PRI: Design for the Real World

Before the invention of the dialysis machine, kidney failure was basically a death sentence. Registered nurse Janice Breen explains how the design of dialysis machines has evolved since she started working with them back in 1973.

Robots taking over the world? Stealing all the jobs? Robotics engineer Daniel H. Wilson says we shouldn't fear the all-knowing floor-cleaning unit called Roomba. Produced by Caitlin Lindsey.

You might remember zoot suits from the swing craze in the late nineties. But for one Southern California tailor and her prom-bound customers, zoot suits have never gone out of style. Produced by Eric Molinsky.

The writer Akiko Busch explains how, over the years, kids' school accessories have ascended into high style. Produced by Jocelyn Gonzales.

Graphic designer Noah Scalin created a new skull design every day for a year and posted them to his blog Skull-a-Day. He used whatever was at hand: breakfast cereal, sparklers, and little green army men. Scalin thinks that no matter the material, the skull is timeless. Produced by Studio 360's Michele Siegel and Erin Calabria.

Cubicles have a bad reputation as soul-crushing, gray boxes wallpapered in Post-its. But they were originally designed to promote health and wellness. Cubicle pioneer Joe Schwartz explains what went wrong. Produced by Catherine Epstein.

Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister's favorite album cover of all time is one of Warhol's notorious designs: The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, with the fully operational zipper. Produced by Derek John. And Cale reveals Warhol's inspiration for the Velvet Underground's signature banana cover.

Jeremy Kinney of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum explains how the Wright brothers' wooden propeller -– designed using the world's first wind tunnel -- made the dream of defying gravity come true. Produced by Dennis Nishi.

Design guru Steven Heller explains how Father Christmas became branded as a jolly bearded old man in a red suit.

Cartoon characters have helped sell burgers and fries for years. But for graphic designer Steven Heller, there's one icon that stands above the rest. He's a pudgy little boy with a pompadour, checkered overalls and a Double-Decker burger in his hand.

Architect and homebuilding guru Duo Dickinson talks about a tool belt he says makes all the difference. Produced by Rob Christiansen.

Wylie Dufresne loves state-of-the-art equipment, but his favorite kitchen tool is modest: the whisk. We asked an expert, Gourmet Magazine's former style director Corky Pollan, what makes a whisk really mix and beat.

Every time a new Apple product is rumored, a fraction of the country goes into a frenzy. Every bit of new information is pored over by millions of Apple cultists. A new release is earning that kind of excitement right now, but it's an old-fashioned book — a handsome, hardcover biography of Steve Jobs.

Darren Wershler-Henry, a professor of Communications, pays tribute to the whack of metal against paper, the smell of ink, and a technology we've almost forgotten. Produced by Zeke Turner.

Today rock band T-shirts are sold at major retailers, to kids who weren't alive when classic rock was born. But when music writer Johan Kugelberg was growing up in Sweden, wearing the Sex Pistols or Ramones on your chest was its own act of rebellion. Produced by Andrea Silenzi.

Cookbook author Meredith Deeds gets passionate about the kitchen tool that revolutionized baking and became a status symbol in the process. Produced by Kim Gittleson and Jillian Goodman.

Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield wrestles with the form and function of his newest kitchen appliance, a can opener. Produced by Steve Nelson.

Designer Ken Carbone finds delight in his local hardware store. Produced by Jocelyn Gonzales.

When Nintendo released Donkey Kong in 1981, it was one of the only arcade games in which you did more than just blast space invaders. It contained an entire world, with a damsel in distress and an unlikely hero: a little Italian plumber named Mario. Maybe no one is more excited than Tom Chatfield, the author of Fun, Inc.: Why Gaming Will Dominate the Twenty-First Century, who compares Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto to "Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas wrapped up" in one person. Chatfield describes his three-decade-long love affair with the plumber in the hat. Produced by Mark Anderson.

In 1947 a wounded tank commander in the Soviet Army changed the face of gun design from his hospital bed. Writer Guy Martin looks at the AK-47 rifle. Produced by Gardner Allen.