The Jordan Harbinger Show

Alex Davies explains why "user error" often hides a design failure, and how testers — from grizzlies to toddlers — keep the modern world from breaking.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1404
What We Discuss with Alex Davies:
How Kobuk the Destroyer, an orphaned grizzly at a Montana bear sanctuary, became the gold standard for certifying products as bear-resistant — and why a wild bear named Yellow-Yellow still cracked canisters that had passed the test.
Why every good test must balance real-world similarity against repeatability, and how the de Havilland Comet’s earlier maximum-pressure test unknowingly strengthened its test fuselage, producing false confidence before the jets began exploding midair.
What the factor of safety means for airplane wings (1.5), steel mill cranes, and elevator hoist cables (11 or 12), and why these margins are negotiated compromises rather than numbers handed down on stone tablets.
How shifting from “user error” to “use error” — redesigning B-17 landing-gear buttons, morphine pump interfaces, and table saws like SawStop — beats warning labels, which sit at the very bottom of the safety hierarchy.
How to borrow a product tester’s mindset: ask what mistake your setup is counting on you never making, then change it so that mistake is harder to make or less costly when it happens — because “I’ll just be more careful” is a terrible safety feature.
And much more...

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On Skeptical Sunday, Jessica Wynn explains why your mozzarella sticks taste the same everywhere — and how to find restaurants that still really cook.
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Jessica Wynn!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1403
On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:
How two distributors, Sysco and US Foods, supply more than a quarter of what Americans eat when dining out — and why their 400,000-product catalog means the sports bar, the bistro, and the Mexican place may serve identical mozzarella sticks, lava cakes, and pre-seared steaks.
Why chains like Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s, and Olive Garden rely so heavily on frozen, pre-made, and microwaved dishes, and how ghost kitchens and restaurant groups like Darden turn one shared supply chain into a dozen seemingly distinct brands.
What menu buzzwords like farm-to-table, artisanal, and locally sourced really mean (legally, often nothing), how menu engineering steers diners toward high-margin items, and why most franchisees can’t swap in better local ingredients even if they want to.
How consolidation costs more than money — feeding ultra-processed diets, nationwide recalls that hit thousands of restaurants at once, hidden allergen risks, vanishing regional food traditions, and kitchens where trained cooks are reduced to setting timers.
How to eat out smarter: ask “Is this made here?”, order simple dishes like grilled chicken or poached eggs, favor small menus with specific descriptions and changing specials, and reward scratch kitchens with your business and reviews that mention the cooking.
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On episode 517, a headless squirrel appeared at your door. Now you have news about the neighbor who put it there. Welcome to another Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1402
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
Back in episode 517, you told us about the neighbor who wormed his way into the lives of the two girls in your care, then spent years harassing you — right down to a headless squirrel at your back door. Five years and countless reports later, you're back with news about the man next door. What's changed?
You and your estranged wife have been "working on things" for years — through her affairs, a move-out, and a baby with another man. Now she says she isn't ready to commit, yet you still hope she'll choose you. Is it love that keeps you coming back, or are you clinging to the family you'd hoped to have?
At 45, after nine years in the same niche role, you've built a respected network — executives, board members, and peers you can call to talk shop. Yet a year of job hunting, even with a career coach holding you to Jordan's own course, has gone nowhere. Is the networking advice flawed, or is something missing?
Recommendation of the Week: Sleep Apnea Screening — Jordan's nudge for snorers and the chronically groggy to get tested, since this slow-acting condition goes undiagnosed in a surprising number of people, and it isn't just a weight issue. Could a simple at-home test finally explain why you wake up tired?
You started listening to Feedback Friday for the drama and stayed as the show's approach to problem-solving began showing up in your own life. Now you're curious how years of guests and letters have shaped Jordan and Gabe themselves — on marriage, psychopathy, and more. What have they learned the most about?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!
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Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
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Facing a shortened life, Tom Rath raced to check every box — then hit 40 and asked: "What's the point?" Here's how to make your hours matter.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1401
What We Discuss with Tom Rath:
How a diagnosis at 15 — and an average lifespan of about 37 for people with his condition — sent Tom Rath racing to check every box, only to reach 40 and realize the boxes weren't his. Sometimes achievement is just existential panic wearing a suit.
Why career choice is less free will than inheritance: most of us glimpse five to 10 percent of the jobs out there, and a kid whose dad hangs drywall is 136 times likelier to follow suit. Tom half-jokes that random job assignment might beat our hit rate.
Why "follow your passion" is cotton candy advice — and "Let them eat cake" for anyone living paycheck to paycheck. Passion asks what you want; purpose asks who you help, and it's built daily, one rescued frazzled customer at a time, not found once a decade.
How spending 80 percent of the day reacting to email, feeds, and stock tickers feels productive but builds nothing durable — and why anyone who merely processes tasks may be one AI point release away from automation.
How asking "What's the point?" of every hour can reclaim your calendar. Guard at least 60 meaningful minutes a day, work in focused initiating blocks, and push email to later. No headstone brags about quarterly revenue, so spend today on what gets carved there.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
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Dr. Leslie John explains why oversharing is underrated, how opening up builds trust faster than waiting for it, and where candor tips into TMI.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1400
What We Discuss with Dr. Leslie John:
Why waiting to feel trusted before opening up gets things backward — a slightly edgy reveal is a social risk that signals trust, and trust begets trust (a lever CIA recruiters and con artists both know how to pull).
How two people in love lost 20 years to the fear of saying the wrong thing, and why we tally the risks of revealing but rarely the cost of silence (the first “I love you” is returned about 80% of the time).
What Miss USA’s ravenous pageant answer, an onstage bladder mishap, and a sassy Harvard job interview reveal about the sweet spot between TMI and its overlooked twin, TLI (too little information), and the respect hiding behind the cringe.
How to tell genuine, gradually escalating intimacy from love bombing and catfishing, why you need a full competence bank account before making vulnerability withdrawals at work, and why transparency is the safer bet.
How to build the revealing muscle with sincere, specific compliments (and less gossip), and why the cure for a disclosure hangover is usually to lean back in and check with the person — not retreat into a catastrophic replay.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
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Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
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