From Patented: Inventing the Wheeled Suitcase

David Autor is a labor economist at MIT. He has written about how the arrival of personal computers increased inequality among American workers. But when it comes to AI, David thinks there could be a different outcome. Read David’s article about AI in Noema Magazine. In this epis ...  Show more

John Mills is the CEO and co-founder of a nonprofit called Watch Duty. His problem is this: How do you build an app to warn people when they are in immediate danger from a natural disaster? Watch Duty has millions of users and played a key role in the Los Angeles fires of 2025. I ...  Show more

In this classic invention-themed episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the ancient origins of the gimbal, its connections to Chinese incense censers and its role in technological innovation. (originally published 09/27/2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for pri ...  Show more

In this invention-themed episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the ancient origins of the gimbal, its connections to Chinese incense censers and its role in technological innovation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Until recently, invention and patenting have been guy things, though not for women's lack of innovation. Cristen and Caroline discover the American history of women inventors and why the patent gender gap has been so challenging to close.

Have you ever had a good idea -- like, a brilliant idea? If so, you may have immediately started trying to figure out the cartoonishly complicated, labyrinthine world of patents. In today's episode, the guys dive into the strange history of the concept and process of patents.See ...  Show more