QuartzPodcasts: Are we in a bubble?verified_publisherQuartz - Alexandra OssolaAsynchronous, on-demand talk radio was a bold proposition back in 2004, when podcasts first started making waves. Less than 20 years later, podcasting is a big business. But monetization has its downsides: What began as a freewheeling, do-it-yourself space is evolving into a data-obsessed sector …
QuartzInflation: The price isn’t rightverified_publisherQuartzPrices for goods, from furniture to meat, have been steadily rising for months. It’s the most obvious symptom of inflation, which is when money buys less than it used to. But there’s no need to panic: This is far from the first time inflation has come for consumers’ purchasing power. The question …
QuartzPerfume: The strangest supply chainverified_publisherQuartzShipping snafus have hit everything from Pelotons to paper towels, and they’re also coming for perfume. From Chanel No. 5’s secret recipe to the modern proliferation of DIY scents, this global industry has supply chains as delicate as the scents captured in its tiny bottles. How does perfume adapt …
QuartzDyslexia: Thinking differentlyverified_publisherQuartzThough scientists first identified dyslexia over a century ago, politicians, parents, and educators still struggle to teach students that suffer from it. In the English-speaking world, dyslexia has become a great unequalizer, pushing those with means into lucrative careers, and those without to the …
QuartzReplacement rate: Counting our chickensverified_publisherQuartz2.1—that’s how many children every woman “needs to have.” Any fewer, and a country’s population will eventually stop growing, age, and shrink, which could inhibit its economic growth and drain government coffers. But it’s easier said than done: China has been well below replacement rate for some …
QuartzPasta: A global stapleverified_publisherQuartzPasta’s path to pantries all over the world is inextricably tied to Italy, the country that used technology and mass production to turn a homemade food into a commercial product. Even as pasta-makers market an idealized version of the Italian lifestyle to the world and to Italians themselves, some …