Dystopian Photos Of London’s Bankers In Meltdown
Having been a fixture in and around the banks since the rumors of trouble first started circulating, photographer Stephen McLaren was embedded on the frontlines when what would become the 2008 Global Financial Crisis began to first take shape.

Hangover Inc.: The Companies Getting You Over Last Night
Once a hush-hush luxury for the quietly-pampered, banana bags outside the hospital are hitting the mainstream. Nurses stand ready to provide intravenous care to the dehydrated, alcoholically and otherwise, in their homes and hotel rooms, at walk-in centers and on a hangover bus for special events.

What Happened To Donald Trump’s $365 Million Airline?
For a short time in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Donald Trump owned an airline. In 1989, Trump raised $365 million to purchase the Eastern Shuttle. Within 18 months, the airline lost over $125 million, and by 1992, Trump decided it was time to walk away.

Adobe Unveils Photoshop Camera App For iOS & Android
Adobe today announced a new mobile app called Photoshop Camera, which “brings Photoshop magic directly to the point of capture.” Photoshop Camera is a new Sensei AI-powered app that automatically recognizes subjects in photos and suggests artist-created image filters to apply.

How Volkswagen Plans To Outsell Tesla
Although Tesla reigns as king of the EV market thanks to its Model 3, Volkswagen has a plan in place to outsell them in the next few years. The automaker has set its sights on becoming a major name in the EV game, investing $37 billion in its electric car program.

The Productivity Paradox
Higher productivity means the expectation of rising wages and abundant job opportunities. In a time of Facebook, smartphones, self-driving cars, and computers that can beat a person at just about any board game, how can the key economic measure of technological progress be so pathetic?

How Ring Went From ‘Shark Tank’ Reject To America’s Scariest Surveillance Company
Amazon’s Ring started from humble roots as a smart doorbell company called “DoorBot.” Now it’s surveilling the suburbs and partnering with police. Although there’s no credible evidence that Ring actually deters or reduces crime, claiming that its products achieve these things is essential to its marketing model.

The Big Business Of Loneliness
Capitalism abhors a vacuum, and into this collective social void has stepped a fleet of companies and entrepreneurs selling an end to social isolation. Over the past decade, on-demand connection has become both a big business and a powerful marketing opportunity.

How New Balance Stumbled, Then Soared To The Top Of The Streetwear Game
With a separate license in Europe and a factory in Flimby, United Kingdom, New Balance has had the attention of sneakerheads abroad for more than a decade and a half. In the United States, however, where the brand was founded in 1906, it hasn’t enjoyed the same youthful appeal.

The Decade Disney Won
The control Disney has on pop culture is kind of terrifying. Marvel’s superhero movies and Star Wars are two of—if not the—biggest franchises in the world. Add those to Pixar’s beloved library of films and its own perennially popular movies, and Disney is effectively in charge of what people watch.

The Curious Cultural Rise Of The Town That Gave Us Walmart
In 2011, Bentonville unveiled the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It was the biggest art museum opening in America in almost 40 years, and it launched Bentonville — a rural community known only for Walmart — into the cultural spotlight overnight.

How McKinsey Destroyed The Middle Class
Consultants seek to legitimate both the job cuts and the explosion of elite pay. Rather than simply improving management, to make American corporations lean and fit, they fostered hierarchy, making management, in David Gordon’s memorable phrase, “fat and mean.”

Is The Cruise Industry Finally Out Of Its Depth?
The question is whether the coronavirus will dent, deflect or alter what has been a phenomenon of our times, the many-times multiplication of ship sizes, of passenger numbers and of profits, generated by an industry that manufactures its own version of reality, then shapes the places that its ships visit in the image of that reality.

What Ever Happened To Waterbeds?
After a heyday in the late 1980s in which nearly one out of every four mattresses sold was a waterbed mattress, the industry dried up in the 1990s, leaving behind a sense of unfilled promise and thousands upon thousands of unsold vinyl shells.

David Altrath Photographs The Spectacular Stockholm Metro
German photographer David Altrath unveils the majestic underground tunnels and their stunning architectural and artistic detail that feature in Stockholm’s underground in his latest series, simply titled Metro.

‘Canada’s Warren Buffett’ Drives His Own Pickup Truck
Jim Pattison roars through rural Saskatchewan in his silver pickup truck, barreling down the prairie road that runs arrow-straight to the horizon. Tossed into the back seat is a sleeping bag and crimson pillow—the unlikely berth for Canada’s self-made billionaire when he can’t find a motel.

When Artists, Engineers, And Pepsico Collaborated, Then Clashed At The 1970 World’s Fair
A year and a half in the making, the Pepsi Pavilion drew eager crowds and elicited effusive reviews. Just a month after the opening, the partnership with Experiments in Art and Technology—E.A.T.—collapsed amidst a flurry of recriminating letters and legal threats.

Buying Organic Veggies At The Supermarket Is A Waste Of Money
It has happened to all of us. You’re standing in the produce aisle, just trying to buy some zucchini, when you face the inevitable choice: Organic or regular? Is it worth the extra money? The answer: Probably not.

How The Wealthy Hide Billions Using Tax Havens
Every year, about 70 billion dollars that the US could be using for infrastructure, law enforcement, healthcare or education is missing. It’s hidden deep within shell companies and anonymous entities in places like the British Virgin Islands. What exactly is a shell company and how does it work?

The Myth Of The Ethical Shopper
What has happened in those sweatshops since they became a cultural fixation three decades ago? All sources led to the same conclusion: Boycotts have failed. Our clothes are being made in ways that advocacy campaigns can’t affect and in places they can’t reach. So how are we going to stop sweatshops now?

How The Environmental Lawyer Who Won A Massive Judgment Against Chevron Lost Everything
Few news outlets covered the detention of Steven Donziger, who won a multibillion-dollar judgment in Ecuador against Chevron over the massive contamination in the Lago Agrio region and has been fighting on behalf of Indigenous people and farmers there for more than 25 years.