Most Useful Podcast Ever

Popular Mechanics editors spend all day researching cool tech, tools, and toys. We asked a few to stop by the recording studio and tell us what they want for the holidays. The suggestions might just inspire you to spend your gift cards. And if you're home for the holidays and struggling with your parents' 50-character WiFi password, tech editor Alex George is here to help you out. Finally, on the testing table, we ask all our talking tech whether Santa is real. 

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After helping the staff of Popular Mechanics learn how to build a backyard weather station for the print magazine, ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee calls in to explain how snow works and what you can do about it. Roy Berendsohn helps Kevin Dupzyk get his Christmas tree straight, and we ill-advisedly speed-taste a beer advent calendar. Beer-vent calendar? We're calling it a beer-vent calendar. 

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What the heck are you gonna do with all that leftover turkey? The Most Useful Podcast Ever calls the Butterball Turkey Talk-line to get some ideas (as well as some amazing stories of Thanksgiving dinners gone wrong). We also get some tips on finding Cyber Monday deals, and finally finish our Amazon Alexa scotch tasting... which continues to not go well.

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A couple of weeks ago, your intrepid hosts tackled a 10-mile mud race in the middle of New Jersey to tell our listeners the best way to attempt obstacles like monkey bars, barbed wire crawls, and the dreaded Atlas carry. We even invited ASOne Fitness trainer and Death Race finisher Mark Merchant on the show to whip our butts into shape. After that, Kevin and Jacqui debate the merits of a Gore-tex running shoe, and pretty much the whole staff gets in on a whiskey tasting with Amazon Echo's Alexa, which goes.... not so well. 

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Are you ready for the most useful Halloween weekend yet? This week, the staff of Popular Mechanics goes on a field trip to Stumpy's Hatchet House in Eatontown, New Jersey to learn how to throw hatchets (at targets, not monsters, but still.) After that, we talk about our brand new microphone and scare the crap out of each other with a new, creepy game that will take over your smartphone. 

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The Most Useful Podcast Ever's TV buying saga continues this week with Roy Berendsohn's advice on mounting a TV on the wall. We talk to NC State University food safety professor Ben Chapman about Botox, lemon jelly and judging the canning competition at the North Carolina State Fair. And Matt Goulet watches a creepy movie on a short-throw projector while camping in the woods.  

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The Most Useful Podcast Ever meets its first beer cicerone, James Watt, who is also the cofounder of Brewdog. He tastes a few random beers we got together and the results are very impressive. On this episode, Popular Mechanics technology editor Alex George and TV fan and executive editor Peter Martin also help host Jacqui Detwiler buy a TV on the air, and senior home editor Roy Berendsohn brews coffee using a machine from a company that usually makes power tools. 

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Hurricanes take a huge toll on buildings and cities, but have you ever wondered if they do anything useful? According to Frank Marks, director of NOAA's hurricane research division, they do. This week is a special two-expert episode, as Ash Fulk, returning guest and pitmaster at Hill Country Barbecue, returns to help us test the new Crafthouse by Fortessa smoking box. Finally, we talk to senior home editor Roy Berendsohn about a home renovation problem, and he gives us advice on generators for tailgating. 

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On today's show, we give advice on tipping, so you'll finally know for certain how stingy your friends really are. Then Roy drops by to answer a few questions about cabinetry, courtesy of our producer. And Peter Martin destroys a computer before finding out if he can destroy the Popular Mechanics podcast hosts in a push up contest (after drinking HFactor hydrogen rich water).

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With the temperature in New York city in the 90s, the Most Useful Podcast Ever asks Luke Belvel, an expert on heat exhaustion from the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute, for some essential cooling tips, including whether panting like a dog works for humans. We also learn what to look for in a kayak from the owner of Manhattan Kayak Club, and the staff plays football indoors. Plus, tech editor Alex George has a secret to tell you about iOS 10.

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