Interested in science, technology, machinery, engineering and the history behind everyday things? Want a fast and fun way to get your kids interested in STEM? Look no further! We break down a weekly engineering topic in a way that everyone can understand and enjoy. Twitter: @UnproEng Instagram: Unprofessional_Engineering Facebook: UnprofessionalEngineering
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Welcome to Mistopian, the podcast that evaluates the past’s wildly-inaccurate predictions about the future that we now live in. Join our hosts, Alex and Patrick, as they navigate the turbulent waters of history and explore the bold predictions great minds of the past made about our future. Whether it’s as optimistic as flying cars or gloomy as Big Brother, Mistopian is sure to not only get to the bottom of why these predictions were hits or misses, but also investigate why these predictions ...
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Imitators of Men: Women's Suffrage Predictions
1:06:32
1:06:32
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Alex gives Patrick permission to mansplain as they dive into the hilarious hysteria and hopeful hypes of women’s suffrage. In this episode, we're sifting through the outrageous omens of doom foretold by anti-suffragettes—think society crumbling, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria! On the flip side, we're exploring the bright, optimistic v…
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Patrick and Alex record a time capsule episode, documenting current predictions about the future of AI. Only time will tell if they come true. This episode features talking to animals, putting lawyers out of work, and childrens' (yeah, definitely childrens') toys. Theme song is “Satellites” by Swenny. Links Lifehacker: This Article Was Written by A…
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Fish Without Engines: Robert Boyle’s Scientific Wishlist
1:12:27
1:12:27
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Dive deep into the 1600s with Alex and Patrick as they unravel the legacy of the visionary scientist, Robert Boyle. Known best for “Boyle’s Law” from our hazy high school days, it’s his riveting wishlist of 24 future advancements that’s kept history buffs intrigued. How many of Boyle’s wishes have come true in the past 400 years? Were they intended…
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The Pushbutton Classroom: Education Predictions with Unprofessional Development
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1:01:49
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Patrick and Alex welcome their friends and hosts of the Unprofessional Development podcast, Tudisco and Mealey, to use their expertise as educators to evaluate predictions from the past about what teaching would be like in the future. We evaluate a series of predictions from 1900, 1927, 1931, and 1958. This conversation has far more focus on pneuma…
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All Good Things Must Come to an End - Episode 341
37:17
37:17
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After seven years and 340 episodes, it is time for us to say goodbye to our amazing Unprofessional Engineering listeners. It has been a great run and we appreciate all of the emails (nice and otherwise), social posts, and care packages that were sent our way. Hosting this podcast was one of the most enjoyable things that I have been part of (and I …
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Prepare for Doomsday: The 2012 Phenomenon Pt. 2
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46:32
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It's part two of our look back at the hysteria surrounding the Mayan Long Count calendar. This time we take a deep dive into a relatively early History Channel special that looks deep into Maya prophecies and determines that the ancient people were desparately trying to tell us about the future of...the United States? We briefly discuss the 2012 fi…
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Harmonic Convergence: The 2012 Phenomenon Pt. 1
57:11
57:11
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Patrick takes Alex on a trip through history, as we look at the Mayan Long Count calendar and why some people thought the world would end in 2012. We discuss who the Maya are, how their various calendars work, and how the 2012 "doomsday" myth morphed over the years. Both Alex and Patrick express, frankly, rage at trying to pin down exactly what som…
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Thought-pocalypse: Joss Whedon's Dollhouse
1:09:19
1:09:19
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Alex offers Patrick a sneak-peek into a futuristic adult playground where folks dabble with almost-human playthings sporting digital brains. You might think it's HBO's Westworld, but ditch the cowboy boots and throw in some memory-imprinted humans and boom! You've tripped into Joss Whedon's 2009 TV series, Dollhouse. We've got digital consciousness…
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In advance of the Apple+ Beanie Baby Bubble film starring Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks, Patrick and Alex revisit the wild speculation involving Beanie Baby toys. Patrick presents to Alex an infamous 1998 Beanie Baby Price Guide that projected what prices would be in 2008 for the pellet filled toys. They were…not accurate. Along the way we …
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Bonus Episode: 2021 Predictions for the Year 2022
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44:42
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Journalists everywhere mark the change in the calendar by churning out some predictions for the new year that they think no one will look back on 12 months later. But they didn't count on Mistopian, the podcast that also needs to churn out content! Alex and Patrick look back at 9 predictions made at the beginning of 2021 about the year 2022 and eva…
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The World's Most Elaborate Album Cover: Nine Inch Nail's Year Zero
40:53
40:53
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Patrick takes Alex on a journey through the rock opera and alternate reality game, Year Zero, from Nine Inch Nails. We look at the history of the concept album, read Reznor's lyrics, then get out a white board and some red string to untangle the mysteries about Parapen, Diagra, the Church of Plano, and The Presence. All apologies to the people of C…
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Technological Unemployment: The 15 Hour Work Week
51:28
51:28
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Alex teases Patrick with a tantalizing glimpse into the future: what if we only had to work 15 hours a week? That’s what famed British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted back in 1930 in an overly-optimistic essay he wrote entitled “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren.” This week we talk Patrick’s dream jobs (he has 2!), how keeping up…
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Looks Like Halloween Came Early: MLB's Turn Ahead the Clock Game
46:39
46:39
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Patrick pitches to Alex a tale of baseball uniform predictions as they analyze the 1998 and 1999 Turn Ahead the Clock promotions. In this episode we untuck our shirts, turn our caps backwards, and spray our cleats silver as we look back at what baseball thought the unis of the future might look like. This episode is decidedly NOT sponsored by Centu…
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If you're a golfer, one thing that you know for sure is that bad shots are never your fault! Your grip might be worn down, your clubs are old, someone talked in your backswing, or you're playing with bad golf balls. Speaking of golf balls, perhaps they are bad due to their manufacturing process. We looked back to understand the history of the golf …
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Product of a Great Revolt: 21st Century Men’s Fashion
57:22
57:22
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Alex shows Patrick what men’s fashion would have been like for the 21st century if industrial designer Gilbert Rohde had gotten his wish. The 1939 World’s Fair issue of Vogue magazine was full of arresting and alluring fashion predictions for the future, though none were as intriguing as the banishment of the suit in what Rohde called a “Great Revo…
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We Had the World But We Ate It: Soylent Green
53:36
53:36
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Patrick presents to Alex a couple of paranoid looks into overpopulation: the 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison and its Hollywood adaptation, Soylent Green. This episode is all about stepping on faces, untasty crackers, and getting scooped by the scoops. Theme Song is Satellites by Swenny. Links: Harry Harrison interview quoted in t…
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Alex surprises Patrick with the long history of the flying car. Spoilers: they’ve been around a lot longer than people think. Though flying cars have been on every future-dreamer’s wishlist for decades, actually getting air-ready automobiles ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. This episode is all about absurd designs, Slovakian regulations, and DIY ae…
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Neither Utopian nor Dystopian: The Mistopian Podcast Trailer
2:28
2:28
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Welcome to Mistopian, the podcast that evaluates the past’s wildly-inaccurate predictions about the future that we now live in. Join our hosts, Alex and Patrick, as they introduce this podcast that will navigate the turbulent waters of history and explore the bold predictions great minds of the past made about our future. Whether it’s as optimistic…
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How Does Nuclear Fusion Work? - Episode 339
36:15
36:15
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Scientists around the world are making giant leaps in the field of nuclear fusion. OK, maybe not giant leaps, but, you know, very small steps that are still very significant for helping the world become free of their dependency on fossil fuels. Although scientists theorized how nuclear fusion worked back in the 1800s, we still haven’t been able to …
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Companies That Built the World: Lockheed Martin - Episode 338
34:57
34:57
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Continuing our series on companies that built the world, we've finally landed on one whose projects have already earned their on episodes; Lockheed Martin! Fun fact: Lockheed Martin didn't become a thing until 1995, but Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta were around well before. From the F-117 Nighthawk to the SR-71 Blackbird, and a ton of th…
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