#social-engineering
129 episodes · Page 4 of 6
#3385: The Book as Stage Prop: Pay-to-Publish Unpacked
When anyone can buy a publisher's logo, what happens to the signal a book is supposed to send?
#3342: The Half-Billion Dollar Industry of Fake Crowds
How paid attendees, enthusiasm pricing tiers, and AI scoring create the illusion of organic excitement at events worldwide.
#3316: How to Support a Friend Without Playing Therapist
Practical scripts and research-backed strategies for being helpful without overstepping.
#3309: How to End a Friendship Without the Slow Fade
The slow fade hurts more than honesty. Research shows direct conversations end friendships cleaner.
#3295: Why Strangers Drain Your Brain
The neuroscience behind why meeting new people exhausts you — and why it's not just in your head.
#3209: When Algorithms Become Censors
How SLAPP suits, libel tourism, and Google's algorithm chill journalism more effectively than any law.
#3204: The Expectation Cascade: How to Live Your Own Life
Bronnie Ware's deathbed research reveals the #1 regret: not living true to yourself. How to escape the expectation cascade.
#3149: Who Actually Decides to Prosecute?
The King’s name is on every indictment, but he’s never asked. So who really decides who gets charged?
#3126: How Flat Hierarchy Actually Works (No, It’s Not No Managers)
Flat hierarchy isn’t no managers—it’s fewer gates between insight and action. But hidden hierarchies survive every reorg.
#3125: When Democracy Requires Door-Knocking
Why Irish politicians knock on doors while Israeli MKs don't — and what Canada, Japan, and Taiwan do instead.
#3051: Witness Protection vs. Hollywood: Inside WITSEC and Global Programs
How witness protection actually works across the US, UK, and Germany — and why 17% of participants get expelled.
#3046: The Ghosts in the Force: Inside Long-Term Undercover Police Work
How police build fake identities, infiltrate gangs, and protect officers who can never go home again.
#3017: Why Every Restaurant Has 4.6 Stars
Google Maps ratings are broken. Here's how four mechanisms inflate them — and what actually works instead.
#2878: How China Controls Foreign Critics and Domestic Media
China blocks foreign critics at the border while running a sophisticated domestic media control system. Here's how both work.
#2698: How Hackers Hide C2 Servers in Plain Sight
Bulletproof hosts, hijacked routers, and Discord channels — how command and control infrastructure stays up despite takedown attempts.
#2697: When Trust in Your Country Feels Like a Bad Relationship
What happens when the state you fund feels like it's deceiving you — and you can't opt out.
#2611: Saturday Drums vs Quiet Homes: Protest Rights in Residential Areas
When weekly protests become a permanent neighborhood soundscape, how do democracies balance assembly rights with residents' quiet enjoyment?
#2586: Pseudo-Personalized Emails: The New Spam Uncanny Valley
How to detect and filter AI-generated outreach emails that fake personal connection without nuking legitimate messages.
#2579: Why You Feel Watched (And Why You're Not)
Why sitting alone in public feels so awkward — and what the research says you can do about it.
#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.