Who decides which snacks are in your office’s vending machine? How much is a suburban elm tree worth, and to whom? How did Girl Scout Cookies become a billion-dollar business? In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories.
106 episodes transcribedThere are more firefighters than ever — and fewer fires for them to fight. So the job has changed. Zachary Crockett slides down the pole. SOURCES:Josh...
How did love stories about vampires, cowboys, and wealthy dukes become the highest-grossing fiction genre in the world? Zachary Crockett gets swept aw...
Performing at a strip club can be lucrative, but it requires financial and psychological savvy — and an eye for social trends. Zachary Crockett takes...
Why does treating a venomous snake bite cost as much as a house? Zachary Crockett slithers over to North Carolina to find out. SOURCES:Steve Anderson,...
Online companies promised to bring transparency to the mattress-buying experience. Did that work out? Zachary Crockett takes a look under the sheets. ...
Channeling the voices of celebrities can be a lucrative career — one that requires empathy and discretion as well as literary chops. Zachary Crockett...
How did mobile kitchens become popular with hipster gourmands? And just how much money can a popular truck make from a lunch shift? Zachary Crocket dr...
Youth baseball — long a widely accessible American pastime — has become overrun by $10,000-per-year, for-profit travel leagues. Zachary Crockett peers...
Why do we use a specific kind of tree-bark tissue to seal up 70 percent of wine bottles? Zachary Crockett takes a sniff and gives the waiter a nod. SO...
Grocery stores have turned shoppers into cashiers. Zachary Crockett runs two bags of chips and a Gatorade over the scanner. SOURCES:Sara Alloy, experi...
Does anyone ever win the giant teddy bear? Zachary Crockett steps right up. SOURCES:Matthew Gryczan, retired journalist and engineer.Elliot Simmons, f...
With industries relying on them and profits to be made, weather forecasts are more precise and more popular than ever. But there are clouds on the hor...
A fraternity’s budget includes broken windows, liability insurance, chili dog breakfasts, and the occasional $40,000 DJ. Zachary Crockett crashes the...
How does bail work — and who's really paying? Zachary Crockett follows the money. SOURCES:Joshua Page, professor of sociology and law at the Universit...
So many vehicles on the road today are white, black, or gray — but automotive designers find that consumer preferences may be changing lanes. Zachary...
Americans love to buy new stuff and hate to get rid of old stuff, which is why storing it all has become a $45 billion business. Zachary Crockett clea...
The background noises you hear in film and TV — from footsteps to zombie guts — are produced in specialized studios by professionals known as Foley ar...
Those letters at the end of web addresses can mean big bucks — and, for some small countries, a substantial part of the national budget. Zachary Crock...
The verdant lawns promise everlasting rest — but what does it mean to sign a lease for all eternity? Zachary Crockett finds out where the bodies are b...
Relocating halfway across the world is hard enough for humans. For pets it can require a specialist. Zachary Crockett waits at the airport, holding a...
