Business
How Do Interchange Fees Work, and Who Actually Pays
Your rewards are a share of a fee the shop paid. Debit interchange is capped by regulation, credit is not, and the difference is invisible at the terminal.
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Lifestyle
What Happens to Recycling, and What Actually Gets Recycled
The national rate everyone quotes is 32.1%. The rate for plastic is 8.7%, almost all of it two kinds of bottle. The gap between those numbers is the whole story.
Business
How Does FDIC Insurance Work, and Who Pays for It
The limit everyone quotes has a third clause almost nobody reads, and the fund behind it comes from the banks rather than the federal budget.
Technology
How Does GPS Work, and Why It Cannot Track You
Your phone sends nothing to the satellites. What the fourth satellite is actually for, why orbital clocks run 38 microseconds fast a day, and where tracking really comes from.
Entertainment
When Does Copyright Expire, and Why It Paused for 20 Years
Between 1999 and 2018 nothing entered the American public domain at all. The three separate clocks that govern copyright, and why most old work expired early.
Sports
The International 2026 Playoff Schedule and Results
Sixteen teams became eight in Shanghai. The full group stage standings, the five who survived the elimination round, and the bracket from 20 to 23 August.
Entertainment
How Music Royalties Work, and Who Sets the Price
Half of every song is priced by a government body after an adversarial hearing. The other half is negotiated privately. That asymmetry explains most of what looks unfair about streaming income.
World
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World
How Does Extradition Work, and Who Actually Decides
A court deciding somebody is extraditable does not order anyone handed over. The statute gives the surrender decision to the Secretary of State, and the word it uses is may.
Business
All Business
Business
How Does FDIC Insurance Work, and Who Pays for It
The limit everyone quotes has a third clause almost nobody reads, and the fund behind it comes from the banks rather than the federal budget.
Technology
All Technology
Technology
Why Do Blackouts Happen, and Why a Grid Protects Itself
The picture of a grid running out of electricity is wrong. There is no tank, frequency is the live readout of the balance, and a cascade is the protection working.
Sports
All Sports
Sports
The International 2026 Playoff Schedule and Results
Sixteen teams became eight in Shanghai. The full group stage standings, the five who survived the elimination round, and the bracket from 20 to 23 August.
Travel
All Travel
Travel
How Are Plane Crashes Investigated, and Why Nobody Is Blamed
The most authoritative account of a crash is barred from the lawsuits over it. That exclusion is deliberate, and it is the reason the reports can be so direct.
Health
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Health
How Are Medical Devices Approved, and Why Most Are Not
Cleared and approved are different words with different meanings. Most devices reach hospitals by resembling something already on the market, with no clinical trial at any point.
Lifestyle
All Lifestyle
Lifestyle
What Happens to Recycling, and What Actually Gets Recycled
The national rate everyone quotes is 32.1%. The rate for plastic is 8.7%, almost all of it two kinds of bottle. The gap between those numbers is the whole story.
Entertainment
All Entertainment
Entertainment
How Does Fair Use Work, and Why Nobody Can Tell You in Advance
Every version of the rule you have heard — ten percent, thirty seconds, eight bars — is invented. The Copyright Office publishes a database of court cases instead.
