Power Play

They tried to kill disco, but it will never die. The stubbornly upbeat genre came out of an economically turbulent moment—one to which we see a lot of parallels today. So what is it about a crisis that just makes us want to dance?

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Episode art by Eric Helgas, styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2138049

Fish sticks are more than just an easy way to get kids to eat healthy food. They’re the ocean’s little problem solvers, swimming in to solve a seafood glut after World War II, and to help working parents in need of cheap and easy meals. Now fish sticks might even help solve our latest challenge: an epidemic of global overfishing.

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2133871

It’s the stuff of Bollywood dreams, come to life—the big fat Indian wedding has withstood the test of time, economic turbulence, social reform, and even modern technology. But when you factor in pent-up pandemic demand, can India’s $50 billion industry possibly keep it up?

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Episode art by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2130303

Google docs has revolutionized the way we work, and now it even functions as a tool for social sharing and political dissent. This is all because the world shifted from saving files locally to storing them in the cloud. But does life in the cloud present risks we aren't thinking about enough? 

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2127812

As more people aren’t sure whether or when to have kids, a growing number of them are turning to egg freezing, a relatively new and expensive procedure that could help women become parents outside their biological bounds. But how realistic is any promise of parenthood entirely on your terms?

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Photo by Eric Helgas, styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2122021

Puffer jackets have been worn by outdoorsmen, rappers, the military, luxury shoppers, and—eventually—everyone. Today, the market is still heating up. But as puffer jackets are worn by more people around the world, the difference between high- and low-end options can be increasingly difficult to parse. Are North Face jackets worth their price tag? Does "puffiness" automatically equal warmth? What do puffers from Prada and Uniqlo have in common?

Sponsored by Alumni Ventures

Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2118817

A podcast so nice we're doing it (at least) twice. In season two, Kira and Quartz journalists from around the world dig into the fascinating backstories behind everyday ideas, and what they tell us about the forces changing the way we live and work today.

We learned a lot over the course of season 1. Here are some of our favorite nuggets of information.

In the early 2000s, GE was the world’s most powerful company, and its CEO Jack Welch was a firm believer in the Six Sigma system for eliminating errors in manufacturing. With GE as its poster child, management consultants spread the gospel of Six Sigma to companies everywhere. Now, as GE’s fortunes diminished, so has interest in Six Sigma. But what made this system so special in the first place, and how much is still useful today?

Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2062943

Everyone working from home knows just how painful it is to sit in the wrong kind of chair. Over the course of centuries, the modern office chair has emerged as the pinnacle of ergonomic comfort and support. Today, as a growing number of jobs are behind desks and computers, that design is more important than ever.

Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi

Transcript: https://qz.com/2084580