If you don’t listen to Radiolab, you should. And you can start with this little segment featuring a cameo appearance by yours truly. For the recent episode on Cities, radio producers the world over were called upon to measure the walking speed of people in their respective downtown districts.

So I went to the Alameda in Mexico City’s centro histórico, measured out 60 feet with a string, taped the start and end points on the sidewalk, and stepped aside to watch people with my recorder and stopwatch rolling. The verdict? Listen at the link above and find out. Pay special attention to the shoe shiner part. Then you can check out the full episode here.

Special thanks to Deité Morales Díaz for valuable assistance on this quirky little walking speed adventure.