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Shelf Life

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Shelf Life

The story behind the spacesuits that got us to the moon

by Andie Corban
Dec 25, 2019
Spoiler alert: It features a clash between NASA and Playtex, the women's underwear company.
Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin walked on the moon on July 20, 1969 wearing a 21-layer spacesuit.
NASA/Getty Images
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We should treat inequality as injustice, says Ford Foundation President Darren Walker

by Rose Conlon and David Brancaccio
Dec 20, 2019
"We're getting a distorted capitalism that does not produce shared prosperity," says Walker.
"We're getting a sort of distorted capitalism that does not produce shared prosperity," said Walker.
Kris Connor/Getty Images
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A flower shop in Maine roots for newly arrived refugees

by Bridget Bodnar and Kimberly Adams
Dec 13, 2019
In Cynthia Anderson's "Home Now," Somalis and Congolese transform a former mill town. At a flower shop there, wariness turns to warmth.
Jamilo Maalim, on the phone, with her daughter Aaliyah and friend Binto at Mogadishu Store in Lewiston.
Amy Toensing
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The "other AI" that matters

by Pauline Brown
Dec 10, 2019
Would we have more fun shopping if businesses paid more attention to aesthetics?
A view of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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How synthetic fabrics became mainstream

by Andie Corban
Nov 29, 2019
A series of very successful marketing campaigns led to our closets being dominated by fabrics like polyester and Lycra.
A dress fitting circa 1930, when synthetic fabrics were new to the market.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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How grassroots activists fought Big Tobacco

by Rose Conlon and David Brancaccio
Nov 25, 2019
Regulation of the tobacco industry didn't happen overnight.
Fred Tanneau/AFP/Getty Images
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Misleading charts are everywhere. Here's how to spot them.

by Andie Corban and Kai Ryssdal
Nov 19, 2019
Even graphics published by major news outlets don't always contain the whole truth, says Alberto Cairo, author of "How Charts Lie."
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Democrats and Republicans shared differing maps that highlighted their respective strengths, wrote Alberto Cairo. Above, people gather in Times Square on Nov. 8, 2016, Election Day.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
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Who benefited from America's housing bust?

by Amy Scott and Maria Hollenhorst
Nov 15, 2019
Millions of Americans lost their homes during the foreclosure crisis. Investigative reporter Aaron Glantz wanted to know who got them.
A foreclosed townhouse in Centreville, Virginia, in 2009.
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
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Is there any data that says secondhand car seats aren't safe?

by Kai Ryssdal and Bridget Bodnar
Nov 14, 2019
Manufacturers and retailers suggest car seats expire every six years or so. But what if that's not true?
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
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The "Joy of Cooking," reintroduced

by Kai Ryssdal and Bridget Bodnar
Nov 11, 2019
The great-grandson of the woman who wrote the beloved cookbook "The Joy of Cooking" has updated the classic for a new generation.
Courtesy of the publisher
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