Inventing Hello Kitty

If you can never connect to a printer, if furniture jumps out to stub your toe, if when you do the dishes the water jumps out the sink to soak you - then you are victim of the inanimate malice of things.The belief that all things are essentially out to get us us has a name - Resi ...  Show more

400 years ago on the River Thames a mad genius showed off the world's first submarine. A crowd of thousands including King James watched as Cornelis Drebbel disappeared beneath the murky water, only reemerging after three whole hours had passed.The same genius also came up with p ...  Show more

Beginners. There is an invasion going on in our house. It started out as an unnoticed thing, but it has grown to huge proportions. Every room of my house is affected. Every corner shows a sign of this invasion. Even my friends and neighbors have mentioned it. And the scary thing ...  Show more

Brooke Gladstone interviews Kathryn Hughes, author of Catland, about the storied history of the cat lady trope, how cats became beloved b ...

Kawaii is a Japanese word translating to something like "cute" or "adorable" but it is much more than that. While kawaii figures tug at the heartstrings with their big eyes and baby-like proportions making them seem helpless and vulnerable, kawaii can also represent a rebellious ...  Show more

She's an icon, a polymath, a fashionista, and she's absolutely everywhere right now.

Where did Barbie come from? What has she represented to the many who have bought and played with her? And what makes her an American doll?

In this episode, M.G. Lord joins ...