Podcast: Zimbardo interview

Shifting slightly from our recent focus on mind-altering substances to mind-altering situations, Philip Zimbardo was recently interviewed on All in the Mind.  He discusses, among other things, his famous Stanford Prison Experiment.

In 1971 it was the hippie revolution, sex, drugs and rock and roll but also anti war and anti prisons. And so students and myself we were interested in the plight of prisoners because none of us could ever imagine being prison guards. But over time what was fascinating was how dramatically transformed the guards were and these were boys we chose as normal, as healthy — and they’re intelligent college students — as imaginable.

Read the transcript or download the MP3.

About Jeremy Burman

Jeremy Trevelyan Burman is a senior doctoral student in York University’s Department of Psychology, specializing in the history of developmental psychology and its theory (especially that pertaining to Jean Piaget). Prior to returning to academia, he was a producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.