643. Why Do Candles Still Exist?

Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum) and Michael Roth (Wesleyan University) tell Stephen Dubner how they keep the peace in the middle of a culture war. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an ... Show More

Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.) SOURCES: Patricia Allan, museum consultant, former curator of wo ... Show More

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts to get to the finish line. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compan ... Show More

Have you ever wondered why your smartphone or toaster oven doesn't seem to last very long, even though technology is becoming better and better? This week, in a special collaboration with Planet Money, we bring you the history of planned obsolescence – the idea that products are ... Show More

<p>If you’ve ever heard an old timer gripe that things aren’t built like they used to be, that old timer was right! In this classic episode, learn about the nefarious, possibly mythical, mechanism that’s responsible for the cruddy products and waste our consumer society is based ... Show More

<p>People have been burning fires on cliffs as long as other people have used boats, but after the Age of Exploration, lighthouses took their unmistakable form and the great stories of the people who kept the lights around the world began.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-cho ... Show More

For thousands of years, getting light was a huge hassle. You had to make candles from scratch. This is not as romantic as it sounds. You had to get a cow, raise the cow, feed the cow, kill the cow, get the fat out of the cow, cook the fat, dip wicks into the fat. All that--for no ... Show More

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Tis the season. And by season I mean scented candle season. Nothing makes you feel more warm and cuddly than an apple cinnamon candle and a blanket. But what if I told you by burning that candle you’re doing the same amount of damage as just i ... Show More

In the first instalment of our poignant, hard-hitting series: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss; Hannah and Maia breakdown "gaslight" and its terrible evolution. From a 1944 psycho-thriller starring Ingrid Bergman about a woman being tormented by her greedy husband, to a catchall for ... Show More

We know why candles melt - from being lit, of course! But where do candles go when they melt? Do they just disappear into thin air? We asked scientist Fabien Goulay from West Virginia University to help us understand. Got a flicker of a Moment of Um question for us? Send it to us ... Show More