Unintended Consequences

Unintended Consequences

By Patrick · Nerra NetworkEducationSelf-Improvement
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Unintended Consequences episodes

  • Ep 60: Scared Straight sent at-risk teens into prisons to be confronted by inmates in the hope that fear would keep them out of trouble — and later studies found the programs raised their odds of offending.
    Scared Straight sent at-risk teens into prisons to be confronted by inmates in the hope that fear would keep them out of trouble — and later studies found the programs raised their odds of offending.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In September 1978, seventeen-year-old Anthony sat on a metal folding chair inside Rahway State Prison while a group of convicted murderers and armed robbers shouted inches from his face about what would happen to his body if he ended up there. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    9 min
  • Ep 59: The U.S. government paid southern farmers to plant kudzu to stop erosion — and the vine kept growing long after the crisis ended.
    The U.S. government paid southern farmers to plant kudzu to stop erosion — and the vine kept growing long after the crisis ended.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In the summer of 1935, crews from the newly formed Soil Conservation Service handed out bundles of kudzu seedlings to farmers in Alabama and Georgia, each plant accompanied by instructions to set roots along gullied hillsides. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    9 min
  • Ep 58: Companies adopted game mechanics to make fitness, learning, and work more engaging — and watched users chase points while real progress and well-being declined.
    Companies adopted game mechanics to make fitness, learning, and work more engaging — and watched users chase points while real progress and well-being declined.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In 2016 a Seattle software engineer named Marcus kept a 347-day Duolingo streak alive by completing a single two-minute lesson at 11:47 p.m. while standing in his kitchen after a fourteen-hour workday. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOJzwTGh04
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    8 min
  • Ep 57: Twentieth-century engineers built dams to power the West and control floods, then spent decades dismantling some so salmon could reach their spawning grounds again.
    Twentieth-century engineers built dams to power the West and control floods, then spent decades dismantling some so salmon could reach their spawning grounds again.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In the fall of 2011, workers on Washington’s Elwha River began the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history, punching holes in the 108-foot-high Glines Canyon Dam that had stood since 1927. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMONPBAy90
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    8 min
  • Ep 56: Platforms promised clean feeds for users and quietly hired tens of thousands of moderators to deliver them, shifting the psychological cost out of sight.
    Platforms promised clean feeds for users and quietly hired tens of thousands of moderators to deliver them, shifting the psychological cost out of sight.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In a Manila office tower in 2017, a contractor named “Liza” sat before a screen that refreshed every few seconds with videos of beheadings, sexual assaults, and live suicides. She had been hired to keep Facebook’s news feed free of graphic content for users in the United States and Europe. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqjjyTXtIS0
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    8 min
  • Ep 55: US dietary guidelines urged Americans to cut fat for heart health — and watched obesity climb as sugar filled the gap.
    US dietary guidelines urged Americans to cut fat for heart health — and watched obesity climb as sugar filled the gap.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In 1992 the USDA unveiled its Food Guide Pyramid with a broad base of 6 to 11 daily servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. The diagram was meant to steer the public toward lower-fat eating patterns that researchers had linked to reduced heart disease. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjY8Y5Qydxc
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    8 min
  • Ep 54: The 1968 National Flood Insurance Program set out to limit building in flood-prone areas but instead subsidized far more development behind levees.
    The 1968 National Flood Insurance Program set out to limit building in flood-prone areas but instead subsidized far more development behind levees.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In August 2005, water overtopped and breached levees around New Orleans that federal maps had labeled adequate for a 100-year flood. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLvwwNUNm5s
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    8 min
  • Ep 53: Park managers exterminated Yellowstone’s wolves to protect elk and livestock, then watched the rivers, forests, and beavers collapse in their absence.
    Park managers exterminated Yellowstone’s wolves to protect elk and livestock, then watched the rivers, forests, and beavers collapse in their absence.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In the winter of 1926, a government hunter tracked and shot the last known wolf pack inside Yellowstone National Park. The action fulfilled a policy that had begun two decades earlier with the explicit goal of increasing elk numbers for hunters and protecting livestock on surrounding ranches. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9syI5rT3PEQ
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    9 min
  • Ep 52: The Federal Reserve launched quantitative easing to rescue the economy from another Depression — and ended up widening the wealth gap for a decade.
    The Federal Reserve launched quantitative easing to rescue the economy from another Depression — and ended up widening the wealth gap for a decade.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    On November 25, 2008, the Federal Reserve announced it would purchase up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities and agency debt. The goal was straightforward: push long-term interest rates down when short-term rates had already reached zero. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tOahIwla-Q
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    7 min
  • Ep 51: China's Three Gorges Dam promised flood control and clean power for hundreds of millions, yet its reservoir began stressing faults and destabilizing entire hillsides.
    China's Three Gorges Dam promised flood control and clean power for hundreds of millions, yet its reservoir began stressing faults and destabilizing entire hillsides.
    Segment 1 — The Cold Open
    In the summer of 2003, as the first phase of reservoir filling behind the Three Gorges Dam raised water levels more than 100 meters along the Yangtze, residents near the town of Wushan watched entire hillsides begin to move. ...
    AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
    🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL-ZLZdoKsg
    📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
    🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
    14 min

About Unintended Consequences

From the publisher's feed

Every day, one true story of good intentions gone sideways. From cobra bounties in colonial Delhi to recommendation algorithms, each episode follows a single case through the original idea, how it rolled out, the unintended fallout, and the lessons that still apply — told with empathy for the people who tried.