Maria Popova

Maria Popova

Creator and Author, “Brain Pickings”

Maria Popova is a reader and a writer, and writes about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials. She has also written for The New York TimesWired UK, and The Atlantic, among others, and is an MIT Fellow. She is on Twitter @brainpicker.

In the age of greenwashing and eco-everything, it’s becoming increasingly hard to standardize and fairly assess what constitutes a green product. The USDA has attempted to do this for food […]
There’s hardly a feat of industrial design more emblematic of consumerism than the vending machine. But while vending machines may perpetuate a number of social ills – from conspiculous consumption […]
Today, we’re doing something a bit different. Instead of focusing on a specific design-for-good product or idea, let’s focus on why it’s important to talk about these products and ideas […]
Over the past couple of years, marine sustainability has risen to the top of the environmental movement's concerns. But in a supply/demand market economy, our seafood choices as consumers have a significant impact on the issue. So how can design help consumers make smarter, more sustainable seafood choices?
How connecting cutting-edge technologies with the people who need them the most is revolutionizing the traditional aid model and empowering communities to take charge of their own well-being.
The Braille system is one of design's most ingenious feats. Today, designers are using it to bring more ease and joy into the lives of blind people in everything from mundanity to playtime.
How designers are revolutionizing product packaging, one of consumerism's most toxic and wasteful byproducts, by using smart engineering and innovative materials to dramatically lighten its carbon footprint.