Most Useful Podcast Ever

On this episode of the Most Useful Podcast Ever, Jacqueline Detwiler tries biohacking to (hopefully!) become smarter, healthier, happier, more creative and more productive. Experimenting with specialized diets, float tanks, and microbiome testing, we try to find out what works and what doesn’t. Dr. Molly Maloof calls in to explain the science behind biohacking as a legitimate way to improve our bodies, and tech editor Alex George explains how to train your mind to go back to school. Lastly, we try CBD oil, a chemical in marijuana, to see if we can actually feel it working. 

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Summer is heating up and the Most Useful Podcast Ever has advice for you for all of it. First, we talk to the authors of Popular Mechanics' investigation into camping in 2018, with advice on site booking, packing food, truck camping and something called packrafting. We talk to Peter Martin about how they made this summer's blockbusters, including a crazy series of stunts Tom Cruise pulled off, and Roy Berendsohn leads a conversation about what we learned working on our boss's backyard, including how to work a mini-rototiller and the best way to burn brush. 

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The Most Useful Podcast Ever is tired of being practical. So this week we threw caution to the wind to learn about some bonkers extreme sports. First, Jacqui jumps out of a plane with Red Bull Air Force member Jeff Provenzano. Then, Popular Mechanics tech editor (and former surf instructor) Alex George talks getting started in surfing, Matt Allyn tests gear on a 50k trail race, and Eleanor comes up with some fascinating slack (line) facts. 

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The latest Blumhouse action movie, Upgrade, is a trip—creepy, adrenaline-pumping, and scarily prescient. On this week's episode, writer and director Leigh Whannell stops by our studio with the film's star Logan Michael Green to tell us how they pulled it all together. After that, we figured y'all might have some trouble getting to sleep, so we talked to a sleep geneticist, a physical therapist, and Peter Martin's dad to help you out. Stay tuned at the end for extra sleep assistance. 

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Did you know that Popular Mechanics editor Matt Allyn is a certified beer judge? Well, he is, and lately, he's been trying truckloads of beer for an article he's working on called 500 Beers of Summer. If he told us about all of them, it would take the next four episodes, so we kept him to five, all of which are exceptionally tasty. Also on this episode, Roy Berendsohn works too much and throws out his lower back, we learn 26 things you can do with a heat gun, and Kevin Dupzyk gets started in sailing. 

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Burlap & Barrel founder Ethan Frisch is a cool dude. He travels around the world finding smallholder spice farmers and connecting them with customers so that they're not exploited by huge, impersonal supply chains. He's also a former chef who knows a heck of a lot about how to use the incredible products he brings back to the States. Also on this episode, we learn to stir cocktails properly, technology editor Alex George explains how to block annoying exes and shady robo-calls, and Roy talks stubby screwdrivers. 

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It's been a LONG winter, which means your place, car, and stuff could probably use a deep clean and some fresh air. On this episode, we talk to the Good Housekeeping Institute about dry cleaning, and visit the Corona Maintenance Facility in Queens to find out how the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority cleans subway cars.  

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Do you want to be the most informed person on your block? We sure do. That's why we put together today's episode, full of incredibly useful tips for living the smartest life possible. 

April Fools! 

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Did you know that frequent Most Useful Podcast Ever guest Eric Gunnar Rochow of Gardenfork.tv makes amazing maple syrup? Well, he does. We tasted it last fall, when he came by the office to teach us how to tap a maple tree. Now that its spring, it's perfect time to follow his instructions and try it yourself (although, unfortunately, you won't be able to taste his maple syrup through your headphones). As for what you should you eat with your syrup—how about some cheese? Also on this episode, Kevin visits the headquarters of Murray's cheese and to figure out every fromage fact you could possibly need. 

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Excited to go see Red Sparrow tonight? Find out how Jason Matthews, the movie's author, used his own experience as a CIA agent to make the story realistic. Also on this episode, we visit a brand new Spy museum in midtown Manhattan, and attempt an escape method that appears in former CIA officer Jason Hanson's new book, Survive Like a Spy. 

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