Listen to “The Great Washing Machine Scam”
As consumer technology improves, basic household appliances, like the washing machine, keep sprouting new, high-tech functions. Not surprisingly, they’re also increasingly difficult to repair. So our journalistic gumshoe ventured to find out: Who put us in this jam? And why?
Keeping the Beat: Custom-Made Conducting Batons
A good conductor can lead an orchestra with almost anything — even a chopstick. Leonard Bernstein was known to conduct a full symphony with just his eyebrows. Why, then, in this age of cheap manufacturing, are handmade, custom conducting batons still in demand?
Listen to “Rewilding Your Yard,” with Dr. Doug Tallamy
For the sake of the planet, an entomologist asks you to adopt a bug’s eye view of your own backyard—and then tear out your lawn.
Listen to “A Conversation with the Compost King”
Mark Sturges has mastered an agricultural art as old as agriculture itself: cultivating live compost.
Listen to Master Woodworker Gary Rogowski on “Patience and Forgiveness”
In the premiere episode of our new audio series, “The Secrets of Mastery,” Gary Rogowski reflects on some of the lessons of his craft.
Listen to “The Cowboy Folklorist”
Though he calls himself simply a “songster and storyteller,” Andy Hedges is compiling a rich, unique audio archive of cowboy music and poetry—and bringing the legends of the genre together on CD and stage.
The Case for a Maintenance Mindset
A conversation with Stewart Brand, one of the most influential thinkers and pioneers of our time, still known for his 1968 creation, the Whole Earth Catalog. We talk to him about his latest project: a book, being publicly drafted online, entitled “Maintenance: Of Everything”
Written by TODD OPPENHEIMER
The Great Washing Machine Scam
As consumer technology improves, household mainstays like the basic washing machine keep sprouting new, unnecessary functions. Many of those functions are difficult if not impossible to repair, which makes the life expectancy of our household appliances plummet. What’s going on here? Our journalistic gumshoe hits the streets to figure out who’s pulling the strings in the appliance world.
Written by AARON BRITT
Try This at Home: A Q&A with Kyle Wiens, Right-to-Repair Crusader
Craftsmanship’s Contributing Editor Jeff Greenwald caught up with Kyle Wiens, co-founder and CEO of iFixit, the world’s largest repair community, to talk about what makes repair a craft—and where the right-to-repair movement is headed next.
Written by JEFF GREENWALD