#social-engineering
86 episodes · Page 3 of 4
#2430: Where Men's Advocacy Crosses Into Misogyny
How to acknowledge real male grievances without falling into the manosphere's woman-hating fringe.
#2429: When "Believe Women" Has Exceptions
Why did feminist movements go silent on Hamas's sexual violence? A look at ideology, empathy, and whose suffering counts.
#2414: Is Love on the Spectrum Helping or Hurting?
A deep dive into the debates around Netflix's dating show: is it warm representation or a deficit lens?
#2223: Ten Cults Nobody Made a Documentary About
From a Scientology splinter with four deities to a drug rehab that became a paramilitary religion, these high-control groups shaped history while s...
#2047: Why Video Calls Feel Like a Workout for Your Brain
Remote work is draining our "social radar," but new science shows how to rebuild it.
#2045: Anonymity Isn't the Problem, The Architecture Is
Why does Reddit amplify toxicity while other anonymous spaces stay healthy? It's not the mask—it's the room's shape.
#2042: Gifted, Stigmatized, and Seeking Real Community
Why do online communities for the gifted become toxic, and how can you find real-world connections?
#1887: The Lone Wolf Is a Myth
The Las Vegas 2025 incident wasn't a lone wolf—it was the terrifying new face of digital radicalization.
#1886: Spies Are Middle Managers, Not Action Heroes
Forget Bond and Bourne—real espionage is a logistical nightmare of spreadsheets, coffee, and psychological manipulation.
#1883: From Juicero to Yik Yak: Startup Graveyard
We revisit 10 failed startups, from a $700 Wi-Fi juicer to an anonymous social app that turned toxic.
#1862: Hacker News: The Orange Site That Runs Silicon Valley
It loads in milliseconds, has no ads, and looks like a spreadsheet from 1995. Here’s why Hacker News still dictates what the tech elite thinks ever...
#1803: Why Hostages Defend Their Captors
A tech exec was brainwashed in 2025. The neurochemistry is the same as Stockholm Syndrome.
#1660: How Hostage Negotiators Really Work (Not Like the Movies)
Forget the lone hero with a headset. Real crisis negotiation is a team sport built on psychology and timing.
#1549: Why Your Next GitHub Notification Could Be a Trap
Attackers are weaponizing GitHub notifications to bypass security filters. Learn how to spot the latest phishing lures before you click.
#1524: When Bots Learn to Argue: The Simulation of Consensus
Discover how AI-powered botnets are moving beyond spam to simulate organic debates and manufacture public opinion at a global scale.
#1339: When Hacking Becomes a Business Process
Forget the technical exploits; the real vulnerability is the human layer. Discover how attackers use psychology to bypass modern security.
#1321: The New Face of Cyberbullying: AI Botnets & Semantic Mimicry
"Don't feed the trolls" is dead. Discover how AI botnets use semantic mimicry to weaponize psychology and hijack social media algorithms.
#1292: The Visibility Trap: Dissent in the Digital Age
In the digital age, we have the right to speak but not the right to be heard. Discover the new architecture of algorithmic censorship.
#1150: Digital Chains: The Evolving Psychology of Modern Cults
From desert communes to Discord servers, explore how modern high-demand groups use sophisticated psychological tools to exert coercive control.
#1043: The Last Monoglot: Why One Language is Better Than Two
Is the monoglot a language's ultimate guardian? Explore the tragic end of Irish Gaelic and the miraculous, engineered rise of modern Hebrew.
#1018: The Spy Myth vs. Reality: Life Beyond James Bond
Forget the martinis and car chases. Discover why real espionage is more about spreadsheets and "friend-making" than gadgets and shootouts.
#987: Reputation Laundering: How the Ultra-Wealthy Edit History
Discover how the world’s elite use massive philanthropy and SEO tactics to bury scandals and literally rewrite their digital history.
#966: The Silence of Damascus: Eli Cohen and the Physics of Spycraft
Was Eli Cohen’s capture a failure of tradecraft or a mathematical certainty? Explore the physics of signals and Soviet radio tracking.
#959: The Infinite Content Problem: AI’s War on Truth
Explore how AI is scaling disinformation to an industrial level and what the "liar's dividend" means for the future of shared reality.