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The Road Home: Reclaim Detroit

"The Road Home," from Carhartt in partnership with Jefferson Projects, is a series of short documentary videos providing a peek into the lives of American craftsmen and women.

Good Is
By Good IsMay 21, 2015
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Chris Mills is a carpenter with Reclaim Detroit, a company transforming the city by repurposing wood from abandoned houses. Their vision is one of hope and revitalization—leading the way for Detroit’s stories to be known far into the future.

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The project leaders for Volvo's "Your Concept Car."

via Volvo

Volvo had 9 women design a car and the common-sense features were like nothing we've seen before

“We’ve had in the excess of 100 interviews, and we still haven’t found that one that doesn’t want it,” said Volvo technical manager Lena Ekelund in 2004. That March, the Swedish car manufacturer debuted the Volvo YCC, “Your Concept Car,” at the Geneva International Motor Show—then one of the most esteemed auto shows in the world. Even though cars had existed for nearly a century, the YCC was, as Volvo shared, “the first car designed and developed almost exclusively by women.”

Two years earlier in 2002, a group of female Volvo designers, engineers, and marketing professionals went to a seminar at the company to learn how they could improve their reach to female consumers. What they learned, Volvo shared, was that “women purchase about 65 percent of cars and influence about 80 percent of all car sales; yet, for a century, men have made most of the decisions in the design, development and production of a car.” Something needed to change. After all, if women were making the decisions, if they were buying their own cars, shouldn’t cars also reflect their needs? They petitioned Volvo to let them create a concept car, a prototype, informed by women’s driving decisions and desires. Not only did they make it, as Volvo shared, they did so “faster and at less cost than most concept cars.”

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Nirvana's subversive performance on a teen pop show is one of the funniest TV-music moments ever

They were never the most obvious match: Top of the Pops, a buttoned-up institution of British television; and Nirvana, the edgy and irreverent poster boys of an emerging U.S. phenomenon labeled "grunge." But in November 1991, that culture clash resulted in one of the funniest moments in TV-music history.

In a way, it was destiny. Top of the Pops, aired weekly between 1964 and 2006, showcased the most popular songs of the era. Nirvana, meanwhile, were becoming one of music’s hottest commodities, riding the commercial momentum of their soon-to-be-blockbuster second LP, Nevermind. The album’s lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," became an MTV staple and, eventually, one of the most iconic songs ever—a perfect selection for a Top of the Pops "performance." But here’s the problem: Artists on the show typically lip-synced to a backing track, which didn’t exactly fit the Nirvana aesthetic. Kurt Cobain ultimately wound up singing live—but not, let's say, in his typical style.

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Josephine Baker, above, was a source of inspiration for many stars at the 2025 Met Gala.
via Wikimedia Commons

'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' Met Gala outfits were fabulous, but their stories were even better

Every year on the first Monday in May, the Met Gala captures both imaginations and the news cycle. Celebrities of all stripes take to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for their annual fundraising fête benefitting The Costume Institute while showcasing opulent ensembles that embody each year’s theme.

This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” was based on a book of the same name by scholar Monica L. Miller, which focused on “a cultural and historical examination of Black style over three hundred years through the concept of dandyism,” the Met shared. “Superfine” became “the first exhibition to focus on designers of color and only the second show dedicated to menswear,” The Hollywood Reporterwrote. And while the gorgeous styles on view as guests arrived were feats of fashion innovation, the best part was learning the stories behind them and the way they honored the legacy of Black style and design.

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Photo by Sara on Unsplash

From glitter to leopard print,  Portland ocularist Christina King gives prosthetic eyes a new life

An ocularist is “a medical specialist trained in designing, fitting and forming fabricated eyes,” according to Johns Hopkins University, and its practitioners exist in medicine “where art and ophthalmology meet.” But Portland-based ocularist Christina King—nicknamed “Christina Oculara” by a patient, after Christina Aguilera—stands out. At her practice, the Center for Ocular Prosthetics, she makes standard eyes, but she also makes what she calls “fun eyes,” that incorporate designs, glitter, patterns, drawings, and so much more.

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Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd shows her children entering the Star Wars universe

“I liked being Princess Leia. Or Princess Leia’s being me. Over time I thought that we’d melded into one. I don’t think you could think of Leia without my lurking in that thought somewhere,” Carrie Fisher wrote in her 2016 memoir The Princess Diarist. The legendary actress and writer made her mark on cinema history in the original Star Wars series as Princess Leia, of course, and her daughter, actress Billie Lourd, has also made the film series a part of her family’s life.

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Photo credit: screenshot from David Gilmour YouTube video

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