Welcome to this special edition of our irregular and irreverent newsletter. In this edition, you’ll get two exclusives and one announcement.

Let’s get started . . .

TWO EXCLUSIVE CLIPS FROM “CROWD CONTROL”

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I’ve spent much of the year working on “Crowd Control,” a new television series for the National Geographic Channel. Today, I’m delighted to present— exclusively for you, dear newsletter readers — the very first public clips of the show.

Some background: “Crowd Control” is unlike any other program on TV. We take on problems — from significant ones like airline safety to less significant ones like double-dipping guacamole. Then, using principles of behavioral science, along with some cool design and technology, we go out into the world and try to solve them. In all, we’ve done more than 40 experiments across America — some of which have worked spectacularly, others of which, uh, have not.

For example, in our first 12 episodes, we’ve:

  • reconfigured a stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico so that the road plays a song when people drive the speed limit;
  • created a high-tech photo booth to scare sun-loving Jersey shore vacationers into using sun screen;
  • cleaned up Bourbon Street with a giant trivia game;
  • designed a robotic dog to make a New York airport’s baggage claim more tolerable;
  • and, yes, much, much more.

These two preview clips, each about two minutes long, will give you a taste:

1. PROBLEM: Getting people to take the stairs rather than the escalator.
We all know we should exercise more — but when given the choice between the really easy (an escalator) and the somewhat more difficult (stairs), we often take the path of least resistance. So is there any way to change people’s behavior? Our team went to lower Manhattan with a solution. You won’t believe what they allowed us to do.
Watch the clip

2. PROBLEM: Stopping people from parking in disabled spaces.
I’ve never parked in a disabled space, and I thought no one else did either. Then I traveled to Austin, Texas, went on patrol with two advocates for the disabled, and was shocked by the violations. We tried a bunch of techniques to solve the problem, including using our van to park in jerks who’d illegally parked in disabled spaces. But the killer technique turned out to be a bit more kind and gentle.
Watch the clip

ANNOUNCEMENT: “CROWD CONTROL” PREMIERS NOVEMBER 24
So when can you watch the show?

The National Geographic Channel will officially announce the air date later today. But between you, me, and the 83,000 other readers of this newsletter, “Crowd Control” will premier in the US on Monday November 24 at 9pm EST and again at 9pm PST. (Find NatGeo on your cable system via TVGuide.com) In our first episode, we tackle speeding, jaywalking, and bike theft with some ingenious fixes  — and one that turns out to be not-so-ingenious.

Please tune in. In fact, add it to your calendar now (these are in EST):
Outlook
Google calendar
iCal

That’s all for this special edition.  We’ll be back with the regular version of our irregular publication some time next month.Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Daniel Pink

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