In the first 10-15 minutes in this Ted Talk episode , David R. Dow mentions a story about a little boy named Will. The story about Will reminds Dow of his son sitting at the dinner table. Now, In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel written by the American author Truman Capote, which has familiar characteristics related to "The Lessons From Death Row Inmates". Dow mentions a little boy named will with troubled times and Capote mentions a young male with a troubled past named Perry Smith. Both Perry and Will have troubled past where their ill mom left their father at a young age. They also seem to have siblings who have committed suicide. Later on in the non-fictional book, Perry reunites with his dad but he winds up choking his father to death. Will on the other hand never saw his dad again. After and during both Perry's and will's traumatizing life, they head towards the decisions of committing very crucial crimes, including murder. Before they were sent to jail to join the death row for execution they attend 5 years of jail until execution.