The Stanford Prison Experiment
How quickly did power change people?
4.1 (20)
54 mins
Discover the Stanford Prison Experiment, the controversial 1971 study that placed college students in simulated roles as prisoners and guards. Explore how quickly the situation appeared to spiral into abusive behavior and why the experiment was stopped after just six days.
Ep 1:
The Arrest That Wasn't Real
Nine ordinary students are arrested in a shocking sting, unaware they're stepping into a psychological study designed by an ambitious Stanford professor chasing a dangerous question about power and human nature.
Ep 2:
Building the Basement Nightmare
A basement corridor becomes a fake prison, uniforms and blindfolds strip away identity, and within two days a coin-flip experiment erupts into rebellion, punishment, and manipulation nobody anticipated.
Ep 3:
The Superintendent Loses Himself
As guards escalate and prisoners collapse under sleep deprivation and humiliation, Zimbardo himself abandons science for control, revealing how deeply the experiment had consumed its own creator.
Ep 4:
The Woman Who Saw Through It
One outsider's horror finally shatters the illusion, ending the experiment early—setting up decades of fame, controversy, and archival revelations that would upend everything the world thought it knew.
Discussions (5)
Wade
Level 2 · 1 mo agoSo 819 refused to LEAVE the fake prison lol
Michael
Level 2 · 1 mo agoSo Zimbardo was literally DATING Christina Maslach while running the experiment and she had to tell him he was acting unhinged before he finally shut it down 👀
Clint
Level 4 · 1 mo agoZimbardo: researcher, superintendent, unreliable narrator
