The Microsoft Excel superstars throw it down in Vegas

An elite handful of analysts, actuaries, and accountants have mastered Excel, arguably the most important software in the business world. So, what do they do in Vegas? They open a spreadsheet. David Pierce reports from the Microsoft Excel world championships. Read by Michael Satow.

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Spreadsheet superstars

From a pandemic high of $50 billion to $2.1 billion as of December 2023, the business strategy has become as inscrutable as its fandom. Victoria Song reflects on how the company is grappling with challenges while striving to maintain its unique position in the fitness industry. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

Peloton's bumpy ride

Vice Media's rapid expansion led to a staggering $5.7 billion valuation, followed by financial turmoil, including bankruptcy and the shutdown of its award-winning news division in 2024. Elizabeth Lopatto argues that Vice's fall and collapse highlight how the quality of content delivered by workers can be excellent, but poor management can kill a company. Read Betsy Foldes Meiman.

How Vice’s execs burned down its newsroom

With fast search and a gigabyte of storage, Gmail completely revolutionised how we email each other. Twenty years on, as flashier communication tools appear, Victoria Song asks: where does email go from here? Read by Gina Rogers.

20 years of Gmail

Robots.txt, a humble text file governing web crawler behaviour, symbolizes the internet's early social contract. However, David Pierce examines that with the surge of AI companies exploiting data, questions arise about its effectiveness in regulating web access, signalling a potential shift in internet governance. Read by Simon Mattacks.

The text file that runs the internet

President Joe Biden has promised to revitalize American manufacturing, but Silicon Valley residents hope hazardous chemicals won't be coming back with it. Justine Calma explores the dangerous environmental and health impacts of semiconductor manufacturing in California. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

The fight to clean up the toxic legacy of semiconductors

For two decades, Google Search was the invisible force that determined the ebb and flow of online content. Now, for the first time, its cultural relevance is in question. Ryan Broderick reflects on how Google Search reshaped the web and how the emergence of AI now threatens the search engine. Read by Karl Miller.

The end of the Googleverse

A couple of ex-Googlers set out to create the search engine of the future. They built something faster, simpler, and ad-free. So how come you've never heard of Neeva? David Pierce examines why Google's monopoly on the industry killed an incredible search engine focused on user experience. Read by Gary Furlong.

The little search engine that couldn't

Snapchat was supposed to be more ethical than other platforms. So what went wrong? After seven years at the company, Ellis Hamburger explains what he learned about social media while working for one of the hottest startups of the 2010s.

Social media is doomed to die

What does it take to become the next hit social media platform? Following BeReal's initial success - and subsequent flop - Casey Newton questions what went wrong.

How BeReal missed its moment 

Start-up Cerebral admits to sharing patient data with TikTok

Telehealth startup Cerebral has come under fire for exposing a laundry list of patient data to third-party advertisers. So what other privacy violations do we have to be aware of? Emma Roth discusses.

Cerebral admits to sharing patient data with Meta, TikTok, and Google

Could everything we think we know about video games be wrong?

According to a 2022 study on adolescent cognitive development, young people who play video games perform better on brain function tests. But why is that? Nicole Wetsman investigates.