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Halve A Seat episode artwork

Jan 8, 2018 18 min

Halve A Seat

from We Have Concerns Hosted by Jeff Cannata/Anthony Carboni

At the University of Chicago in the early 1920s, psychology grad student William Blatz built a remote-controlled trick chair that would collapse when he pressed a switch. (It was padded to avoid injury.) Then he had subjects sit in the chair while wearing electrodes to measure heart rate and other vital signs. Blatz's goal was to "study the physiology of fear under controlled, repeatable conditions." Jeff and Anthony take a seat and discuss Blatz and his life's work. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And here’s the Stitcher link: http://bit.ly/stitcherwhconcerns Or, you can send us mail! Our address: We Have Concerns c/o WORLD CRIME LEAGUE 1920 Hillhurst Ave #425 Los Angeles, CA 90027-2706 Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni Today’s story was sent in by Mark Nuhfer: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/27/scientist-builds-remote-contro.html If you’ve seen a story you think belongs on the show, send it to [email protected], post in on our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeHaveConcerns/ or leave it on the subreddit:http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcerns Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.social Anthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

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Psychology grad student William Blatz built a remote-controlled trick chair that would collapse when he pressed a switch. He then had subjects sit in the chair while wearing electrodes to measure heart rate and other vital signs. Blatz's goal was to "study the physiology of fear under controlled, repeatable conditions." Jeff and Anthony take a seat and discuss Blatz and his life's work.

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Halve A Seat

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