Episode 1
Adam Ruins Having a Baby
Jul 11, 2017
Adam dispels the myth about getting pregnant after 35, delves into breastfeeding vs formula, and explores postpartum depression for women - and men.
Episode 2
Adam Ruins Weight Loss
Jul 18, 2017
Host Adam Conover illustrates all the reasons low-fat diets can actually make you fatter, and why counting calories is a waste of time.
Episode 3
Adam Ruins the Hospital
Jul 25, 2017
Adam Conover explains that inflated hospital costs have created a system that's unaffordable and unfair. Plus, the reckless prescription of antibiotics is making them worthless, and you might not need a mammogram.
Episode 4
Adam Ruins Dating
Aug 1, 2017
Adam swipes right on knowledge by exposing the flaws in dating sites; the existence of alpha males (and wolves); personality tests.
Episode 5
Adam Ruins Art
Aug 8, 2017
Adam poses the question of what makes great art and shows why pieces visible to the masses are revered, regardless of artistic merit. He then exposes the masters as copycats and reveals that today's art market is a moneymaking scheme.
Episode 6
Adam Ruins What We Learned in School
Aug 15, 2017
Adam shows that Columbus didn't discover America, King Tut was a dud and the rules of grammar are not as ironclad as people think.
Episode 7
Adam Ruins College
Aug 22, 2017
Adam explains why the odds of becoming a dropout billionaire are not in your favor, how manipulated school rankings have little to do with education quality and why the privatization of student loans created a massive debt crisis.
Episode 8
Emily Ruins Adam
Aug 29, 2017
Emily takes over to “ruin” Adam, pointing out where his facts fall short. She debunks the idea that IQ tests measure intelligence and points to information Adam has gotten wrong in the past. Plus, she explains the “backfire effect.”
Episode 9
Adam Ruins His Vacation
Sep 19, 2017
Adam Conover and his girlfriend take a journey across America, where he reveals that Mount Rushmore was built on stolen Native American land, Vegas slot machines are purposely designed to be addicting, and a whole lot more!
Episode 10
Adam Ruins the Suburbs
Sep 26, 2017
Adam explains how the idealized lawn is an unnatural monstrosity, and that the design of the suburbs is slowly killing you. Plus, the racist history of suburban planning led to today's institutionalized segregation in schools.
Episode 11
Adam Ruins The Economy
Oct 3, 2017
Adam explains why lobbying makes filing your taxes so complicated, and why the economic numbers we focus on don't provide the whole story. Plus, American manufacturing can't come back because it was a fluke to begin with.
Episode 12
Adam Ruins Conspiracy Theories
Oct 10, 2017
Adam Conover debunks the fake moon landing theory, discusses the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and reveals how to spot a false theory.
Episode 13
Adam Ruins Spa Day
Oct 17, 2017
Pricey “detoxifying” treatments cleanse you of cash (and may do more harm than good), while MSG's scary reputation is undeserved. Plus, the placebo effect is way more powerful than you think!
Episode 14
Adam Ruins Halloween
Oct 24, 2017
Adam reveals why you have nothing to fear from strangers with candy and how the “panic” over Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast was the clickbait of the 1930s. And, mediums and séances have a long history - of being fake.
Episode 15
Adam Ruins Science
Oct 31, 2017
Testing mice means wasted resources because what works on them often fails on humans. Scarce funding stops scientists from seeking cures, and there's no money in reproducing results, even though it's essential in proving findings.
Episode 16
Adam Ruins the Future
Nov 7, 2017
Adam explains that unregulated food expiration dates lead to waste and that your 401(k) won't be enough to support your retirement. Plus, Adam's girlfriend Melinda proves that even with research, the future is unpredictable.
Episode 17
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Truth
Mar 20, 2018
Adam Conover undermines everything you thought you knew about the American Revolution with startling facts about George Washington, Paul Revere's overrated ride, and the tale of a slave who helped America win.
Episode 18
The First Factsgiving
Mar 27, 2018
The Pilgrims didn't break bread with Native Americans, but did dig up their graves! There was no romance between Pocahontas and John Smith, and cities in the New World rivaled London in scale before their “discovery.”
Episode 19
Mutually Assured Ruination
Apr 3, 2018
Adam reveals that the United States kicked off the Cuban Missile Crisis; a lone female politician stands up to Joseph McCarthy; a bureaucratic mistake brings down the Berlin Wall.
Episode 20
An Ancient History of Violence
Apr 10, 2018
Adam shares that it was against the rules for gladiators to kill opponents, and tells the story of a Celtic woman who brought the Roman Empire to its knees. Plus, the brave “300” Spartans numbered closer to 7000.
Episode 21
The Copernican Ruin-aissance
Apr 17, 2018
Adam sheds some light on Copernicus, who was actually supported (NOT persecuted) by the Catholic Church. Plus, a rogue dwarf revolutionized what we know about anatomy, and just wait until you hear about Tulip Mania!
Episode 22
100 Years Ago Today
Apr 24, 2018
Adam digs into the Panama Canal, where Teddy Roosevelt formed a new country to snag free land. Plus, one man fought to keep food from killing us, while the Spanish Flu killed more Americans than all 20th century wars combined!
Episode 23
Adam Ruins Guns
Nov 27, 2018
Adam gets a shot at both sides of the gun debate by reviewing the science evidence of the effectiveness of gun regulation including stating that a ban on assault weapons would be ineffective, showing how the NRA has evolved over the years and influenced how the country interprets the meaning of the Second Amendment, and that both sides of the gun debate ignore how guns and gun regulation affect minorities.
Episode 24
Adam Ruins Sleep
Dec 4, 2018
Adam states that the mattress industry was always a huge scam, that cheap school systems created sleep-deprived teenagers, and how "safe" sleep medications may actually be harmful.
Episode 25
Adam Ruins Tech
Dec 11, 2018
Adam logs in to dulge into monopolistic tech companies by stating how Amazon's monopoly over online shopping harms consumers; how consumers do not fully own their technology devices because of corporate abuse of copyright law; and that tech companies not only routinely evade taxes, but also downright eradicate competition and harm society by abusing their monopoly power.
Episode 26
Adam Ruins Flying
Dec 18, 2018
Adam takes to the skies to elucidate how airline miles and other credit card rewards are huge ripoffs, the extremely sexist "golden age of flying," and how lack of government regulation allowed the skies to be ruled with an iron fist.
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