Episode 200: Shermer talks with Zimbardo (50th Anniversary of the Stanford Prison Experiment)

About this episode:

A conversation with Philip Zimbardo on the Nature and Nurture of Good and Evil

Philip Zimbardo is the creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment. His book, The Lucifer Effect, explains how we are all susceptible to the lure of “the dark side.” Drawing on examples from history as well as his own trailblazing research, Zimbardo details how situational forces and group dynamics can work in concert to make monsters out of decent men and women. He is also the co-author of Psychology and Life and author of Shyness, which together have sold more than 2.5 million copies.

Zimbardo earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1959. He is today professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University.

Zimbardo has been president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and is now director of the Stanford Center on Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism.

In recent years criticisms have been leveled at Dr. Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment, to which he responded point-by-point in this lengthy document: https://www.prisonexp.org/response