Most Useful Podcast Ever

One of the scariest things about living in New York city in the summer is that you're constantly being dripped on. You can never be sure if it's rain, or somebody else's sweat, or air conditioner condensation, or worse, humidity that collects on the ceiling of the subway station and then drips on your face. Basically the only way to get away from that is to stay inside, or join the mass exodus from the city to get to real water at the beach. So on today's episode we looked into tips that could improve either situation. We asked a sculptor in north Florida how to make a stand-up paddle board you can ride on waves or flat water. Then we learned about hacking an air conditioning window unit to fit an outdated electrical system.And last, because we're going a little stir crazy, we made up a game show slash drinking game, and used it to test a new iPhone mounted breathalyzer.

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When buying a freezer, most of us consider the size and energy usage of a new model, but not other factors that can influence freezer burn and flavor. In this edition of PM’s Most Useful Podcast Ever, we play with a flash-freezing machine made by a scientific supply company and talk to Penn State University food scientist Luke LaBorde to find out how frozen food works and what you can do to keep stored meats and vegetables tasty. We also talk to Popular Mechanics’ Senior Home Editor Roy Berendsohn about hard and soft water, and consider whether we’d use Phiaton’s BT 220NC headphones, Flugz Hearing Protection Earplugs, and a very strange food substitute called Soylent. This episode is sponsored by Braintree. To learn more, and for your first $50,000 in transactions fee-free, go to braintreepayments.com/USEFUL

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A new podcast for getting things done.

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Ok, ok, we scared you guys with the threat of Lyme disease, and while we do have a neurologist on this episode to tell us how to catch the disease early, it's not the only topic we cover this week. Solutions to summer scourges abound on this episode: We tell you how to combat sunburn, mildew, and even international roaming charges.

If you want to know even more about Lyme disease, visit Project Lyme or Dr. Elena Frid's website.

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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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