Innovation How rivalry between two Japanese companies in the 1950s led to the world's best pencils Ellsworth Toohey

Technology Sony's table tennis robot beat a pro player she couldn't read Ellsworth Toohey

gadgets 133 year-old Kodak, crushed by debt, warns it may go out of business Rob Beschizza

books Cheaper color Kindle on the way Rob Beschizza

chemistry Silica gel's secret history and path to worldwide ubiquity Allan Rose Hill

new york city The New York City Sign Museum, now open for tours Ruben Bolling

gender A brief history of drag in the military Thom Dunn

ai-generated content Watch the trailer for the first fully AI-generated RomCom, coming soon from TV manufacturer TCL Thom Dunn

lawsuits 3M coughs up $10.3b to settle "forever chemicals" lawsuits Rob Beschizza

politics Shining a light on the dark money of The Marble Freedom Trust Elías Villoro

Tonka Tonka's name is an homage to Lake Minnetonka Andrew Yi

guitar The automobile industry killed a legendary guitar pickup. 40 years later, Fender just brought it back. Thom Dunn

movies On this day in 1943, the Office of War Information won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Elías Villoro

fast fashion Ultra-fast fashion company Shein is 'even worse than you thought' Jennifer Sandlin

Games How "Monopoly" took a monopoly on Lizzie Magie's Landlord Game Elías Villoro

Modern Low Volume Fabrication Nissan making replacement parts for select classics Andrew Yi

Where there is money there is racism White guy wants to seize control of predominantly black Tennessee town because suddenly there will be money Jason Weisberger

deaths Tornadoes: hundred feared dead in Kentucky, dozens at collapsed factory Rob Beschizza

christian nationalism The surprising link between sushi and an AR-15-obsessed Christian sect Thom Dunn

media theory The Mainstream Media is actually one event production company in Chicago Thom Dunn