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Episode 42: How to Make the Super Bowl Jan 30, 2017

Show notes

On today's show, Kevin Dupzyk and James Lynch talk to Fox NFL Director Rich Russo and Producer Richie Zyontz. The pair have been producing sporting events together for years, and on February 5 they'll be the men behind the curtain for Super Bowl LI. We ask them about what it takes to make a modern-day NFL broadcast come together, and hear which legendary NFL coach laid the foundation for what we now expect from watching a football game on TV. And then, because we initially interviewed them before the Super Bowl matchup was set, we give them a call to check back in and find out what they'll be watching for when the Patriots and Falcons take the field in Houston.

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Episode 41: How to Test Everything Jan 14, 2017

Show notes

On today's show, we talk to our good friend Rachel Rothman, Chief Technologist at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Working on a specialized floor a few levels up from Popular Mechanics, she and a team of engineers test stoves, clothes, food, cars--pretty much everything you encounter in day-to-day life. She explains how she got into such an exacting line of work, how it's heightened her neuroses (and given her new ones), and why it's ultimately so rewarding.

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Episode 40: How to Avoid Flight Delays Dec 30, 2016

Show notes

On today's show, Steve Abraham, a long time air traffic controller at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, tells us about his job--everything from how he get into it (and how that's changed), to the time he had two airplanes flying one on top of the other, to the fact that, yes, dangerous situations like that are very rare, even if delays aren't.

Musical thanks this episode to minusbaby for "Flying."

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Episode 39: How to Make a Camp Stove (For Good) Dec 17, 2016

Show notes

BioLite is an interesting company. Their signature product is a camp stove that burns wood and uses some of the heat to charge a battery, which can, in turn, charge small electronic devices. It's great for camping. But it's also great for people who don't have easy access to electricity or clean-burning fires (which turns out to be a lot of people). On today's show, CEO Jonathan Cedar explains how his company went from simply trying to improve combustion to having offices in India and Africa.

Special musical thanks this episode to Jahzzar for "Fire Ahead."

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Episode 38: How to Run A Super Secret Defense Project Dec 03, 2016

Show notes

On today's episode, guest host and Popular Mechanics Contributing Editor Dan Dubno takes us inside the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to learn about new technology that can allow a man to climb anywhere. Until he falls, which may or may not have happened to Dan Dubno.

Musical thanks for this episode goes to The Crypts! for their song Marie Curie.

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Episode 37: How to Make a Museum Exhibit Nov 19, 2016

Show notes

The preparators of the American Museum of Natural History's Exhibitions Department are artists and craftsmen by trade who become scientists by practice as they build the museum's famed traveling exhibitions. In what may be the coolest workshop in the whole of New York City, they use wood, metal, epoxy, paint, and hundred-year-old death masks to build dioramas that transport visitors to settings all over the natural world. As they undertake final preparations for their latest exhibition, Cuba!, which opens November 21, we visit the workshop to see what they've built.

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Episode 36: How to Run An Election Nov 04, 2016

Show notes

For today's episode, Popular Mechanics' political correspondent Mark Warren joins to interview Dana DeBeauvoir, County Clerk of Travis County, Texas (It's where Austin is). She discusses the preparations Travis County is undertaking for a record-breaking 2016 general election, and helps Mark address some of the concerns we've heard about polling places. Let this episode be your reminder to go out and vote.

Musical thanks for today's episode goes to Podington Bear for their tracks "60s Quiz Show" and "Just Watching."

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Episode 35: How to Design a Haunted House Oct 24, 2016

Show notes

With Halloween fast approaching, we talk to Leonard Pickel of Hauntrepreneurs - a company that designs haunted attractions from the ground up. An architect by training, Pickel explains how he distorts the stuff he did in the studio to create spaces that put people on edge. He also explains the hardest type of person to scare, the scariest room he's ever designed, and the worst scare he's ever received.

The music in this episode is "Soundtrack 2, Act 3" by Tim Nelson, from "Caligari: An Exquisite Corpse - The Visitant, by The Tunnel."

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Episode 34: How to Make A Basketball Court Into a Hockey Rink Oct 07, 2016

Show notes

Tonight, Friday, October 7th, is the LA Lakers' first home game of the NBA preseason. After their game is over, the crew at LA's Staples Center will have to get the arena ready to host a concert on Saturday. By Monday they'll have to get it into shape as a basketball court again, as the Clippers, their other NBA tenant, have a game--which they play on their own distinct hardwood floor. When the next Friday rolls around, it's time for an LA Kings ice hockey game. How does the arena shape-shift for every new event? Where does the ice go when it's not a hockey rink? How many boards are there in a basketball court? On today's show, Staples Center operations manager Ed Flewelen calls in to explain.

Musical thanks this week to Tricky Diesel for their track, "Still Balling."

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Episode 33: How to Win a Hackathon Sep 23, 2016

Show notes

If you read the October 2016 issue of Popular Mechanics, you may have noticed a section of the Breakthrough Awards devoted to competitors from Major League Hacking, the competition circuit for college and high school-aged hackathons. And you may also have noticed that Danny Yim and Jake Kaplan of the Bergen County Academies in New Jersey took home a prize at their hackathon for making one soldering iron to rule them all. And then, if you're still with me, you probably found yourself wondering: What's a hackathon actually like? What's it like solving problems when you haven't slept and have nothing in your body but soft drinks and processed carbs? Well, on today's show, Danny and Jake drop by the studio to fill you in.

Special musical thanks this week goes to Hackerblinks for their song "Eighth."

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