Shelf Life

Cash Peters digs around inside JanSport to bring us a behind-the-scenes look at how the popular backpack maker made it happen.

Yale sociologist Rachel Sherman did some hands-on research into what it's like to work in a low-wage job at a five-star hotel. She talks with Kai Ryssdal about her experience.

Author Margaret Heffernan has researched women-owned businesses and come to the conclusion that they're doing a lot of things right - and, in some ways, better than their male counterparts.

Software projects like Microsoft's Windows Vista are notoriously late getting to market. Salon.com co-founder Scott Rosenberg has a new book on the perils of software programming. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.

Smart companies can use environmental strategy to their advantage. Yale professor Daniel Esty tells us which companies are making it work — and there are some surprises on the list.

Duke University professor Joel Fleishman says that despite their good intentions most foundations have plenty of problems. He talks with Kai Ryssdal about his new book on the subject.

It's the book that made free trade famous: "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith. But who's got time to read its 900-plus pages? Humorist P.J. O'Rourke did and wrote his own book about it. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.

Neatness might not be so virtuous — or profitable — after all. David Freedman talks about his new book on the topic, "A Perfect Mess," with host Kai Ryssdal.

Historian Tom Wheeler talks with host Kai Ryssdal about how President Lincoln adapted to the telegraph to speed communications, and quickly came to understand the medium's limitations.

Host Kai Ryssdal talks to Larry Kahaner, author of a book about the AK-47. Kahaner explains the past and present significance of this deadly weapon — and why the Pentagon doesn't use it.