Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Spectacular Failures: From New Coke to Segway

Not just your garden-variety screwups; these were epic, painful misfires that everyone should have seen coming. (We’re lookin' at you, Quibi.) 
In this episode:
Microsoft BOB
New Coke
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Olestra (Olean)
Subprime Mortgages 
The Pontiac Aztec
The Segway 
The No-Phone
Toilet Golf
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

The Sordid Science Behind Interrogation and Torture

We have ways of making you talk...
 
In this episode:
Interrogation Techniques: Bargaining, Lying, Guilt Trips, Flattery
"Pride and Ego Up" Vs. Down
Reading Body Language
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Intoxicants (Sodium Pentathol etc)
Suggestibility
Morals and Grey Areas
Legal Limits of Interrogation
Law Enforcement Deception Scenarios
Torture and "Enhanced Interrogation"
Methods of Torture
Reliability and Results
Three Degrees of Torture
Legality of Torture
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Battle for the Living Room: from Atari to the Console Wars

The next generation of gaming is about to arrive, which makes this the perfect time to take a look at how we got here. Join the boys for a guided tour through the cutthroat history of gaming, and the battle for the living room. 
 
In this episode:
Edward Uhler Condon and the NIMATRON
Ferranti and the NIMROD
Ralph Baer and the Brown Box
Magnavox and the Odyssey
Atari and the VCS (2600)
Activision
1983 Atari Shock, ET, and subpar PacMan
The rise of Nintendo
Famicon becomes the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
NES becomes the Super NES
TurboGrafx-16 and the 16-bit revolution
The Atari Jaguar flames out
The rise of Sega
The genesis of the Genesis
The story of Sonic
The golden era of SNES: Metroid, Street Fighter, Zelda, Mega Man
The rise of Sony
32 and 64 bits
The Nintendo 64
The Sega Saturn
Playstation crushes the competition
The decline of Nintendo and the Gamecube debacle
Microsoft gets in the game
Enter the Xbox
Xbox 360 and the Red Ring of Death
Playstation 2
Playstation 3
Xbox One
Xbox Series X and the Playstation 5
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Mentalists, Faith Healers, and Frauds

Scammers and con artists are unavoidable facts of life, but only a select few manage to take the art of deception to the next level. All of the unscrupulous scumbags in this episode reached the pinnacle of scumminess, and perfected the art of the con. 
 
In this episode:
International Sleazebag Uri Geller
Disgraced Televangelist Peter Popoff
Unlikely Shaman Juliette D'Souza
Infomercial Psychic Miss Cleo
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Sketchy and Unethical Psychological Experiments

Modern researchers are expected to follow strict ethical guidelines, but it wasn't always this way. For thousands of years, scientific experimentation was a free-for-all, and while American psychological experiments may never have reached Josef Mengele levels on the Evil Meter, there have been some notorious misfires that were downright disturbing. Follow along as Shane and Duncan explore some of the sketchiest psychological experiments every conducted. 
 
In this episode:
The Milgram Experiment
Robber's Cave
The Monster Study
The Stanford Prison Experiment
...and more
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Sleep and Insomnia (finally!)

In an episode that is long overdue, the boys explore the biology and science of sleep, and offer useful tips for tackling sleep disorders (including...you know). 
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

The Darwin Awards

Warning: if you're not a fan of dark humor, feel free to skip this episode. We won't judge you! For our fellow twisted weirdos...enjoy. 
"The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally remove themselves from it in a spectacular manner!" 
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
History of the Darwin Awards
Wendy Northcut, opportunist
Death By:
Self-shooting demonstration - Clement Vallandigham
Radish - Sir William Payne-Gallwey
Slow car - Bridget Driscoll
"Wearable" Parachute - Franz Reichelt
Unbreakable-window test - Gary Hoy
The North Sentinel Island natives are restless - John Allen Chau
Beard sabotage- Hans Steininger
Gurney mishap- Edward Juchniewicz
Rattlesnake catch - Joe Buddy Caine
Segway daredevil- Jim Heselden
Cockfight revenge - Jose Luis Ochoa
Cockroach-eating contest - Edward Archbold
...and more
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Weird and Terrifying Animals

Ask and you shall receive! Listeners have been requesting an episode about weird and scary animals, and MFFI finally delivered. Be careful what you wish for...
 
In this episode:
Star-nosed Mole
Satanic Leaf-tailed Gecko 
Black Dragonfish
Deep Sea Isopod
Tapeworm
Duck-billed Platypus
Box Jellyfish
Japanese Spider Crab
Poison Dart Frog
Giant Centipede
...and more
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Off the Deep End: Facts and Mythology of the Ocean

This one is unofficially subtitled "off the rails." If you're not a fan of tangents and silliness, maybe skip the second half. But if you enjoy a healthy dose of nonsense with your midnight facts, enjoy! 
 
In this episode:
Challenger Deep
James Cameron, badass
Stats
Ocean ghosts
Mermaids and Sea Cows
Why is the ocean blue?
Underwater lakes, rivers, and waterfalls
Tsunamis, dehydration, algae
Mythology
Cthulu
Godzilla
Kraken
Sirens
Bruce
...and more
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM

Lost Civilizations

Lost civilizations have been puzzling archaeologists and transfixing the public for centuries. From multilayered honeycombs to underground mazes to underwater metropolises, these are some of the most fascinating lost civilizations in history. 
 
In this episode:
Thonis-Heracleion 
Troy
Catal Huyuk
Easter Island
Derinkuyu
...and more
~Become an Insomniac! Support the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content.~Join the community, chat with fellow insomniacs, and vote on episode topics via DISCORD~Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com~Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word.~Follow us on INSTAGRAM