#human-factors
89 episodes · Page 2 of 4
#4801: Who Decides What a Stop Sign Looks Like?
The surprising economics and design process behind the 20 million traffic signs on U.S. roads.
#4797: Why Your Shoe Size Number Is Basically Meaningless
Shoe sizes aren't standardized. Here's how to actually measure your feet and find shoes that fit.
#4769: How to Engineer an Infinite Goodbye
What if a goodbye could last three hours? The mechanics of stretching farewells by exploiting politeness norms.
#4764: The Art of the Distant Relative Lunch
How to turn a family lunch into a master class in social craft without crossing into cruelty.
#4747: The Price of Keeping a Secret
Why some people are wired for silence, and the industries that pay a premium for it.
#4730: Can You Wear a High-Vis Button-Up to a Bar?
ANSI safety standards don't care about garment type — only square inches. The result: fluorescent cargo shorts.
#4722: Why Manuals Are Terrible (And How AI Can Fix Them)
Why appliance manuals are 22 pages of warnings and car manuals actually work — and how AI can break the cycle.
#4677: Beyond the Itinerary: Travel Writing That Actually Works
Bill Bryson made travel writing feel alive. Who's carrying that torch to places he never explored?
#4676: How Airport Lights Speak a Universal Language
Blue means taxiway, white means runway, red means stop. The global grammar of airport lighting, decoded.
#4673: What "Feels Like" Really Means on Your Weather App
Heat index, wind chill, and why two apps can give different numbers on the same street. The science behind that little number.
#4637: Boeing vs Airbus: What Pilots Really Think
Type ratings, envelope protection, and the love-hate relationship pilots have with the 737 and A320.
#4472: How to Become Uncle Colm McCool
Five specific techniques to master the art of the impossibly long-winded story, using Derry Girls' most memorable character as your textbook.
#4354: The Hidden Cost of a Loaded Belt
Your hips are amazing load-bearing structures—but they're not designed for asymmetric, sustained loading.
#4337: The Belt as Brain: Externalizing Memory with EDC
How to carry daily essentials without looking tactical — and why it works as a cognitive prosthetic for ADHD.
#4308: Inside the Secret World of Pyrotechnicians
Only 4,000 licensed pyrotechnicians exist in the US. What do they actually do the other 300 days a year?
#4304: Rhetoric for Interviews and Pitches
Three persuasion techniques from political speech, applied ethically to job interviews and client pitches.
#4262: The Belt Principle: Eliminating Micro-Interruptions for Deep Focus
How a tactical belt with MOLLE pouches reveals the hidden cost of tiny interruptions — and what that means for knowledge work.
#4259: Breaking the Social Script: Garfinkel to Fielder
What happens when you deliberately break everyday social norms — and why we feel threatened when the script goes off the rails.
#4212: Why Ground Control at JFK Is Harder Than Flying
Taxiing at JFK is more stressful than flying—here’s why Kennedy Steve’s job is aviation’s hidden pressure cooker.
#4189: Why Lift 47 Breaks Your Back
Why a half-empty cardboard box can take you out when heavy lifting didn't. The hidden mechanics of back injury.
#4125: How to Kill a Conversation on Purpose
The art of weaponizing social awkwardness at high-achiever gatherings.
#4045: Playing Dumb on Purpose: Strategic Incompetence
Playing dumb to win against landlords and powerful people? It's a real psychological strategy with a name.
#4044: How to Sound Like a Bot on Purpose
When AI detectors flag clean human writing as machine-made, sounding like a bot becomes a survival skill.
#3973: How Autoland Guides Planes Through Zero Visibility
The engineering behind aircraft autoland systems that guide planes to the runway when pilots can't see anything.