History of Technology
293 episodes · Page 6 of 13
#4143: How Screwdrivers Became a Museum of Bad Decisions
Why are there so many incompatible screw types? The surprising history of Phillips, Robertson, and the design that won by failing.
#4113: When Do Sprinklers Become Mandatory?
How specific disasters created the code changes that now require sprinklers in tall buildings.
#4078: Tile Floors, Stone Pillows, and the History of Sleep Surfaces
Are hard sleeping surfaces actually better? We trace 77,000 years of human sleep habits.
#4050: Sun Tzu vs Machiavelli: What Actually Divides Them
Two dead strategists, two opposing worldviews. Why Silicon Valley keeps mixing them up — and why it matters.
#4048: Can You Learn Reveille in 8 Weeks?
Why the bugle still matters, and how fast a motivated adult can actually learn to play Reveille.
#3981: Can a City Designed From Scratch Actually Work?
Brasília, Chandigarh, Canberra — why expert-designed cities often feel lifeless compared to organic ones like Jerusalem.
#3950: The Plastic Box That Conquered Your Garage
How a 1980s German auto industry standard became the hidden system organizing your garage, workshop, and move.
#3941: Imp, Goblin, Gremlin: What's the Difference?
Three small creatures, three completely different origins, functions, and fears. Untangling the folklore.
#3916: Parental Leave: A Patch for a Broken System
Is parental leave a genuine support or just a temporary exemption from a system built against human biology?
#3880: The Safer Trap: Quaaludes and the Drug That Fooled Everyone
How a "safer" sedative became one of history's most dangerous cautionary tales in drug regulation.
#3879: What the Moon Actually Smells Like
Twelve humans have walked on the Moon. Here's what it actually felt, smelled, and sounded like—and why we stopped going.
#3862: Why Your Books Got the City Centre Wrong
Is the "poor inner city" a literary myth? Jerusalem's luxury towers vs. Dickens' slums.
#3796: Why Electricians and Lawyers Used to Be the Same Thing
Why do we call some skilled work a profession and other work a trade? The medieval answer might surprise you.
#3706: Is Hookup Culture Real? What the Data Actually Says
Median partner counts haven't budged in decades. So why are STD rates soaring and religious norms crumbling?
#3685: Ruling Pens, Grease Pencils, and the Case for Better Old Tech
Why a 400-year-old drafting tool outperforms modern alternatives, and how to spot genuinely superior antiques.
#3680: How 50 People Became 35 Million Descendants
How the Mayflower’s 50 survivors became 35 million Americans — and why Ellis Island tells a different story.
#3677: The Last Poppleberrys: A Surname on the Brink
How a marsh, a poplar tree, and one 19th-century laborer created the world's rarest surname.
#3676: Socialites: From Mrs. Astor to Paris Hilton
From Gilded Age ballrooms to fragrance empires — what socialites actually do and why their power endures.
#3567: Baby Geniuses, Secret Baby Language & the Cult of Superbabies
The strange origin of Baby Geniuses by the director of A Christmas Story, why the sequel became a cult disaster, and movies about secret baby langu...
#3489: How Battlefield Medicine Transformed Civilian ERs
From Larrey's flying ambulances to TCCC — how combat medicine evolved and reshaped civilian trauma care.
#3476: When Hebrew Became a Living Language Again
The strange in-between period when a dead language was being invented in real time by children on playgrounds.
#3439: Why Ashdod Feels Like a Parking Lot
Israeli development towns feel empty despite high density. The culprit? 1950s modernist planning.
#3379: Why Airports and War Zones Both Feel Strangely Calm
The science behind feeling oddly relaxed in transit—and why national emergencies trigger the same response.
#3371: What Rosie and Jim's Silence Really Says
Rosie and Jim wasn't just gentle kids' TV — it encoded class anxiety, surveillance, and the ghost of industrial England.