Yeah 00:10:39 - Courts, Admissibility, and That 1923 Problem 00:12:12 - Is It 100% Right? (Short Answer: No) 00:13:20 - When Examiners Get It Wrong 00:15:06 - Trusting the Human, Not Just the Machine 00:16:17 - Panic in the Chair: Does Nerve = Guilt? 00:18:28 - Why They Actually Want You a Little Nervous 00:20:33 - “Do I HAVE to Take This?” Voluntary vs Forced Tests 00:22:29 - No, You’re Not Walking In Off the Street for a Cheater Test 00:24:38 - Reality TV Polygraphs Are Garbage 00:26:38 - Rick’s Still Obsessed With This Work (In a Good Way) 00:27:40 - Clearing People vs Catching People 00:28:31 - Polygraph 101: How a Real Exam Actually Works 00:33:12 - Reading Physiology, Reading Behavior, Reading You 00:35:24 - When They Confess Before the Test Even Starts 00:36:15 - Midshow Read: House of Healing 00:39:01 - The Case That Still Haunts the Room 00:43:52 - How Child Abuse Allegations Actually Move Through the System 00:47:00 - The Confession, Attorney-Client Privilege, and Outrage 00:51:32 - Are You There to Find the Truth or Deliver Justice? 00:53:41 - How Do You Hear This Stuff and Sleep at Night? 00:56:06 - “Everybody Has Something at Stake” 00:56:32 - Why People Come to Them Quietly 00:57:27 - Everyone Has a Right to Defend Themselves

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