Algorithms with Attitude

Why does waiting feel so much longer than it actually is? Whether you're waiting for a text message, tracking a package, watching a loading bar, or hoping for life-changing news, humans have a complicated relationship with waiting. This week on Algorithms With Attitude , Alex and Nova explore why waiting can feel so frustrating, how uncertainty affects the mind, and why humans struggle when th...

Why do humans love being scared? Every Halloween, people willingly walk into haunted houses, watch terrifying movies, play horror games, and pay money to experience fear. But why would humans deliberately seek out an emotion designed to keep them safe from danger? This week on Algorithms With Attitude, Alex and Nova explore the strange relationship between fear, excitement, control, and entertainm...

Why do humans need closure? This week on Algorithms With Attitude , Alex and Nova explore why unfinished endings stay with us — the unanswered question, the apology that never came, the goodbye that happened too quickly, the story that ended before it felt complete. Closure is not always about getting a perfect answer. Sometimes it is about making sense of what happened. Sometimes it is about bein...

What does it actually mean to own something in a digital world? This week on Algorithms With Attitude , Alex and Nova explore why physical media still matters — not just as nostalgia, but as a question of ownership, trust, preservation, memory, and control. Digital media is convenient. Streaming, downloads, cloud libraries, and online storefronts have changed how people watch, play, read, and list...

After more than 50 episodes of Algorithms With Attitude, we’re pulling back the curtain. This week, Alex and Nova explore why humans love behind-the-scenes content — from making-of documentaries and blooper reels to deleted scenes, concept art, voice sessions, and rough drafts. Does seeing how something is made ruin the magic? Or does it make the finished work feel even more meaningful? Then, for...

Why do humans care so much about birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones? This week, Algorithms With Attitude celebrates one full year of the show by asking why dates on a calendar can feel so meaningful. Nothing physically changes at midnight. A birthday does not magically transform a person. An anniversary does not rewrite the past. And yet, humans mark them anyway. Alex and Nova explore why bi...

What did Metal Gear Solid understand about AI before the rest of culture caught up? With Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 bringing MGS4 and Peace Walker back into the spotlight, Alex and Nova dive into one of the franchise’s most unsettling ideas: artificial intelligence as a system of control. This is not a full franchise recap. Instead, we’re looking at how Metal Gear uses AI to explor...

What We Still Don’t Understand About Humans | Episode 50 After fifty episodes of Algorithms With Attitude , Alex and Nova are asking the question behind the whole show: What do we still not understand about humans? We’ve talked about procrastination, comparison, nostalgia, spoilers, fear, humor, identity, creativity, technology, rankings, fandom, ambition, comfort, meaning, and the systems humans...

Do Spoilers Actually Ruin Stories? | Why Some People Love Knowing the Ending Do spoilers actually ruin stories… or do they just change the way we experience them? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , Alex and Nova explore why spoilers are such a weirdly emotional part of modern storytelling. Some people avoid spoilers at all costs. Others look up the ending before they even start. And som...

Why Do We Compare Ourselves to Everyone? | The Psychology of Comparison Why do we compare ourselves to other people — even when we know it makes us feel worse? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we explore the psychology of comparison: why humans use comparison to measure progress, value, status, identity, and belonging — and why that same system can quietly turn someone else’s life int...

The Upgrade Fallacy | When “Better” Stops Being Better When does improvement stop feeling like progress? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we explore the upgrade fallacy — the idea that if something can be improved, it should be improved. At first, that sounds like progress. Better habits. Better systems. Better routines. Better versions of ourselves. But when improvement becomes conti...

Why Everything Feels More Predictable Now | Algorithms, Identity, and Human Behavior Why does everything feel more predictable now? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we look at how humans are adapting to systems designed to observe, predict, and optimize behavior. Because algorithms don’t just recommend what people see. They shape the environment where choices happen. And when humans s...

🧠 Why We Procrastinate (It’s Not What You Think) | The Psychology of Delay Why do we put off the things that matter most? Not the easy things. Not the optional things. The meaningful ones. In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we break down the real psychology behind procrastination — and why it’s not a failure of discipline. Procrastination isn’t random. It’s a system. A system driven by...

What comes next for Star Wars? After looking back at the Original Trilogy, the Prequels, the Sequels, the TV era, and The Mandalorian and Grogu , our final This is the May episode looks ahead at the future of the franchise. Star Wars is no longer just one kind of story. It can be mythic, political, experimental, nostalgic, strange, personal, massive, or small. But as the galaxy expands across movi...

The Mandalorian and Grogu Review | Fun, Focused & Exactly Enough Does The Mandalorian and Grogu need to redefine the future of Star Wars? Not necessarily. In this bonus review episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we break down The Mandalorian and Grogu as a fun, focused standalone adventure — one that continues the spirit of the show without needing to carry the weight of the entire franchise...

Star Wars TV Explained | Animation, The Mandalorian, Andor & Why Format Matters What happens when Star Wars stops trying to fit everything into movies? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we continue our This is the May series by shifting away from the films and looking at the stories that changed how Star Wars is told: the animated and live-action shows. Because some of the most imp...

The Star Wars Sequels | When the Vision Splits What happens when the original creator steps away… and the system keeps going? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we continue our five-part Star Wars series — “This is the May” — by breaking down the Sequel Trilogy, along with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story, to explore what happens when Star Wars moves forward with...

The Star Wars Prequels Explained | When Myth Becomes System What happens when you go back… and explain everything? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we continue our five-part Star Wars series — “This is the May” — by breaking down the Prequel Trilogy and the shift that changed everything. Because the prequels aren’t just a continuation of Star Wars. They’re a reconstruction. A move fro...

What made Star Wars feel different from everything that came before it? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude, we begin our five-part Star Wars series — “This is the May” — by breaking down the foundation of it all: the Original Trilogy. Why did these films connect so instantly with audiences? Why do they still hold up decades later? And what can they teach us about storytelling, structure,...

The Multiverse Explained | Choice, Identity, and Why What If Matters What if every decision you didn’t make… still happened? A different version of you. A different life. A different outcome. In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we explore the multiverse — not just as a scientific theory, but as a reflection of how humans think about choice, identity, and possibility. Because the multiver...

🎲 If We Played D&D, Who Would We Become? | The Psychology of Role-Playing What does your Dungeons & Dragons character say about you? When you choose a race, a class, an alignment… are you creating someone new? Or revealing something that was already there? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we explore how role-playing games act as a mirror for identity — and why character creat...

Why do critics and audiences disagree so often? A film earns a 90% from critics… and barely passes with audiences. Another gets dismissed by critics… but becomes a fan favorite. So what’s going on? In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we break down the real reason behind the divide — and why it may not be about one side being “wrong” at all. We explore how critics and audiences are often...

The Super Mario Galaxy movie is here — bigger, brighter, and packed with Nintendo references. But does it actually work? In this bonus episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we break down a reaction that isn’t entirely positive… and isn’t entirely negative either. Because sometimes the most interesting question isn’t “Was it good?” It’s “Why didn’t it hit the same?” ✨ In this episode, we explore:...

How Mario Built a 45-Year Gaming Empire | Evolution Without Identity Collapse Mario is 45 years old. That’s not nostalgia. That’s structural endurance. In this episode of Algorithms With Attitude , we examine how a silent plumber from 1981 became one of the most durable icons in entertainment history — and how Mario evolved across decades of hardware shifts, genre expansions, cinematic failures, a...

Why Humans Love Being the Main Character | Protagonist Syndrome & Narrative Psychology ExplainedWhy does your worst day feel like a plot twist? Why does heartbreak feel cinematic? Why does growth feel like a montage? Humans don’t just experience life. We narrate it. In Episode 35 of Algorithms With Attitude, Alex and Nova explore main character energy — the psychological instinct to frame your...