On America's first highways, road signs were hand-painted on wood. When interstates became standardized, so did the typeface. But in all sorts of conditions it still looks fuzzy. Designer Don Meeker helped bring signage back into focus. Produced by Derek John.

D. J. Waldie loves the suburbs. He was born in one of the tract houses manufactured by the thousands in Lakewood, California. He lives there still, and today works for the city. His book Holy Land is a strange and beautiful mix of personal memoir and suburban history. Waldie tells us why the cheap tract houses of these 1940s suburbs are almost idealistic. Produced by David Krasnow and Will Becton.

Cubicles have a bad reputation as soul-crushing, gray boxes wallpapered in Post-its. But they were originally designed to promote health and wellness. Cubicle pioneer Joe Schwartz explains what went wrong. Produced by Catherine Epstein.

Stefan Sagmeister is an award-winning graphic designer who grew up in Austria and has designed album covers for the Rolling Stones and Talking Heads. When we asked him about his favorite album cover of all time, Sagmeister picked a notorious design by Andy Warhol: The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. Produced by Derek John.

Air Force One, the Presidential 747, is designed to be a White House in the sky. But it wasn't always so deluxe. Historian Gene Eisman explains how Air Force One evolved from a bare-metal military jet into its current hi-tech luxury incarnation. Produced by Mark Anderson.

Along with a keyboard, the mouse is the main tool most people use to control their computers. But it's not exactly subtle. Bill Verplank, one of the founding fathers of interaction design, tells us about the past and future of the mouse. Produced by Gideon D'Arcangelo

You might remember zoot suits from the swing craze in the late nineties. But for one Southern California tailor and her prom-bound customers, zoot suits have never gone out of style. Produced by Eric Molinsky.

Paola Antonelli explains the origins of everybody's favorite ear cleaner.

Jeremy Kinney of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum explains how the Wright brothers' wooden propeller -– designed using the world's first wind tunnel -- made the dream of defying gravity come true. Produced by Dennis Nishi.

The journalist and designer Georgina Keenan opens up something we all used a lot more back before email -- the envelope. Produced by Rob Weisberg.