Who Made My Bed?
A new Web-based tool from MIT's Media Lab traces supply chains to reveal the terrifyingly high cost of all our stuff
A new Web-based tool from MIT's Media Lab traces supply chains to reveal the terrifyingly high cost of all our stuff
Jaap Stronks/flickr
What it means to abstain from Blackberries, iPhones, laptops, Kindles -- even just for a few hours.
Writer Jeremy Miller reminded me this morning that "we are in an unprecedented age of migration and slum building.... The U.N. projects that over the…
Spiegel Online International reports this week of a shocking tell-all penned by IKEA managing director Johan Stenebo. I investigate IKEA in detail…
Contrary to what we're so often told, American students are not bad at math and science.The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development…
In Wednesday's New York Times, Tom Friedman posited (yet again) that Americans are losing ground because we are lazy, passive, and/or just plan…
The New York Times reports today that drywall imported from China and used in newly built homes in the U.S. emits fumes that can lead to headaches,…
Last month, Hyatt Hotels Corp. fired 98 housekeepers, many of them veteran employees who made $15-per-hour, and replaced them with $8-per-hour…
It's rare for me to write two posts in one day, but Michael Pollan's brave opinion piece in today's New York Times deserves applause, and…
Last week the Los Angeles Time published an attack on my new book, Cheap: The HIgh Cost of Discount Culture by wacky blogger Charlotte Allen. The…
China, "factory to the world," sends fleets of container ships to our shores, as do many other nations. But who precisely makes the stuff contained…
The formidable Megan McArdle and I have just begun our discussion of CHEAP on her site, and, not surprisingly, several of Megan's followers are…
This entire week I'm discussing CHEAP: The High Cost of Discount Culture with Atlantic colleague Megan McArdle on her fascinating and informative…
To Reason and Beyond has been dormant these last few weeks, thanks to an arduous promotion schedule for my new book: "Cheap: The High Cost of…
My new book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture (Penguin) publishes this week. It's a narrative investigation of the history, science,…
Years ago, I wrote about lead poisoning for The Atlantic--reporting that blood lead levels in the United States had declined dramatically since the…
Today's Times features a front page piece by labor reporter Louis Uchitelle (author of the estimable The Disposable American on the shortage of…
The New York Times gave a nod to sensible cheap chic this week, with a lengthy piece touting second hand haute couture describing shoppers…
Last week, the food pages of the New York Times had a long piece on dry cooked ham. Seems that "country ham" doesn't always come from a country…
As the author of a book on obesity (The Hungry Gene) I cannot resist responding to Ed's observation that restaurant goers tend to order unhealthy…
« Previous More Stories »
Mets' No Hitter Means NoNoHitters Is No More
Here's How the Stuxnet Virus Could Be Used Against the U.S.
The Milky Way Is on a Crash Course; Get Ready for a Nasty Hurricane Season
David H. Freedman on smartphone apps and the perfected self, Mark Bowden on being in the dumb kids' class, James Parker on Glenn Beck, Isaac Chotiner on P. G. Wodehouse, and more
