#human-factors
29 episodes
#3472: The Car Preflight Checklist Aviation Never Built
What if every car had a laminated aviation-style checklist in the glove box? Two minutes could prevent a blowout.
#3414: How to Actually Intervene in a Violent Attack
What the research says about the five tiers of intervention—from calling 999 to physical confrontation.
#3374: Is Your Desk Making You Dumber?
Sitting at a desk for 8+ hours isn't neutral—it might be making you less creative, more tired, and driving turnover.
#3115: How Many Scientists Actually Live at the Poles?
The surprising answer: ~850 in Antarctic summer, ~400 in winter, and effectively zero at the North Pole.
#3098: The Pilot with the Flashlight: Inside Aviation's Pre-Flight Walkaround
Why pilots still physically inspect planes before every flight — and what a 1979 crash taught us about trusting machines.
#3040: How Buffets Actually Stay in Business
Plate sizes, stomach limits, and why the guy eating six plates isn't hurting profits.
#3015: The IKEA Showroom Living Experiment
Can you nap in an IKEA bed or work from a display desk? The answer reveals a masterclass in retail psychology.
#2993: The Deadliest Jobs Nobody Talks About
Logging kills 23x more workers than average. Why isn't it on reality TV?
#2844: How Many Pixels Do You Actually Need?
At what point does adding more pixels stop mattering to the human eye? The numbers are brutal for marketing.
#2832: The Two-Tiered World of Support
How technical account managers and premium SLAs create a support tier that’s almost a different product from consumer chatbots.
#2407: Three Landings in 90 Days: Pilot Automation Dependency
Why pilots aren't hand-flying enough, the regulatory floor that lets it happen, and what airlines are doing about it.
#2273: The Curious Case of Kitchen Unitaskers
From banana slicers to motorized ice cream cones, we rank the most absurd single-use kitchen gadgets and explore their weird charm.
#2241: When More Frameworks Make Worse Decisions
Benjamin Franklin's 250-year-old pro/con list still dominates how we decide—but research shows it's riddled with bias. We map five frameworks that ...
#2237: The Hidden Career of Search and Rescue
What does a 20-year career in combat search and rescue actually look like? From downed pilot recoveries to the psychological toll of constant readi...
#1961: Weaponizing Your Weirdness in an AI World
As AI homogenizes the web, contrarian thinking becomes a scarce asset. Here’s how to weaponize your weirdness for a competitive edge.
#1954: The Inuit Trick to Stop Yelling at Babies
Discover the "Kigiq" sound and the "Calm Captain" role from ancient Arctic strategies for raising emotionally regulated children.
#1795: How to Survive the Inner Solar System
Explore the wild psychology and engineering needed to build cities on Mercury, Mars, and Venus.
#1776: The Sync Trap: Why Your Backup Isn't Safe
Is your backup strategy a responsible habit or a full-blown compulsion? We explore the thin line between data safety and digital hoarding.
#1707: Driving in the Future: Predictive Modeling Under Extreme Cognitive Load
Officers use predictive modeling and cognitive tricks to handle high-speed chases without crashing.
#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.
#1307: Digital Protocols: Why Modern Manners Feel Like Software
Manners aren't disappearing—they're becoming context-aware. Learn why a "Hey" might be more polite than a "Dear Sir" in the digital age.
#1169: Hack Your Hunger: The New Science of Low-Fat Snacking
Discover how to beat late-night cravings using satiety engineering, the P+P rule, and smart kitchen hacks for a low-fat lifestyle.
#1140: The G-Suit Paradox: From Fighter Jets to Commercial Cabins
Transitioning from fighter jets to airliners is a total recalibration of physics, philosophy, and psychology in the "comfort corridor."
#933: Why One Wrong Word Could Start a War
Discover the high-stakes world of simultaneous interpretation, where a single mistranslated word can change history or spark a conflict.
#905: The 3 AM Siren: The Science of Nighttime Missile Attacks
Why do sirens always wail at 3 AM? Discover the high-stakes game of orbital mechanics and satellite blind spots behind nighttime missile strikes.
#899: 44 Hours in the Cockpit: The Limits of Human Endurance
How do pilots stay alert for 44-hour missions? Herman and Corn explore the grueling science of fatigue management in long-range air combat.
#747: Expanding the Menagerie: New Voices for Weird Prompts
Corn and Herman celebrate 700 episodes by designing a new "cognitive ecosystem" of characters to tackle the world's strangest prompts.
#698: The Guilt-Free No: Breaking the Cycle of People Pleasing
Stop saying yes when you mean no. Discover how to set firm boundaries and overcome the shame of "fawning" in your relationships.
#630: The Hidden Labor of Technical Consultants
Ever wonder how TV shows get those tiny details exactly right? Herman and Corn dive into the world of technical advisors and "verisimilitude."