Why Ban Dollar Stores?
Dollar-discount stores get the blame for “food deserts”—neighborhoods without supermarkets. It’s claimed, these stores drive out supermarkets with their low prices and saturate poor neighborhoods with junk food. But are dollar stores really to blame for bad diets?
The Growing Death And Injury Toll From Takata Airbags
Twenty-four people have died and hundreds have been seriously injured from exploding Takata airbags. In 2000, Takata knew about the problem with their ammonium nitrate inflators, they knew they were exploding in their own labs, and they covered up the problem.
Everyone Needs To Stop Building Giant Glass Skyscrapers
Any building playing host to hundreds of people is going to have a huge climate footprint, but the glass is particularly problematic. The sunlight has unlimited access into the building, but no way to get out. That’s great for tomatoes, but for people it just means more air conditioning.
The Price Of Plenty: How Beef Changed America
Exploitation and predatory pricing drove the transformation of the US beef industry – and created the model for modern agribusiness. The industrial slaughterhouse was a triumph of human ingenuity as well as a site of brutal labor exploitation.
Inside China’s Massive Surveillance Operation
Xinjiang, northwest China, is in a state of surveillance lockdown. Every message, word and movement is monitored for its extremist potential. A million Uyghur muslims are being held in concentration camps.
The Great American Tax Haven: Why The Super-Rich Love South Dakota
Last year billionaire Sun Hongbin quietly transferred $4.5bn worth of shares in his Chinese real estate firm to a company on a street corner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Thanks to its relish for deregulation, the state is fast becoming the most profitable place for the mega-wealthy to park their billions.
How One American Citizen Was Forcibly Drafted Into The South Korean Army
Illinois-born Young Chun thought a stint teaching English in Korea would be a quick and easy way to pay off his mounting post-college debt. He could not have been more wrong. Chun became a victim of a collision between unforgiving bureaucracy and the meddling of an unknown family member thousands of miles away.
Striking Street Photography In Japan By James Takumi Shyegun
Stunning street scenes by James Takumi Shyegun, a talented photographer, videographer, and model from Tokyo, Japan. Takumi focuses mainly on urban, architecture, and street photography.
How Journalists Covered The Rise Of Mussolini And Hitler
How to cover the rise of a political leader who’s left a paper trail of anti-constitutionalism, racism and the encouragement of violence? Does the press take the position that its subject acts outside the norms of society?
The Law That’s Helping Fuel Delhi’s Deadly Air Pollution
The World Health Organization reported last year that 11 of the 12 cities in the world with the most pollution from PM2.5 were in India. A policy to conserve water resources led to the rise of a major source of air pollution, making breathing Delhi’s air as bad as smoking 50 cigarettes.
Confused About What To Eat? Science Can Help
Potent societal powers create a culture of nutrition confusion that not only obfuscate the truth about diet, they undermine science as a whole. Begin by asking critical questions when digesting diet news. Does the writer have an advanced degree in nutrition, or does she or he have expertise in science journalism?
Haunting Photos Of An Abandoned Italian Madhouse
When German-born photographer Andy Schwetz visited the Manicomio di Racconigi, an abandoned insane asylum in Italy, he was struck by the horror of the procedures performed there, from electroshock therapy to experimental operations.
The Case Against Boeing
In the wake of the 737 MAX disasters, caused by a software feature, Boeing and regulators initially placed blame on the planes’ pilots. Since Samya Stumo’s death in a 737 MAX crash, her parents and her great-uncle, Ralph Nader, have devoted themselves to proving that the company put profit over safety.
Malaysia’s $100BN Smart Island City
In an effort to further boost its economy and leverage its unique position on the doorstep of Singapore, Malaysia are raising four artificial islands from the waters of the Johor Strait and constructing a USD $100BN smart city from scratch.
How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation
We’re spoiled, entitled, lazy, and failures at what’s come to be known as “adulting,” a word invented by millennials as a catchall for the tasks of self-sufficient existence. I couldn’t figure out why small, straightforward tasks on my to-do list felt so impossible. The answer is both more complex and far simpler than I expected.
Towing An Iceberg: One Captain’s Plan To Bring Drinking Water To 4 Million People
After three years of severe drought, Cape Town was at risk of becoming one of the first cities in the world to run out of municipal water. Nicholas Sloane has a fix for a country struggling with its supply.
Living In Switzerland Ruined Me For America And Its Lousy Work Culture
Long commute, full-time, no benefits. No way, I thought. Who would want to do that? And then it hit me: Either I had become a completely privileged jerk or my own country was not as amazing as I had once thought it to be. This wasn’t an unusually bad offer: It was just American Reality.
Why China Is Building The World’s Biggest City
China plans to integrate all the cities in the Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou) into one Greater Bay Area – a megacity 58% bigger than the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It hopes to rival both Silicon Valley and Wall Street – at the same time, with an economy already the size of South Korea or Russia.
Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong
Nearly half of 3- to 6- year old girls say they worry about being fat. For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives. It’s time for a new paradigm.
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.
How A Single Mom Created A Plastic Food-Storage Empire
The story of Tupperware is a story of innovation and reinvention: how a new kind of plastic, made from industrial waste material, ended up a symbol of female empowerment. The product ushered women into the workforce, encouraging them to make their own money, better their families, and win accolades and prizes.