Rory Sutherland is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, an advertising and marketing agency where he co-founded the behavioral science practice. He is a TED Global speaker and writes regular columns for The Spectator and The Behavioral Scientist. His latest book, "Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense," was published earlier this year.

Rory joins our hosts Erik and Zarak for a special two-part episode to share his unique perspective and expertise in identifying unseen opportunities in consumer behavior. Part Two topics include the power of reference points, whether we should be using more humor to prevent crime, and examples of when the opposite of a good idea... is another good idea.

Ho-Ho-Ho! It's a surprise holiday-themed mini episode of Action Design Radio! (Stocking stuffer sized, if you will -- we will.)

Erik and Zarak are joined by Jacob Mohrmann for some timely advice this holiday season on how to shop for gifts that are sure to go over well with your loved ones. Jacob is the Research and Insights Manager on the behavioral science team at Maritz, a company that specializes in employee experience solutions, incentive travel, customer loyalty and reward programs. Their history with gift giving goes back to the 1920's, when they created the tradition of giving people a gold watch at retirement.

In our latest episode, Aline Holzwarth joins Erik and Zarak to discuss the intersection of healthcare, behavioral science, and technology. Aline is a Principal at Duke University's Center for Advanced Hindsight, where she's worked alongside Dan Ariely for the past 10 years. She is also the Head of Behavioral Science at Pattern Health, a digital health platform designed to help people live happier and healthier lives. 

Topics include the healthcare industry's tendency to take an information-based approach, a common mistake that assumes by simply giving people information (Smoking = Bad) that they will find the motivation on their own to implement healthy behavior change. Behavioral science can help bridge that gap by designing products and services that get people from information to action. And in a world where the smartphone is increasingly omnipresent, digital interventions have huge potential for real-world impact.

Zarak and Erik are joined by behavioral designer Nir Eyal, the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.” Nir has taught business and design at Stanford, founded two technology companies, and helps teams design more engaging products. His writing on technology, psychology, and business appears in the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today.

Nir discusses the themes and inspiration behind his latest book “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life,” released September 10th, including why we struggle with distraction, the overuse of technology, and tips for overcoming those issues to live to the fullest extent of your values.

We've been getting a lot of questions lately about how to start a career in behavioral science. To shed some light on different career paths, we're doing a series of podcasts on different types of training that fall somewhere between a one-day workshop and a PhD. These aren't advertisements for the programs, but are meant to give you a sense of the kinds of options out there, should you decide to pursue a career in behavioral science.

In our second Behavioral Science Training installment, Erik and Zarak are joined by Christopher Nave, Associate Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences program. Chris shares his passion for bringing together graduate students from diverse industries, backgrounds, and disciplines in order to study decision-making and better understand sustainable behavior change. Chris explains how measurement, data science, and experimental design are crucial to applying academic concepts like cognitive biases and heuristics to the real world.

Spencer Greenberg is an applied mathematician, entrepreneur, and self-described “collector of powerful tools.” He is the Founder and CEO of multiple companies, including Spark Wave – a venture builder (a.k.a. a foundry, or startup studio) that creates software products with the goal of achieving large social impact. Spencer joins Erik and Zarak to discuss his unique perspective on psychology and behavior. He takes a background in technology and combines it with applied social science to build platforms that implement complex behavioral interventions.

How does one choose the right methodology when conducting a study? What’s the difference between testing a hypothesis and trying to accurately predict the future? How does fatigue change throughout the day? Are most people who suffer from depression aware of it? How can social media be utilized to inspire creative thinking in research? Why publish a paper when you can release an app that people can use?

All of those questions and more are addressed in our latest installment of Action Design Radio!