Season 2 · Episode 1899
Why Vending Machines Jam on Your Snacks
From Roman holy water to Japan’s soup-dispensing giants, we explore why vending machines jam—and why America’s are stuck in the past.
My Weird Prompts · Daniel Rosehill
April 2, 202629m 3s
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Show Notes
Vending machines are everywhere, but why do they still fail so often? This episode dives into the history of automated retail, from Hero of Alexandria’s coin-operated holy water dispenser to Japan’s high-tech soup and egg machines. We explore the engineering challenges of spiral mechanisms, the thermodynamic wizardry of hot-and-cold systems, and why America’s vending culture lags behind Asia’s. Plus, the rise and fall of the Automat, and why modern machines still can’t reliably deliver a bag of chips without a fight.