Hi y'all from Jacqui, Peter, Kevin, Eleanor and Roy! We've had an amazing, enlightening time creating this podcast for you for the last four years, but it's time for something new. Listen for our goodbyes and all the fun stuff we learned putting Most Useful together, and keep your eyes peeled for new episodes from a new cast. Learn more about your …

Every year, the week of April Fool's Day, we take a break from providing our listeners with useful information, and instead do stuff like taste the new orange-vanilla Coke and try to explain movies we've never seen. Do you want to know a whole bunch of unproven home medical treatments invented by our gym manager's Italian dad? We sure hope so. They…

One day, when they were having lunch at their local bar, Rick Kiley and Jeff Boedges had an interesting idea: What if they came back one day and finished this weird old bottle of booze that had been sitting there for years? Well, they did it, and then turned it into a web series called "Collecting Dust." On this week's episode, they talk about weir…

We'll be the first to admit that the Most Useful Podcast Ever doesn't pursue a lot of hard-hitting journalism, but that's ok, because this week's guest, Elaine Shannon, certainly does. She came upon the story of criminal mastermind Paul Leroux while tracking the drug trade in Afghanistan, and eventually wrote a book—Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story…

Deep in the middle of winter, it would be easy to hole up on the couch with a bag of Doritos and watch TV. But wouldn't it be more fun to get outside? On this episode, field editor James Lynch gives us a rundown of all the cool new gear he saw at the Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colorado. First-time podcast guest and Popular Mechanics senior ar…

With snow and cold descending across the Midwest and Northeast, we talk to the owner of StilL 630 spirits in St. Louis, about an experimental booze library that sounds like an excellent place to while away the winter. We also test winter jackets and bring in two popular mechanics greats—senior home editor Roy Berendsohn and contributing editor Jose…

Portable table saws, a wash-free gym shirt, a USB-based coffee cup, we'll test anything! Whether you're buying new stuff for yourself or gifts for your friends, you'll leave this episode with a ton of smart new ideas—and no buyers remorse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

With the office nearly empty between Christmas and New Year's, Jacqui and Tech Editor Alex George introduce the only other person in the office: PM's new Video Producer/Editor/Videographer, Todd Bogin. Todd shares some tips on what makes compelling video. Then he helps Jacqui plumb the depths of Alex's junk drawer, where Alex keeps all the stuff he…

With so many people coming over for the holidays, it's probably wise to make sure your grout is clean and your chimney in working order. You'll also want to stock up on some booze. Perhaps something unexpected, like cachaça? On this episode, we talk to Avuá Cachaça founder, Pete Nevenglosky, about the Brazilian tradition of aging the spirit in all …

Do you know what you're getting all your friends and family for the holidays? If so, good for you, overachiever. For the rest of us, the staff of Popular Mechanics gives a rundown on the hottest shopping tickets for this year, including a Lego Bugatti and a screwdriver that only costs $3. Also on this episode, Roy talks bedbug eradication, Google F…

In an episode chock-full of things we're thankful for, we start out by speaking with Steven Caple, Jr., the director of the new movie Creed II. We highly recommend checking it out this Thanksgiving--preferably early in the day, before you fall into a tryptophan coma. Another guest, funny car champ Ron Capps, shares how grateful he is to the crew th…

The Martian author Andy Weir is really into Mars. So much so that National Geographic tapped him to be an expert on their series Mars, about what human colonization of the red planet might be like. In advance of the season two premiere, Andy stops by the office to talk about the biggest challenges to living on Mars, methods we might use to get ther…

Endurance races have gotten substantially more popular over the last several years, which means a lot of people with not a lot of experience are tackling serious miles on foot or by bike. One of those people is your humble host Jacqueline Detwiler, who is running her first marathon in New York City on November 4th. To get ready, she and the rest of…

Ryan North's new book, How to Invent Everything, addresses that question that's probably been sitting in the back of your brain since you were a kid: If you got stuck in a previous time period, could you survive on your wits alone? Ryan says yes, so long as you bring a little advice. Also on this episode, field editor James Lynch talks about riding…

The editors of Popular Mechanics have been crazy busy dealing with real life tasks lately, but what they learned doing their weekend work is great fodder for a podcast that's supposed to make your life easier. First, Roy spruces up a rental apartment in-between tenants. Kevin tries (unsuccessfully) to remove a bunch of stuck bolts from his Jeep. An…

Do you know how many eyes Popular Mechanics home editor Roy Berendsohn has? Two. And that's thanks to his diligent wearing of safety goggles. On this episode, we'll learn what items Roy deems essential to wear when doing work, plus how to make sure your house isn't leaking heat or air conditioning. Meanwhile, technology editor Alex George has some …

In honor of tonight's premiere of the new action flick Kin, starring Myles Truitt, Jack Reynor, James Franco and Zoë Kravitz, we talk to the directors about crazy stunts and shots, as well as how they came up with their high-tech mystery weapon. Also on this episode, Alex George talks gaming computers, Roy Berendsohn helps Peter find the source of …

This episode, we decided to delve into some of the more serious, thoughtful, and future-thinking topics Popular Mechanics covers. In keeping with the theme, we interview iceman Wim Hof about how he changes his own autonomic nervous system so he can hang out in freezing temperatures for hours. (If you want to learn even more than what Wim explains i…

Sometimes at the Popular Mechanics office, we have a lot of interesting things to talk about, but none of them have anything to do with each other. We figure that's fine—the smartest people always know enough to be conversant about a lot of different topics. For example: By the end of this episode, you'll know how to take care of a brand new baby, …

On today's show, MUPE tackles the most all-American of vacations: The summer road trip. We call up Kevin's mom, who is somewhere in Idaho in the midst of a weeks-long trip around the northern US. We ask Alex George about the best gadgets to take in the car. Sunny Kim tells us about her favorite road trips around the US. And then everyone convenes t…

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 behin…

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…

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 t…

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 talk…

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 epi…