Everyday Abundance: The hidden stories behind everyday technologies

Driving Your Car: What Makes Commutes Possible

Cars transformed modern life—but automobiles alone were not enough. Cars would have been useless without a second invention: driving. Behind the daily commute is a vast,

Blowing Your Nose: The Handkerchief-Industrial Complex

Nineteenth-century cities were crowded, polluted, and brim-full of tuberculosis. The combination of disease and dirty air led to enormous nasal issues—and the rise of the

Shopping for Groceries: The Hunger Games

Grocery shopping in a supermarket is such a commonplace part of everyday existence that it is routinely mocked as a ritual of narcotized consumerism. In fact, the modern

Doing Laundry: Appliances of Freedom

The electric washing machine may be the single most liberating household technology ever invented. Before it arrived, millions of people—mostly women—spent enormous porti

Listening to Music: Treble Makers

For nearly all of history, hearing music required someone physically making it nearby and the only music humans ever heard was whistling or singing. Even when instruments

Brushing Your Teeth: The 12,000 Year War

When George Washington was inaugurated, he had only one natural tooth left—a condition far more typical in the past than modern people realize. For thousands of years, to

Making a Meal of the Family Meal: Cooking Dinner

Evening after evening, billions of people march into the kitchen and cook dinner. Standing over the stove seems like a timeless activity—an impression reinforced if one c

Working Out: The Invention of Exercise

I worked out after work: Few sentences would have been more baffling to people in the 19th century, especially if spoken by a woman. Join Virginia and Charles as they exp