Treadmills Were Made for Torture

What if the reason being on a treadmill feels like such a punishment is actually by design!?

Back in the 1800’s the British Empire started installing ‘tread-mills’ in prisons as a way to both punish criminals and make them more productive. In fact, it was so soul-crushing that the poet Oscar Wilde wrote about its horrors from prison and is thought to have died as a result of the hours he spent on it.

Writer Dan Koeppel, known also for running across Australia’s Nullarbor Plain and writing an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, tells host Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole, Mastermind) the strange saga of how the treadmill went from a Victorian torture device to a piece of fitness equipment found in gyms and homes across the world. Really, it’s a story about capitalism - the rise in the need for equipment to offset our unhealthy lifestyles, marketed as an aspirational wellness tool.

Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Dan’s great article for The New York Times’ Wirecutter HERE. 

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