Without the first joint stock company, the U.S. wouldn't exist

May 7, 2018
Someone had to pay for American colonies. Enter the British merchants adventurers.
A fireboat welcomes the Godspeed, a 17th-century replica ship, as it sails past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor in 2006.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

The history of the song "Louie Louie"

Apr 23, 2018
A look at the origins of the song that the FBI investigated for 18 months.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

France debates how to pay for saving crumbling cathedrals

Feb 22, 2018
A proposal to charge tourists for entrance to historic churches has been met with resistance from the Conference of French Bishops.
Stonework that has fallen off Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral.
John Laurenson /for Marketplace

Pittsburgh's influential but brief role in the Black Renaissance

Jan 30, 2018
Mark Whitaker's new book, "Smoketown," examines the sometimes overlooked role that the city played.
In the Hill District of the 1940s, Herron Avenue marked the boundary between the upper-class "Sugartop" neighborhood and the working-class "Middle Hill."
Getty Images/Teenie Harris Archive/Carnegie Museum of Art

Civil rights tourism sees more demand and destinations

Jan 12, 2018
From new attractions in Atlanta to a U.S. Civil Rights Trail, tourism around civil rights history is growing.
Tom Houck runs a three-hour in-depth civil rights tour in Atlanta. It's one of several across the South.
Renata Sago/Marketplace

Christmas has always been about consumption

Dec 8, 2017
And if you feel like the holiday used to be better, you're not alone.
Flanders says it's what we consume around Christmas that's changed over the years.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

How a business tycoon cashed in on the Mexican Revolution

Jul 26, 2017
You may not have heard of him, but the Tennessee farm boy was once the richest man in Mexico.
Mexico City in 1912.
Reinhold Thiele/Thiele/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

UK honors Jane Austen 200 years after death

Jul 18, 2017
The romantic novelist is celebrated with her image on a new 10 pound bill.
“Jane Austen was always concerned about the money she made from her writing,” said Kathryn Sutherland, an Oxford professor. “She would be proud and amused to find herself on a bank note.”
CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images

Summer camp has grown into a very big business

Jul 7, 2017
Millions of kids attend camps, which increasingly have to offer more than just color wars and swimming lessons to win customers
At the Admiral Farragut Academy summer camp a senior cadet instructs a younger camper on how to use a bow, circa 1950.
Douglas Grundy/Three Lions/Getty Images

Blog: Founding conflicts, conflicting numbers

Jan 25, 2017
On our first episode of Make Me Smart, we asked you to tell us what you thought about the show, and you had lots to say about polls and presidents.
Protesters flood Independence Avenue during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. 
Drew Angerer/Getty Images