Television

Netflix Turned the Stanford Prison Experiment Into Reality TV

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Oct 21, 2026 4:02 PM

Netflix

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In August of 1971, 24 male college students walked into the basement of Stanford University’s psychology building after answering a newspaper ad that promised they’d be paid $15 a day to participate in a psychological study. What awaited them was a mock prison, for which nine of the young men were randomly assigned to act as prisoners, and another nine randomly selected to act as guards, with the remaining participants waiting on standby in case they were needed.…