2020 Tedium Highlight by David Buck: Why Kool-Aid became a long-running pop-culture juggernaut. 

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David Buck’s 2020 Highlights

December 2020

Gingerbread In The House

A tasty Christmas-time treat, gingerbread is surprisingly versatile, with deep roots in storytelling—and (of course!) a deep footprint in pop culture.
November 2020

Turkey Hotline

A celebration of turkey and pop culture just in time for the holidays—including how a telephone hotline somehow combined all three.
October 2020

Turtlemania, Revisited

Looking back on the early multimedia adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a bit of nostalgia on the side.

Over the Vinyl Moon

Vinyl records are in the middle of a renaissance—and a popular vinyl subscription service highlights many of the reasons why that is.
September 2020

A Requiem in Stereo(scope)

More than just a gimmicky gadget, the Nintendo 3DS was a marvel of handheld gaming in the 2010s. And now, a decade after it appeared, it’s gone for good.
August 2020

Thirsty? Oh Yeah!

Kool-Aid is a delicious drink with a fascinating story that extends beyond branding. Here’s how the powdered drink mix (and its mascot) came to define drinks.
July 2020

A True (NES) Advantage

How the NES Advantage, thanks to its long pop-culture reach, came to define the concept of a good controller in the 8-bit console generation.
June 2020

Meet Our Virtual Contestants

Game shows and video games are a surprisingly perfect match, as any Nick Arcade fan knows.
May 2020

Capos On The Brain

Guitar capos, little devices that raise the pitch of a stringed instrument, are simple accessories with a surprising legacy of innovation.
April 2020

A Little Bit of Background Noise

Relaxation through audio is more than a mere matter of white noise. Read on for a little history of background noise, and why it’s so effective.
March 2020

Extraterrestrial Rock & Roll

The bizarre history of one of the greatest novelty records of all time, “The Purple People Eater,” and the dumb joke that brought it to life.

The Mail-Order Blues

A look back at the cheap department store guitar and its impact on modern music. Sears’ retail Harmony meant way more to our culture than some big-box stores.
February 2020

Feelin’ 7UP

The marketing history of America’s favorite lemon-lime soda, 7UP, proves that sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.

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