Quartz Obsession

Jul 23 2024 75 ep. 670

Quartz Obsession Podcast artwork

We’re fascinated by everyday objects and what they can tell us about the global economy. Join us every week as reporters from our global newsroom dig into the most fascinating facets of an object: where it came from, how it got to us, and what it can tell us about the forces that are changing the way we live and work.

Business Technology Society & Culture

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Sleep: The dreamiest new industry

Jul 23 2024 38 mins

There’s a lot of money to be made in the business of sleep. Take sunrise alarm clocks, fancy mattresses, REM-tracking wearables, and monthly deliveries of melatonin. But should we really be investing this much in hopes of catching a few more Z’s? In the final episode of season 8, we consult a bonafide sleep doctor on the matter and get a physician’s POV on a few questions k

Strollers: Pushing the limits of childrearing cache

Jul 16 2024 27 mins

There are contactless thermometers, the Nose Frieda, co-sleeping. Trends in parenting gear and childrearing practices seem to evolve at faster rates than other sectors, a speed exemplified by a single product: strollers. While we’ve been engineering ways to wheel children around for centuries, stroller manufacturers can’t seem to stop iterating on their models. Strollers have

Airline credit cards: the high-flying loyalty game

Jul 09 2024 35 mins

From Dubai to Dublin to Dallas and back, air carriers are cashing in on a big business: credit cards. In fact, analysts note that growth in the sector “significantly outpaces the overall credit card industry.” One carrier alone can profit billions from its cards in a calendar year and, in tandem, build loyalty by tying them up in frequent flier programs. Why did airlines bu

F1: The global race to the future

Jul 02 2024 28 mins

As the highest class of international racing for open-wheel, single-seater cars, F1 is worth more than $18B and stands to accelerate even more as a bonafide entertainment business as the Euro-born sport becomes more popular in China, the United States, and other global heavyweights. But F1 also faces its challenges, from new driving tech to adopt to new electrification pressures to

EV chargers: The geographic forces driving electric vehicle adoption

Jun 25 2024 16 mins

Powering an electric car or truck is designed for people with private garages or who live in a major city with lots of accessible charging stations. Rural and suburban apartment-dwellers can’t just run cords out their three-story windows to juice up their rides through a 140-volt outlet. That would take days. If we want any shot at transitioning to greener vehicles, how can we

Drug names: The machinations behind the monikers

Jun 18 2024 15 mins

Ever heard of Viagra, Rogaine, or Ozempic? The process for turning a chemical compound into a household name is both a science and an art. In fact, naming a prescription drug can take a manufacturer up to four years, as a set of three monikers per medicine must run the gauntlet of several regulatory agencies. It all starts with determining a drug’s chemical and generic names —

The algorithm: Letters of recommendation

Apr 23 2024 24 mins

Bought something you don’t need from an ad? Blame it on the algorithm. Disappointing singles on your dating app? Blame it on the algorithm. Come across a post that hits too close to home? Yep, it’s the algorithm. But what exactly is the algorithm, and when did it start shaping how we live digitally? We track the making of the algorithm — starting with ancient Babylonians and

Video game remakes: Revival of the fittest

Apr 16 2024 27 mins

Love a game, buy a game. Really love a game, buy a new, improved version of that game. The video game industry knows that you don’t even have to be a die hard gamer to get out your wallet for a chance to recapture the thrill of killing that zombie or discovering that master sword. Plus, there are new technologies to consider — new graphics to enjoy, new storylines to flesh out,

Green steel: Structural change

Apr 09 2024 24 mins

Think of the world’s dirtiest industries and you’re probably thinking along the lines of oil or meat… but the buildings we live in, the bridges we drive on, the cars we drive in, those all involve something pretty nasty. Steel. Traditional steelmaking is a famously dirty process, but we’re here to tell you that there’s a greener way to make the thing that makes all the th

VR headsets: We're practically there

Apr 02 2024 25 mins

We’ve long associated virtual reality with escaping to someplace more exciting, but the technology has never quite caught up with science fiction’s promise. But VR headsets’ emerging practical applications are a different kind of thrilling — training workers, helping in healthcare, making the workplace less stressful. All of these are reasons to celebrate, and show that VR