Episode Details

A scientist put ten strangers on a raft, crossed the Atlantic and waited for sex, violence and chaos. The crew had other ideas.

The Acali Experiment was a 1973 human behaviour study led by anthropologist Santiago Genovés, who hoped to explore aggression, sexuality and conflict during a 101-day Atlantic voyage. This episode revisits The Acali Experiment, the so-called Sex Raft, as weird history, science scandals and a strange true story about what happens when a researcher tries to manufacture drama and the people being studied refuse to follow the script.

We explore Santiago Genovés, the crew, Maria Björnstam, the media manipulation, the floating social experiment, the human aggression research and the surprising turn toward cooperation rather than violence. The Acali Experiment became infamous because of what it was expected to reveal about human nature, but its real legacy may be what it accidentally revealed about bad science, ego and group survival.

For listeners of a documentary podcast, history podcast, strange true stories and hidden histories, this is the true story behind the Sex Raft: sex and science, yes, but also peace, control and one very awkward Atlantic crossing.

Resources and Further Reading 

• "Mutiny on the Sex Raft” - The Guardian
• "The Raft Tells Of Sex, Chaos And Mutiny In A Crazy 1973 Social Experiment" - Forbes
• "The Raft Chronicles an Extreme Experiment with Human Nature" - The New Yorker
• "The Seville Statement on Violence" - Wikipedia
• "Acali" - Wikipedia
• “The Raft (2018)"  - Documentary by Marcus Lindeen

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music: Alice in dark Wonderland

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