Ever felt like you’re the bottleneck — the one brain trying to juggle every moving piece until the whole thing collapses? In this episode, Pia shares a true story of running a chaotic innovation project in India… while accidentally locked in a toilet with no reception. That moment of enforced stillness led her to one of nature’s best system designers: the octopus. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons live in its arms, allowing it to sense, decide, and adapt without waiting for head office — a s...
All content for Feral by Design is the property of Pia Williams and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Ever felt like you’re the bottleneck — the one brain trying to juggle every moving piece until the whole thing collapses? In this episode, Pia shares a true story of running a chaotic innovation project in India… while accidentally locked in a toilet with no reception. That moment of enforced stillness led her to one of nature’s best system designers: the octopus. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons live in its arms, allowing it to sense, decide, and adapt without waiting for head office — a s...
Ever felt like you’re the bottleneck — the one brain trying to juggle every moving piece until the whole thing collapses? In this episode, Pia shares a true story of running a chaotic innovation project in India… while accidentally locked in a toilet with no reception. That moment of enforced stillness led her to one of nature’s best system designers: the octopus. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons live in its arms, allowing it to sense, decide, and adapt without waiting for head office — a s...
When you were a kid, did you ever get jabbed with a needle so big it felt like a medieval weapon? I did — the kind that left welts and trauma in equal measure. Turns out, the real master of painless penetration was buzzing around my head the whole time. This episode of Feral by Design dives into what mosquitoes know about pain-free design — and how their six-part mouthpiece has inspired biomimicry researchers and product designers re-thinking needles, medicine, and even human ingenuity. It’s ...
Tips for Dam Good Boundaries You know you’ve hit rock bottom when you’re jealous of a rodent’s boundary skills. This week on Feral by Design, Pia Williams dives into the muddy brilliance of the beaver — nature’s original boundary engineer — to find smarter, saner ways to hold your own. Discover: Why most human boundaries snap under pressure (hint: we make them too rigid)How beavers build layered, flexible systems that bend instead of breakWhat "patch your leaks early" means for emotional ener...
Not another true-crime podcast… unless you count Grand Theft Bio! In this 6-minute intro, Pia shares why she’s obsessed with stealing nature’s best strategies - a little biomimicry, a little human curiosity - and what listeners can expect from this podcast that makes nature and science feel personal and surprisingly useful. Expect short episodes that blend humour, biology, and human messiness - showing how creatures from beavers to octopuses tackle the same challenges we face every day....
Feral by Design is a podcast stealing nature’s smartest strategies for everyday chaos. Short, playful episodes grounded in science, storytelling, and human curiosity. Subscribe and join us as we see what happens when nature becomes our mentor. 🎧 feralbydesign.com | @feralbydesignpod | Hosted by Pia Williams Subscribe and listen. Clever by Nature. Feral by Design.
Ever felt like you’re the bottleneck — the one brain trying to juggle every moving piece until the whole thing collapses? In this episode, Pia shares a true story of running a chaotic innovation project in India… while accidentally locked in a toilet with no reception. That moment of enforced stillness led her to one of nature’s best system designers: the octopus. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons live in its arms, allowing it to sense, decide, and adapt without waiting for head office — a s...