Cities across the country are buying up buildings as a way to increase affordable housing stock and take more control of the market
By Nate Berg
This story is part of Home Bound, a series that examines Americans’ fraught relationship with their homes — and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hit the reset button. Read more here.
The affordable-housing crisis in America was bad enough before the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly a third of households in the U.S. are renters, and almost half of those households pay more than 30% of their income for housing. Before a federal moratorium was put in place last fall, up to 40 million people were at risk of eviction due to the economic shock of the pandemic. …
Homes are at the center of our major health crises. They’re also a big part of the solution.
By Joseph G. Allen
During the pandemic, many of us felt like we were trapped inside because, well, we were. But this actually isn’t all that unusual.
The typical person in the United States spends 90% of their time indoors during any given year. We’ve become an indoor species. About two-thirds of our life is spent at home, with the rest of the time divided between places such as work and school, and things such as getting groceries, doing errands, and going to the gym, the bank, and church. …
This new $29 gadget screams “Apple” in multiple ways. And its Precision Finding and Find My network features are genuine advances in lost-stuff tracking.
By Harry McCracken
When rumor first surfaced a couple of years ago that Apple was working on a Bluetooth tracker gadget, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. Companies such as Tile and Adero were already making such gizmos, which you fasten to possessions to help you find them in the event they’re misplaced. And they were having enough trouble scaling the idea up into a viable business that they were pivoting away from being purely about finding lost stuff.
If small outfits found the category to be limiting, why would it interest Apple, a company that’s hardly interested…
The Kaji family is navigating the increasingly complicated world of kidfluencers by expanding beyond YouTube
By KC Ifeanyi
In 2015, when Ryan Kaji was three years old, he asked his parents why he wasn’t on YouTube like the other kids he was watching.
Ryan’s mom, Loann, and dad, Shion, created the channel Ryan ToysReview that same year, uploading videos of Ryan opening and playing with toys and conducting at-home science experiments. Initially, they thought YouTube would be just another hobby for Ryan, like swimming or gymnastics. At the very least, it was a fun way to keep their extended families in Vietnam and Japan up-to-date on Ryan’s life in Texas. …
Professor Allissa V. Richardson explains why media companies should stop sharing videos depicting graphic violence against Black Americans
By Ruth Reader
Since 2013, when Black Lives Matter erupted on the scene to challenge the acquittal of Florida resident George Zimmerman for killing 17-year old Trayvon Martin, images of Black Americans dying on-screen have become as constant as air. In the last week, videos pertaining to at least four instances of police violence against Black Americans have circulated online. At the same time, a Minnesota jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty for the murder of George Floyd.
The video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck while Floyd gasped for breath sparked a movement for police accountability that…
The power of the one-on-one check-in lies in its personalized format
By Amy Leschke-Kahle
This past year has tested companies, their senior management, and team leaders in ways that seemed unimaginable before. We’re in the middle of a once-in-century global health event while also working toward long-overdue changes in racial and social justice. As team leaders, we are navigating new territory without a clear map, trying to guide our teams under new environments and evolving rules, often without any in-person interaction.
As team leaders, we are responsible for keeping employees engaged and feeling that they’re capable of sustainable work. …
The new Apple TV 4K has a better remote and a nifty way to improve your TV’s colors, but it’s no match for the onslaught of smart TVs on the market
By Jared Newman
As part of its big “Spring Loaded” press event on Tuesday, Apple announced that it will fix your TV’s picture settings in one of the most roundabout ways possible.
Just buy yourself an Apple TV streaming box, plug it into your existing television, then hold your iPhone up to the screen. The Apple TV will then use the phone’s image sensors to calibrate its own color output according to what Apple says are cinematographer-approved specifications. …
The iMac made its name in color. Now it’s back at just the right time.
By Mark Wilson
It’s easy to forget that before Jony Ive remade Apple’s aesthetic in cool aluminum during the mid-aughts, the company’s design comeback actually started in 1998, with the plastic iMac G3, which featured a friendly handle on top. At first, it was released in “Bondi Blue.” Then sales rose by 24% when the company offered the iMac in more colors. Now, for the first time in roughly 20 years, Apple is bringing color back to its iMacs.
The new line is available for order in teal, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and red. What hits you off the bat…
Everlane eradicated 90% of virgin plastic from its company. But it’s struggling to tackle the last 10%, mirroring challenges other companies face in trying to get rid of plastic waste altogether.
By Elizabeth Segran
It’s really hard to create buttons, sneaker soles, spandex, and zipper teeth without virgin plastic. Just ask Everlane.
In 2018, the fashion label made a radical commitment to eliminate all virgin plastic from its supply chain by the end of 2021. As Everlane approaches the deadline, the brand has cut out 90% of virgin plastic, but the remaining 10% is proving tricky, as global recycling and manufacturing systems are not set up to address specialized objects (such as zipper teeth).
The Plastic Problem
There is good reason for Everlane to focus on that last 10%. Creating plastic from oil generates…
I hid my learning disability for years at work, but it’s important to talk about the toll that hiding it can take — and why disclosing can be so hard
By Terri Rodriguez-Hong
I have always related to Wile E. Coyote. Afternoons in front of the TV after school served as a sort of game tape of my time spent hiding at the back of classrooms, dreading the little disasters that seemed to hide around every corner. Regardless of the hours I spent planning and organizing, grinding through my homework, and reading directions that I could never retain, I always knew that no matter how hard I tried, or carefully I planned, there would always be a train in the tunnel or a cliff around the next curve. …
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