Episode
Friction Matters: Resistance Is a Feature, Not a Bug
On with Kara Swisher · Mar 5, 2026 · 54 min
Friction gets an bad rap, according Jennifer Vail. As a tribologist, she studies interacting surfaces in relative motion, and she’s worked on everything from aerospace materials to syringes to dog food. Her new book, Friction: A Biography, explores the science of rubbing surfaces, the history of lubrication, and why “frictionless” is a dangerous fantasy. Kara and Jennifer unpack everything from…