You're reading the Quartz Obsession from May 22, 2018

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Hedge funds
Survival of the richest
American cheese
Processed product of innovation and emulsion
The Boeing 737
The turbulent past (and future) of the world's most popular plane
Broken computer keyboards are seen in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw
Fact-checking
A crucial 21st-century skill
Sentiment analysis
How corporations are reading your mind
TikTok
An ouroboros of irony
Celery
Stalking the history of a forgotten status symbol
The Little Ice Age
Futuristic lessons from the winter of our discontent
Applause
A simple expression that can be tricky to read
Toilet paper
Small luxury, big cost
The jet stream
Invisibly powering planes, wars, and weather
Mate
A caffeinated icon of connection
Pallets
How to move the world with wood and nails
Bonsai
The hefty value of tiny trees
Cruises
A maritime mega-moneymaker
Chatbot therapy
A digital age talking cure
Pickup trucks
Giving carmakers a lift
The Year 536
Worst. Year. Ever.
Candles
Gently lighting our fire
Neurostimulation
The shocking way electricity shapes the brain
Microsoft Bob
The '90s disaster that predicted contemporary computing
Chicken Soup for the Quartz Reader Soul
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Wholesome, satisfying, evidently addictive
Mixtapes
The DIY soundtrack of our lives
The Purdie Shuffle
The world’s most hypnotic drum loop
Shrinking pop songs
A short story of streaming economics
Lost sounds
The science of listening to history
The chills
When music gives us all the feels
The cloud
Data is all around us
The Brown Dog Affair
The forgotten spark of the animal rights movement
Dollar stores
The cost of discount shopping
Grapefruit
As American as apple pie