56 episodes

We’re fascinated by everyday objects and what they can tell us about the global economy. Join us every week as reporters from our global newsroom dig into the most fascinating facets of an object: where it came from, how it got to us, and what it can tell us about the forces that are changing the way we live and work.

Quartz Obsession Quartz

    • Business
    • 4.9 • 63 Ratings

We’re fascinated by everyday objects and what they can tell us about the global economy. Join us every week as reporters from our global newsroom dig into the most fascinating facets of an object: where it came from, how it got to us, and what it can tell us about the forces that are changing the way we live and work.

    The World’s Fair: Tech’s bygone showcase

    The World’s Fair: Tech’s bygone showcase

    Once the globe’s largest festival, World’s Fairs provided a glimpse into inventors’ newest creations, technologies, and human-contrived feats. The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair alone debuted electric irons, sewing machines, and laundry machines, along with the Ferris Wheel and Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, an early device for displaying motion pictures. So why do we no longer gather at massive exhibitions to show off our latest and greatest inventions? And what does the rise and fall of the World’s Fair tell us about the way technology and society are changing?
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 40 min
    Smart homes: Built to crash

    Smart homes: Built to crash

    Making one’s home “smart” may appear to be a logical step for modern dwellings, but with virtual assistants triggered by voice prompts, refrigerators that sense when your food is running low, and vacuum cleaners that zip around your home crashing into walls, we have substituted the home of the past for something altogether different. But is the smart home actually smart? And, if it’s not there yet, what could do the trick?
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 35 min
    Superapps: There can be only one

    Superapps: There can be only one

    Apple’s early App Store ads famously proclaimed, “There’s an app for that”—anything you wanted to do on your phone, the company insisted, you could do through an app. That marketplace ethos still holds today. But when smartphones came to China, there was just one app that really mattered—WeChat, the self-styled “superapp.” In China, people use WeChat for just about everything, so why did the US and Chinese embrace such different mobile ecosystems? And why is the dream of building a superapp in the West so persistent?
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 38 min
    AI hallucinations: Turn on, tune in, beep boop

    AI hallucinations: Turn on, tune in, beep boop

    ChatGPT isn’t always right. In fact, it’s often very wrong, giving faulty biographical information about a person or whiffing on the answers to simple questions. But instead of saying it doesn’t know, ChatGPT often makes stuff up. Chatbots can’t actually lie, but researchers sometimes call these untruthful performances “hallucinations”—not quite a lie, but a vision of something that isn’t there. So, what’s really happening here and what does it tell us about the way that AI systems err?
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 27 min
    Single-use plastics: The message in a bottle

    Single-use plastics: The message in a bottle

    Everywhere you go, there’s plastic: plastic water bottles, plastic coffee cups, plastic grocery bags... And recycling plastic is notoriously tricky—what do any of those little numbers even mean on the bottom of a container? We’ve long known that single-use plastics are a problem, but why is it so often the duty of consumers to do something about it? And if producers ultimately do start to take real action, how can they make a dent in this pressing environmental problem?
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 47 min
    Online voting: Yes or no

    Online voting: Yes or no

    In the US, voting is seen as a civic duty. It’s voluntary, but it’s an act of patriotism and a democratic responsibility. But there are many barriers to voting—one might have to take off from work, find childcare, or travel long distances to cast a ballot. Wouldn’t voting online instantly expand access to millions of people? Perhaps, but only if we can build a system that’s secure enough to handle it.
    Presented by Deloitte
    Episode art by Vicky Leta

    • 23 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
63 Ratings

63 Ratings

Ab173 ,

So informative

I really loved the episode on the world fair! Fascinating stuff.

Nickname1792804 ,

Entertaining AND Informative

A spoonful of entertainment helps the information go down.

lalawelo ,

Disco: Choosing Joy

Kira & Camille I so appreciated this episode as I am an old disco diva that lived & loved the disco scene. My husband & I were a deep part of subculture. He was the DJ & I was the dancer. We both agree that disco never died. I consistently tell people my feelings on this explaining it’s the foundation of many of the genres that followed. I specifically appreciated your including Puerto Rican people being a part of this history. Today my husband & I do a podcast playing disco and talking about the artist, the clubs and keeping disco alive. ps … I am known for my love of the disco ball … 😉 Great job!

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