Jordan Harbinger

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Today we're talking about why so many of us are drawn to things that are objectively disturbing.

Horror movies, true crime, car accidents we can't stop staring at, haunted hotels you swear you'd never pay for, but you still want to hear all of the details.

Are horror fans secretly violent?

Is morbid curiosity a bug in the human brain, or is it a feature that kept us alive back in the day?

And why does Halloween feel cozy to some people,

even though it's basically a celebration of morbidity and death.

We're getting into the neuroscience of fear, why scary play works, why empathetic people often love horror, and why enjoying blood in Mortal Kombat doesn't mean you're about to snap even if Nintendo really wanted you to think so.

So if you've ever rubbernecked a car crash, binged true crime for research purposes, or felt weirdly relaxed watching something like Saw, you're definitely going to feel extremely seen today.

Here we go with Colton Scribner.

You were born to be a scientist.

You're named after a mineral.

Yes.

Before that was a well-known thing, I met this guy at a club in New York because I was friends with a DJ.

And she's like, this is my friend.

And I was like, oh, you want to go dance?

He's like, I can't dance because we're all going on the dance floor.

And he's like, I can't dance.

And I was like, don't worry about it.