Mike tells Sarah the complicated story of an over-simplified study. Digressions include Tonya Harding, "The Meg" and Kitty Genovese. The Milgram obedience studies and the "broken windows" theory of policing receive bonus debunkings. Thanks to Thibault Le Texier for helping us with this episode! Here's his book, "The History of a Lie," and the English-langu ... Show More
Nov 11
The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry
<p>Remember being a teen and coming up with “cool” ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th century was annoying their mom, England, with the hip words that were being edited and added to their lexicon. The antagonistic pai ... Show More
1h 12m
Dec 2012
Episode 9: Social Psychology, Situationism, and Moral Character
<p>After discussing some listener feedback about the movie Swingers, Tamler and David talk about two classic experiments in social psychology: the Milgram Experiments and the Zimbardo Prison experiment. They discuss the power of the situation, its influence on recent philosophy, ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2022
From Revisionist History: The Starvation Experiment
We’re sharing a bonus episode from another Pushkin podcast, Revisionist History. Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about things misunderstood and overlooked. This season, Malcolm’s obsessed with experiments – natural experiments, scientific experiments, thought ex ... Show More
31m 22s
Apr 2024
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment
In an effort to reduce problems with discipline and recidivism, the sheriff in Pulaski County, Arkansas rolled out a radical plan for the county jail. Instead of the standard 23-hour lockdown, he’d open the doors in one pod for six weeks and let the detainees run things without t ... Show More
39m 41s