55. The Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement
When two employees at Polaroid discovered their company’s technology was being used by the South African government to help enforce apartheid, they pRead More…
54. Will The Real Mr. Oreo Please Stand Up?
This week, we’re teaming up with the podcast Proof from America’s Test Kitchen to bring you an Oreo story with three delicious parts. First, the longRead More…
53. An Essential Oils Investigation
Young Living was one of the first major essential oils companies on the market, helping to launch an industry that is worth billions of dollars todayRead More…
52. The Republic of Samsung
Samsung’s founder, his son, and his grandson turned a vegetable and dried fish shop into a global superpower and a symbol of South Korean success. ButRead More…
51. Not All Fun and Board Games
The original Game of Life was about reaching happy old age, not “Millionaire Acres.” And Monopoly was invented by an anti-capitalist who wanted to maRead More…
50. Let’s Talk About Tampax
How do you advertise a product that’s taboo? When Tampax became the first commercially-produced tampon in 1933, no one wanted to talk about menstruatRead More…
49. Making Nathan’s Famous
Nathan’s Famous turned the hot dog into a symbol of July 4th. But the story of how that happened says a lot more about America than just its love of Read More…
48. The Fight for the McDonald’s Franchise
In 1969, Cleveland’s Black residents boycotted McDonald’s. For weeks, the company’s leadership had been locked in a stalemate with Black activists ovRead More…
47. Drinking Buddies: Jack Daniel and Nearest Green
Jack Daniel’s is the top-selling whiskey in the world. For more than 150 years, it’s been made using time-honored methods that go back to when Jack DRead More…
46. Makin’ Whoopee Cushion
April Fools’ pranks come and go, but one joke item that’s stood the test of time is the whoopee cushion. Today, we trace its history from ancient RomRead More…
41. The Red (M&M) Scare
From the mid 1970s to the mid ’80s, red M&M’s disappeared. American consumers had become worried about the safety of red food coloring after some Read More…
40. The Marlboro Woman
Marlboro cigarettes are synonymous with the rugged figure who sells them: the Marlboro Man. But the cigarette he smokes was originally marketed to womRead More…