An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Why is there an archaeologist in my trash can?

Archaeologists have always been interested in rubbish—sites such as waste heaps, middens, and latrines can be some of the richest places to learn about the human past. But the type of rubbish we're leaving behind is changing, and much of it now...

Trace your trash bag's journey from the curb to the landfill

A single garbage truck can hold 10 to 12 tons of waste per load. After curbside pickup, trash is transported to a transfer station before its final trip to a landfill.

Turning trash into music

In a town built on a landfill, a music teacher and young musicians created an orchestra using instruments made entirely from trash. From oil cans to bottle caps, they turned waste into music.

New York City spends $429 million a year just to get rid of its trash

None of NYC's garbage is processed within the city. It is transported by truck, train, and barge to waste-to-energy facilities and landfills as far away as Ohio and South Carolina, a vast logistical operation.

The fascinating world of Disney's themed trash cans

One man's trash can is a literal treasure trove for Steve Tanner, the impassioned curator of this gallery of Disney's hundreds of distinct trash cans at its many parks and resorts. For 15 years, Tanner has researched and photographed the varying styles and themes of the trash cans and posted images and descriptions of them on his site, organized by location. Dive into the world of trash here.

The Keep America Beautiful campaign shifted the blame for litter from manufacturers to individuals

This podcast examines how one organization reshaped the American public's relationship with recycling, asking why responsibility for a cleaner environment falls to individuals rather than to the companies that produce waste.

Could we throw trash inside volcanoes?

Americans toss out about 239 million tons of garbage each year. Some have wondered whether we could toss some (or all) of it into volcanoes, where it could be destroyed. There are about 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, and many are pretty remote, making logistics complex. This video investigates whether the idea checks out.

Meet the hidden Americans

Who represents America? This stunning interactive photo essay by Dutch artist Robin de Puy reveals a world many in the mainstream US do not see. She traveled thousands of miles to document the stories of individuals across the country, compiling them in dozens of episodes spread across three parts, revealing the messy nuances of everyday life for everyday people. Search the index or click through episode to episode in this spectacular project.

Explore stories from riders of San Francisco's transit system

Since 2008, the "Muni Diaries" podcast has collected true stories from more than 4,000 transit riders, from a man riding with a black crow on his shoulder to the bus driver who moonlights as a poet.

A deep dive into how a body decomposes

Dead bodies are, understandably, scary and unsettling. Learn about the fascinating process of decomposition that takes place in every human, and how its teeming with life.

Google Search trends reveal truths about society that traditional surveys miss

Studies of human behavior show that survey respondents may lie to present themselves more favorably. By studying anonymous search data, researchers have uncovered hidden racism, mental health struggles, and interest in taboo or stigmatized topics.

Read the New York Times profile of TAKI 183

The 1971 article about the young graffiti artist and his many acolytes exposed the burgeoning subculture to a large audience and also detailed the effort to clean the work from the city's walls. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

A day in the life of a leafcutter ant

Among the fascinating world of insects, leafcutter ants form some of the most complex and dynamic social ecosystems. All part of an effort to keep a colony alive, worker ants toil tirelessly, dragging bits of leaves and vegetation back to their...

What rodent cars can tell us about human joy

Neuroscientist Kelly Lambert and her colleagues taught rats to drive in a mini car. She writes her findings from this unconventional experiment, sharing that positive and fun experiences can sculpt the brain just as powerfully as stressful ones. Click to learn more about how the apparent joy of these rodents seemed to enhance their neuroplasticity.

From soil to beer, microplastic pollution is all around us

Marine plastic pollution has been studied for decades, but the extent and effects of plastic pollution elsewhere is only just beginning to be explored.

The ancient Greek philosopher who lived in a barrel

Out with green puppets living in trash cans, and in with ancient Greek philosophers living in barrels. This article details the life and beliefs of Diogenes the Cynic, a philosopher who reportedly lived in a barrel. According to this peer-reviewed article, it's unclear if Diogenes recorded any of his beliefs in writing. If he did, no texts have been recovered.

Scientists seeking gut insights are attaching flatulence sensors to volunteers' underwear

This fart-tracking device detects gas generated in the gut, providing insights about gut microbial activity. The underwear sensors measure a component of what is technically called flatus—digestive system gas.

Explore the 2025 Uber lost & found index

A chainsaw. Ten live lobsters. A mannequin head with human hair. These are just a few curious items passengers left behind in Ubers this year, according to Uber itself. Uber is among the largest gig economy platforms in the US, with a valuation of roughly $150B as of 2024.

Thoughts from an anonymous Michelin inspector

An anonymous Michelin inspector answers the most common questions about their job and explains how reviewing and awarding stars works. Covering everything from how they decide what to order to advice for young chefs, get a peek into the details of one of the most influential restaurant reviewing jobs.

Tracking the Isdal Woman

In 1970, a burnt body encircled by an odd assortment of items was found in a remote Norwegian valley. For nearly 50 years, the true identity of the woman escaped authorities who found she had traveled the country under many names. This podcast episode is the first in a 12-part series seeking to uncover the woman's identity and what happened in her final moments.

A life measured on the backs of coffee receipts

Years ago, a storyteller doodled on the back of a receipt. Hundreds of doodles later, Odding Wang has created a digital diary with a tactile feel. Click through the project's website to peruse the portals into Wang's life and mind. Hovering over a comic will reveal the receipt on the other side.

Learn about how General Motors dismantled America's streetcars

This documentary argues that GM systematically bought up and destroyed streetcar networks across the US in the 1930s, replacing them with buses and helping put the automobile at the center of American culture.

Who cleans the London Underground at night?

The London Underground, also known as the Tube, services millions of people every day. After the transit system closes each evening, a crew of workers known as “fluffers” gather to clean the underground tunnels. This article sheds light on these unnoticed cleaners, covering the difficulties of their jobs and the bizarre things they’ve encountered, from ghosts to nesting pigeons.

Things you thought you knew but were wrong

Mike and Sarah are journalists obsessed with the past. Every week they reconsider a person or event that’s been miscast in the public imagination.

Whitman's view on slavery was informed by a trip to New Orleans

In 1848, Walt Whitman traveled with his brother to New Orleans to pursue a job opportunity at the Daily Crescent newspaper. While there, he witnessed firsthand the horrors of the slave trade, an experience that would inform the political and artistic projects that followed.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.