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Adam Ruins Everything

First, on the Adam Ruins Everything TV show, Adam Conover broke down widespread misconceptions about everything we take for granted. Now, join Adam as he sits down with the experts and stars from the show to go into even more detail.
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Adam Ruins Everything
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Mar 29, 2017
Today's Adam Ruins Everything podcast guest is the go-to person when it comes to internet infrastructure: Susan Crawford. Susan is a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age and the co-author of The Responsive City: Engaging Communities Through Data-Smart Governance.
 
On the podcast Susan tells us why the internet in the U.S. isn't as good as it should be; it's much slower than many other countries around the world because our cable conglomerates can control markets around the country. And unfortunately, these are leaving many of our communities in the technology dark ages. Susan tells Adam what we can do to promote internet infrastructure and how she's already seen that activism first-hand around the country.
 
Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.
Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
Mar 15, 2017
If you wear clothes, you're going to love this Adam Ruins Everything podcast. Our guest, Professor Laura McAndrews, appeared on Adam Ruins Shopping Malls where she discussed the deceptions surrounding outlets malls. But on the podcast, Laura really goes into depth about the inner-workings of fast fashion. And she would know - she lived it!
 
Laura worked in retail for years, primarily for Gap and Urban Outfitters. She traveled to factories all over the world to oversee fashion production. The clothes might have been cute, but the rest wasn't pretty. Laura recalls many of these experiences on the podcast - from noticing the poor construction of these clothes to the awful working conditions for the factory workers. Eventually, Laura left fashion for academia. She now teaches textiles, merchandising and interiors at the University of Georgia, and she encourages her students to speak up about working conditions once they enter the workforce.
 
Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.
Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
Mar 1, 2017
So much of what we've seen on TV and film about the Wild West depicts the rugged cowboy who is always ready for a showdown. But the Wild West was much more nuanced than that. In fact, many of the towns in the Wild West thrived because of the women who ran the towns - specifically women in the prostitution industry. While prostitution was at times extremely dangerous, it also gave women economic agency which was rare for the period. It allowed them to build brothels, schools, and stores and even yield political influence in the region.
 
Jan MacKell Collins, who appeared on Adam Ruins The Wild Westjoins us on this week's episode to unpack this 'not so polite' (although just as crucial) section of our history books. Jan is the author of six books and is the contributor to Backwoodsman Magazine, Colorado Central Magazine, Frontier Gazette and True West Magazine.
 
Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.
Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
Feb 15, 2017

From the push to build a border wall to the recent executive order temporarily banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, there are so many emotions associated with the current immigration policy proposals. But what are the real facts regarding immigration history in this country? And what are immigrants'  actual impacts on our society? Today we try to answer those questions with our guest Professor Doug Massey.

Doug is a Princeton Sociology Professor who appeared on Adam Ruins Immigration. His research focuses on international migration, race and housing, discrimination, education, urban poverty, and Latin America, especially Mexico. On the episode, Doug and Adam discuss the negative net migration flow of immigrants coming into United States from Mexico, the United States' reliance on migrant labor, and what reasonable immigration policy looks like.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

 
Feb 15, 2017

From the push to build a border wall to the recent executive order temporarily banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, there are so many emotions associated with the current immigration policy proposals. But what are the real facts regarding immigration history in this country? And what are immigrants'  actual impacts on our society? Today we try to answer those questions with our guest Professor Doug Massey.

Doug is a Princeton Sociology Professor who appeared on Adam Ruins Immigration. His research focuses on international migration, race and housing, discrimination, education, urban poverty, and Latin America, especially Mexico. On the episode, Doug and Adam discuss the negative net migration flow of immigrants coming into United States from Mexico, the United States' reliance on migrant labor, and what reasonable immigration policy looks like.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

 
Feb 1, 2017
On Adam Ruins Hollywood, Adam shattered the facade of awards shows, red carpets, and reality TV. So now that we're steeped in the awards show season, we brought Rachel Bloom onto the podcast, who appeared on the TV show, and is a red carpet expert! She is the Star and Co-Creator of the fantastic CW show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which actually won her a Golden Globe last year. Rachel tells us what really goes on at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards - how red carpets are really a marketing strategy for fashion designers and how campaigning for awards is integral to the awards show process.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Jan 18, 2017
On the Adam Ruins Everything podcast, Adam typically brings experts who appeared on the TV show to further expand on the arguments they make on the show. But during the off-season of the TV show, we thought we'd try something new. We are going to start bringing guests onto the show who may or may not have appeared on the show, but who are just as thoughtful and groundbreaking in their work.
 
Today's guest is Jonathan Blow, the indie game developer who is best known as the creator of Braid and The Witness. In The Witness, which was released last year to rave reviews, a player walks around a picturesque island solving complex puzzles. The puzzles themselves are not only incredibly challenging and quite philosophical, but they're almost a glimpse into the highly intelligent mind of Jonathan himself. Jonathan attended the University of California at Berkeley, and worked several jobs including Game Developer Magazine, before releasing Braid in 2008.On the podcast, Jonathan and Adam discuss The Witness at length... including, SPOILER ALERT, the solutions to puzzles and the game's ending! (Don't worry, spoilers will be clearly marked, so you have time to pause.) Within the game, they discuss architecture's role in gaming, how the game raises questions about religion and the self, and much more. If you're planning on playing the game, we encourage you to pause the episode before it gets spoilery and play the game yourself before finishing the episode.
Jan 4, 2017
On the season finale of Adam Ruins Everything, Adam ruins 'going green', the idea that individual choices such as recycling, driving hybrid cars, or reusing plastic bags are not enough to combat climate change. Today's podcast guest, Dale Jamieson, who appeared on Adam Ruins Going Green, says those choices on their own will not stop global warming and instead we need to make larger, systemic changes and work together with other countries to curb our carbon emissions.
 
Dale is a Professor of Environmental Studies and Philosophy and Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at New York University. On the podcast, he and Adam discuss why individual choices of going green are ineffective, the actual science of the global temperature increases and its implications, and what the incoming administration means for the United States' role in fighting climate change.
 

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Dec 21, 2016
Just say no...to the War on Drugs! On this week's Adam Ruins Everything, we talk to Sheriff John Urquhart who appeared on the Drugs episode of the TV show. John is the sheriff for all of King County, Washington, which includes Seattle. He has seen the War on Drugs' failures firsthand as an undercover narcotics investigator and has since developed views on the drug crisis that are refreshing for a law enforcement officer. On this week's episode, Adam and Sheriff Urquhart discuss the implications of the heroin epidemic in the country, the racialization of the War on Drugs, the controversial idea of safe injection sites, and much more.
 
Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.
Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
 
Dec 7, 2016
While you're using the internet to stream this podcast, Adam and this week's guest Ethan Zuckerman are talking about how we're actually ruining the internet. Things are getting meta here. Ethan, who appeared on Adam Ruins the Internet, is a fascinating person who has studied the internet and its affects for years. He's currently the director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and associate professor of the practice in the Program in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on the distribution of attention in mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists.
 
On the podcast, Adam and Ethan discuss how people are the products of free services like Facebook and Google, not the consumers. They also go into Ethan's early days working at Tripod where he invented the pop-up ad, and why we need more weirdness like the hamster dance on the internet.
 
Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.
Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
Nov 23, 2016
On this week's podcast Adam talks to Daryl Atkinson, who appeared on not one but two episodes of Adam Ruins Everything the TV show - Adam Ruins Voting and Adam Ruins Prison! Daryl is a Staff Attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, but he's currently on leave with them to work with the Department of Justice to work with the Obama administration on criminal justice reform. 
 
Daryl has a fascinating personal story. He was convicted of a non-violent drug offense, spent forty months in prison, and went on to get his bachelor and law degrees. Now he is eligible to practice law in two states, travels all around the country on behalf of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, but he still can't even vote in his home state of Alabama. On the podcast, Daryl and Adam discuss felony disenfranchisement and other rights that are stripped away from the formerly incarcerated, the ban the box policy, and how privilege and specifically white privilege play into the war on drugs.
 

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.
 

Nov 11, 2016

On this week's podcast, Adam and guest Rosie Cooney discuss how trophy hunting can actually preserve wild species. It sounds insane and paradoxical, but countries that actually manage trophy hunting well can save species like rhinos from extinction. Rosie, who appeared on Adam Ruins Animals, is chair of the IUCN's Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)/Species Survival Commission (SSC) Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group. On the podcast, she and Adam discuss how trophy hunting can benefit conservation efforts, where it works and where it has failed, and whether there's hope for wild species.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

 

Oct 26, 2016

Homelessness is a chronic problem we see everyday, and we might feel hopeless in our efforts to fix it. But today's guests actually have a solution that has been proven to curb homelessness. And it's been right in front of the whole time -- literally give people homes! Rudy Salinas and Dorothy Edwards, who appeared on Adam Ruins Housing, work for Housing Works LA, an organization which creates accessible housing and service options by actually giving people homes and ensuring they can stay in those homes.


Rudy is Housing Works' Program Director, and Dorothy is a Homeless Advocate who was homeless herself for 15 years. On the podcast, Dorothy shares her inspiring personal story from being homeless to now working for Housing Works, how Housing Works selects the most vulnerable people, how giving people homes is economically the best option for all of us.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Oct 12, 2016

If it weren't for the Innocence Project's Chris Fabricant, we might not even have an Adam Ruins Everything Podcast! After he and Adam met of the set of Adam Ruins Forensic Science, Adam found his work so fascinating that he felt he had to talk to Chris in a longer format, and thus the original idea for the podcast was born.

As the Innocence Project's Director of Strategic Litigation, Chris develops and executes strategies to address the leading causes of wrongful conviction, including eyewitness misidentification, the misapplication of forensic sciences and false confessions. His cases take him all across the country to help exonerate the wrongfully accused.

On the podcast, Adam and Chris discuss outdated forensic science techniques such as bite mark analysis, why DNA analysis works, and Chris' bizarre deposition with bite mark "expert" Michael West, which was recently profiled in The Washington Post.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Sep 28, 2016



If you have any questions about parking, Donald Shoup will definitely know the answer. The Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA's Department of Urban Planning is the author of The High Cost of Free Parking and studies how parking policies affect cities, the economy, and the environment.

 

Donald and his cartoon alter ego appeared on Adam Ruins Cars, and on the podcast he and Adam discuss the problems with free parking, how meter revenue can finance public services in metered neighborhoods, and Donald's endless similarities with Snoop Dogg.

 

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and is currently touring the US.

 

You can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

 

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org

Sep 15, 2016

You've seen it from rom-coms to Hallmark cards - our society is obsessed with everyone finding their soulmate. But did you know the idea of 'the one' is a relatively new concept in our culture? In fact, marriage and love were completely separate entities for centuries, and this week's podcast guest, Professor Stephanie Coontz, tells us all about it.

Stephanie Coontz, who appeared on Adam Ruins Weddings teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College. Her book, Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage traces the history of marriage from a union based on alliances and financial gain to today's notion of finding our 'other half'.

Adam and Stephanie discuss how the Enlightenment altered our idea of marriage, how the media covers love, and how equality is erotic.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and is currently touring the US.

You can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Aug 31, 2016

You've heard the phrase plenty of times in your life: "Drink more water!" But our guest on this week's show dispels that myth.

Professor Tamara Hew-Butler, who appears on the Adam Ruins Football episode of the TV show, studies how too much water while exercising can actually be dangerous. Her research at Oakland University specifically focuses on excess water and hyponatremia, a potentially fatal condition when your body holds too much water.

Adam and Tamara discuss the myth of drinking eight glasses of water a day, Adam's lessons from his very long, first marathon, and Tamara's hilariously unorthodox lab experiments.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find full episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Aug 17, 2016

Adam is joined by historian Ed Ayers to talk about our forefathers' democratic vision for the United States, the historical implications of our current election, and misconceptions about the discipline of history.

Since we're experiencing one of the most interesting elections in modern history, we needed to know what it all means. So on this week's podcast we talk to historian Ed Ayers.

Ed, who appeared on the voting episode of Adam Ruins Everything, is the host of the brilliant podcast and public radio show BackStory with the American History Guys. He's also the President Emeritus of the University of Richmond, where he now serves as Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Aug 3, 2016

Professor Elizabeth Loftus is a pioneering and legendary cognitive psychologist who first appeared on the forensic science episode of Adam Ruins Everything.

Her ground-breaking work studies how memories can be changed and altered. She's specifically focused on the weaknesses of eyewitness testimony.

What makes Elizabeth's work even more interesting is that she's ventured beyond academia to understand human memory, testifying and consulting in over 250 legal cases.

Adam and Elizabeth discuss collective memory, repressed memory, and even some of Adam's own memories.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover.

You can find past episodes of Adam Ruins Everything and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Jul 20, 2016

Science journalist John Bohannon, who appeared on the nutrition episode of Adam Ruins Everything, joins us on this week's podcast!

John is fascinating - he's a contributing correspondent for Science magazine and has a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Oxford University. His experience in both academia and journalism has led to an inventive approach to exposing the flaws of science journalism and specifically nutrition journalism.

On the episode, John and Adam discuss John's fake chocolate study, his latest expose on Sci-Hub, and much more.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Jul 6, 2016

Adam is joined by Bruce Schneier to talk about current problems facing the TSA, gun control, and how data and security intersect.

One of the topics that resonated deeply with last season's Adam Ruins Everything viewers was Bruce Schneier's take on security and "security theater". So we had to bring Bruce on the podcast.

Bruce is a brilliant cryptographer and security expert, who's written countless articles and academic papers and published 13 books, including Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Jun 22, 2016

Emily Axford plays Adam's foil on Adam Ruins Everything, but on this week's podcast, Emily's front and center. She also happens to be just as hilarious and charming in person as she is on the show.

Adam and Emily go way back -- they began working together at College Humor -- and the laughs never stopped.

On the episode, the two go from deep discussions on aliens and dreams to Emily's yet-to-be-created video game called Space Bears.

You can find more of Emily's comedy over on her YouTube channel. Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Jun 8, 2016

Adam talks to Caitlin Doughty, who appeared on the Death episode of the TV show.

Caitlin is a mortician, a death acceptance advocate, and the founder of the non-profit funeral home, Undertaking L.A. She's also the author of The New York Times bestseller Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.

Adam and Caitlin discuss the bizarre world of funeral conventions, body compositing, and get deep about the afterlife.

Adam Conover is on Twitter @AdamConover and you can find past episodes and bonus content from the TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

May 24, 2016

Adam is joined by general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Seleta Reynolds to talk about municipal transit and reducing our reliance on cars.

Seleta appears on the Cars episode of the Adam Ruins Everything TV show. You can find out more about Seleta and her work here.

Adam is on Twitter @AdamConover. You can find past episodes and bonus content from his TruTV show at AdamRuinsEverything.com.

Produced by Shara Morris for MaximumFun.org.

Mar 30, 2015
J Elvis Weinstein (MST3K, Freaks and Geeks) sets the stage for Allie and Julia on what the world was like when The Simpsons Cheers-centric episode first aired. 
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