Travel
How Does Duty-Free Work, and Why It’s Cheaper
A duty-free shop sells goods that never legally entered the country, so two taxes fall away. Whether you keep the saving depends on airport rent and your home allowance.
Stories by Elena Marsh
Lifestyle
What Do Expiration Dates Mean — and Who Decides Them
Almost no US food date is required by law, and only infant formula's is about safety. Here is who sets expiration dates, what each phrase means, and why they drive so much waste.
Travel
Why Do Flights Get Delayed — and Who Actually Decides
The delay holding your flight is rarely the plane at the gate. It is usually a cascade from earlier in the day — or a slot assigned by a single federal facility.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Lifestyle
Why Clothing Sizes Are Inconsistent
A 32-inch bust was a size 14 in 1937, a size 8 in 1967 and a size 0 in 2011. The standard everyone assumes was lost never actually bound anybody.
Travel
How Airline Overbooking Works, and Who Gets Bumped
The gate auction is not a courtesy — it is a legal requirement, and it exists so the airline never has to pay the regulated amount. What the rules actually owe you.
Travel
Twelve Ways to Find Cheaper Flights That Still Work
Airfare pricing is algorithmic, not arbitrary. Here are the tactics that reliably lower what you pay — and the popular ones that do nothing at all.
Lifestyle
The Capsule Wardrobe, Explained — and Where the Idea Breaks Down
A small, coordinated wardrobe is a genuinely useful idea. The rigid item counts attached to it are the part worth ignoring.