Gear: Epilogue (with Jad Abumrad)

December 17, 2025·55 min·5 clips

Avery Trufelman explains how outdoor companies like Patagonia secretly make jackets for the military.

Avery starts with some embarrassment about publishing an interview that circles back to herself. That awkwardness turns out to be useful. It opens a conversation about gear, taste, and the odd pull of people who seem closer to danger. The main object is camouflage. One pattern comes across as ugly, disliked, and not all that useful, but soldiers wear it because they do not really get to choose. Status changes the closet. At the elite end, the excerpt says, soldiers can pick what they wear, and preference turns into a signal. Multicam becomes desirable because admired soldiers wear it. A practical choice starts acting like fashion, moving from elite soldiers to other forces and then farther out. The joke does not stay harmless. When too many groups look alike, the transcript says soldiers in Russia and Ukraine need armbands to show sides. A garment meant to hide people can also blur who they belong to. The host leaves that irony sitting there. This is a trend story with genuinely grim stakes, which makes the fashion logic feel queasy instead of cute. Availability adds another wrinkle. Multicam can be bought by ordinary consumers, used by hunters, and picked up without an identity check at the store. The rules sit with manufacturers, not the person buying it. That gap says a lot. The episode treats gear as a portrait of power, where looking cool can start to look official, threatening, or dangerously confusing. It ends with gratitude, mutual admiration, and a warm landing after a conversation that began with clothes.

As heard by us

A live Jad Abumrad conversation turns camouflage into a funny, uneasy story about taste, authority, and who gets seen.

Gear: Epilogue (with Jad Abumrad) catches Articles of Interest in a looser register: Avery onstage with Jad Abumrad, founder of Radiolab and one of her heroes, talking through the strange afterlife of clothing choices. The most vivid thread is camouflage.

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Why you'd press play

Camouflage, military status, and a live-stage interview in one tightly cut episode.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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