HowStuffWorks is an American commercial
infotainment website founded by professor and author
Marshall Brain
Marshall David Brain II (born May 17, 1961) is an American author, public speaker, futurist, and entrepreneur who specializes in making complex topics easy to understand. Brain is the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and the author of the ''How Stuff ...
, to provide its target audience an insight into the way many things work. The site uses various media to explain complex concepts, terminology, and mechanisms—including photographs, diagrams, videos, animations, and articles.
The website was acquired by
Discovery Communications
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...
in 2007 but was sold to
Blucora
Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Meta ...
in 2014. The site has since expanded out into
podcasting
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
, focusing on factual topics. In December 2016, HowStuffWorks, LLC became a subsidiary of OpenMail, LLC, later renamed
System1.
[ In 2018, the podcast division of the company, which had been spun-off by System1 under the name Stuff Media, was acquired by iHeartMedia for $55 million.
]
History
In 1998, North Carolina State University instructor Marshall Brain
Marshall David Brain II (born May 17, 1961) is an American author, public speaker, futurist, and entrepreneur who specializes in making complex topics easy to understand. Brain is the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and the author of the ''How Stuff ...
started the site as a hobby. In 1999, Brain raised venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
and formed HowStuffWorks, Inc. In March 2002, HowStuffWorks was sold to the Convex Group, an Atlanta-based investment and media company founded by Jeff Arnold, founder and former chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
(CEO) of WebMD
WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites.
It was fou ...
.[HowStuffWorks sold to vulture fund](_blank)
BizJournals 2002-09-02. The headquarters moved from Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...
, to Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. HowStuffWorks originally focused on science and machines, ranging from submarines to common household gadgets and appliances. After adding a staff of writers, artists, and editors, content expanded to a larger array of topics.
On October 20, 2004, Stuffo.com was created, and HowStuffWorks moved its entertainment section over to the new website. In 2005, the team disbanded Stuffo.
The domain
Domain may refer to:
Mathematics
*Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined
**Domain of definition of a partial function
**Natural domain of a partial function
**Domain of holomorphy of a function
* Do ...
HowStuffWorks.com attracted at least 58 million visitors annually by 2008, according to a Compete.com
Compete.com was a web traffic analysis service. The company was founded in 2000 and ceased operations in December 2016.
Services
Compete.com provided two categories of information:
*Site Analytics
: a free service, where the user can enter any ...
survey.
There have been four HowStuffWorks books—two illustrated hardcover coffee table book
A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can serve to inspire convers ...
s, ''HowStuffWorks'' and ''More HowStuffWorks'', and two un-illustrated paperbacks, ''How Much Does the Earth Weigh?'' and ''What If?''. HowStuffWorks previously put out an educational magazine, ''HowStuffWorks Express'', for middle-school students. The company has also released a series of HowStuffWorks trivia "LidRock" discs— CD-ROMs sold on fountain drink lids at Regal Theaters
Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens ...
.
In 2005, HowStuffWorks became the exclusive online publisher for Publications International, Ltd., Consumer Guide and Mobil Travel Guide
Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide or Mobil Travel Guide) is a star rating service and online travel guide for hotels, restaurants and spas. In 2011, Forbes Travel Guide published its last set of guidebooks and on November 15, 201 ...
.
Howstuffworks.com spun off its international division when it went public
Nasdaq:HSWI
via an acquisition of INTAC, a China-based company. In March 2007, HSW International HSW may refer to:
* Hall School Wimbledon, in Wimbledon, London, England
* Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, often considered the three top business schools worldwide ...
launched its Portuguese website with headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
. The Portuguese name of the site is Como Tudo Funciona ("how everything works"). In June 2008, the Chinese site was launched with new headquarters in Beijing, China. The URL roughly translates to "Knowledge Information Web".
On October 15, 2007, Discovery Communications
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...
announced it had bought HowStuffWorks for $250 million. The company later chose to use the name HowStuffWorks as the title of a television series on its Discovery Channel. The series, which focuses on commodities,
"Precious Commodities"
. - '' Discovery Channel'' premiered in November 2008 and is similar in style and content to other "how it works" programs, like Modern Marvels
''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's ...
.[Wasko, Janet and Calderon, Carlos. ]
"Modern Marvels: Celebrating How It Works"
- ''University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
''. - May 7, 2008
On November 2, 2009, HSW International HSW may refer to:
* Hall School Wimbledon, in Wimbledon, London, England
* Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, often considered the three top business schools worldwide ...
co-founded Sharecare
Sharecare is an Atlanta, Georgia-based health and wellness company that provides consumers with personalized health-related information, programs, and resources. It provides personalized information to the site's users based on their responses to ...
, developing a social QA platform through which users ask health and wellness-related questions, receiving answers from industry experts. Other co-founders in Sharecare include Jeff Arnold, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Harpo Productions
Harpo Productions (or Harpo Studios) is an American multimedia production company founded by Oprah Winfrey and based in West Hollywood, California. It is the sole subsidiary of her media and entertainment company Harpo, Inc. The name "Harpo" is ...
, Discovery Communications, and Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
.
On April 21, 2014, Discovery Communications announced that it had sold HowStuffWorks to Blucora
Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Meta ...
for $45 million. In July 2016, Blucora announced the sale of its Infospace business, including HowStuffWorks, to OpenMail for $45 million. OpenMail was later renamed System1.
In 2014, HowStuffWorks moved its headquarters from Buckhead
Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...
to Ponce City Market
Ponce City Market is a mixed-use development located in a former Sears catalogue facility in Atlanta, with national and local retail anchors, restaurants, a food hall, boutiques and offices, and residential units. It is located adjacent to th ...
, a new mixed-use development in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta. In June 2017, it announced the hiring of Cracked.com founder and former editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien for its new comedy podcasting division.
In 2017, System1 spun off the podcast department of HowStuffWorks as Stuff Media, retaining the HowStuffWorks website. In September 2018, Stuff Media announced its sale to radio broadcaster iHeartMedia for $55 million.
Podcasts
HowStuffWorks maintained a large number of podcasts, hosted by its staff writers and editors, but now all former HSW podcasts are owned and operated by iHeartRadio.
* ''The Daily Zeitgeist'': a twice-daily podcast, humorously self-described as "second-rate," that discusses what is trending in daily. It is co-hosted by Jack O'Brien and Miles Gray, and features a rotating guest.
* ''Stuff You Should Know
''Stuff You Should Know'', often abbreviated as SYSK, is a podcast and video series published by iHeartRadio and hosted by Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant. The podcast, which releases episodes several times a week, educates listeners o ...
'': an audio podcast and video series on various topics from all fields of interest, co-hosted by senior staff writers Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant. In older episodes, editors Candace Keener and Chris Pollette co-hosted with Clark before Bryant became the permanent co-host. The podcast falls under the category of "Society and Culture". It was granted recognition as one of iTunes' Best of 2008 podcasts.
* ''Stuff You Missed in History Class'', originally called ''Fact or Fiction? History Stuff for the History Buff'': important historical events, originally hosted by Candace Keener and Josh Clark. He was replaced by Jane McGrath in November 2008, who in turn was replaced in June 2009 by Katie Lambert. In August 2009, Keener was replaced by Sarah Dowdey. In November 2010, Deblina Chakraborty replaced Lambert, Candace Keener guest co-hosting for three episodes between Lambert's departure and Chakraborty's arrival. In February 2013, Chakraborty left the podcast and was replaced by editor Holly Frey. In March 2013, Dowdey was replaced by Tracy Wilson.
* ''TechStuff'': dedicated to demystifying technology and discussing its impact on society, originally hosted by technology editor Chris Pollette and senior staff writer Jonathan Strickland. In January 2013, Chris Pollette was replaced as co-host by Social Media Editor Lauren Vogelbaum. Vogelbaum left the program in 2015 and Strickland became a solo host. Topics range from the history of tech companies (i.e. the recent RIM Podcast) to the way a piece of technology works (I.e. a podcast on micropayments) to the way things work to fictional tech (" The Tech Of Doctor Who").
* ''BrainStuff'': a podcast originally hosted by Marshall Brain. It was formerly hosted by a rotating cast of HSW editors, then Christian Sager and now Lauren Vogelbaum, and deals with natural sciences. Usually is a 5 to 10-minute podcast.
* ''Stuff Mom Never Told You'': explores feminism and gender roles, and highlights notable pioneering women, hosted by Anney Reese and Samantha McVey. Former hosts include Caroline Ervin and Cristen Conger, the latter of whom co-creates the show with Molly Edmonds. Ervin replaced original host Edmonds in 2011. Conger and Ervin left the show in 2016; it relaunched in 2017 with new hosts Emilie Aries and Bridget Todd. Host Anney Reese replaced Aries in early 2018, and Todd left the show in late 2018 to be replaced by McVey.
* ''Stuff of Genius'': was a short video format podcast that focuses on an inventor or innovator (i.e., genius) for each episode. The video features humorous animation with a voice over originally provided by site founder Marshall Brain with later episodes narrated by Jonathan Strickland.
*''Stuff They Don't Want You To Know'': a video and audio podcast that focuses on conspiracy theories and the evidence and arguments for or against them. Hosted by Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick, and Noel Brown.
* ''Stuff To Blow Your Mind'' (formerly ''Stuff From the Science Lab''): focuses on natural science. It is hosted by Robert Lamb, one of the site's senior writers, and Joe McCormick. They replaced Julie Douglas, a writer and editor, who launched the "Stuff of Life" podcast in 2015. Christian Sager left the show in December 2017.
*''Savor'': a food podcast hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum and Anney Reese. Formerly FoodStuff.
* ''Part-Time Genius:'': a general interest podcast hosted by Mental Floss founders Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur.
* '' Atlanta Monster'': in cooperation with Tenderfoot TV, a crime podcast about the Atlanta murders of 1979–81. Hosted by Payne Lindsey of podcast Up and Vanished.
* ''Movie Crush'': is a movie discussion podcast hosted by senior staff writer Charles "Chuck" Bryant where he interviews celebrities about their favourite movie.
* ''Drawn: The Story of Animation'': a co-production of HowStuffWorks and Cartoon Network, a weekly podcast hosted by Holly Frey discussing the history of animated cartoons.
* ''Couples Therapy'': a podcast hosted by Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman which examines relationships.
* ''Behind the Bastards
Robert Evans is an American author, journalist, and podcast host who has reported on global conflicts and online extremism. A former editor at the humor website Cracked.com, Evans now writes for the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat w ...
'': is a weekly comedic history podcast hosted by Robert Evans
Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...
exploring the lives of deplorable historical figures.
*''Ridiculous History'': is a semiweekly comedy history podcast about the more unknown, ridiculous, and unbelievable parts of history. Hosted by Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown.
''Food 360 with Marc Murphy''
The Chopped judge and restaurateur examines food culture from every possible angle, shedding new light on familiar culinary topics.
Canceled
* ''CarStuff'' (formerly ''High Speed Stuff''): dealing with automotive topics and is hosted by editor Scott Benjamin and writer Ben Bowlin.
* ''HowStuffWorks NOW'': an audio podcast that draws from the weekly NOW video series. It was hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum and featured rotating contributors.
*''The Stuff of Life'': a podcast hosted by Julie Douglas that focuses on a different question each week. There was a regular guest roundtable segment as well as interviews with researchers and experts.
*''The Coolest Stuff on the Planet'': was a video podcast that highlights a specific location and features geographic-specific facts and trivia.
*''Stuff To Make You Smarter'': was a podcast focusing mainly on general topics and their impact on the human body. Hosted by writers Rob and Chris.
*''Stuff From the B-Side'': was a podcast originally hosted by senior staff writer Charles "Chuck" Bryant and staff writer John Fuller and deals with music. Later episodes feature Mark Larson taking Charles Bryant's place as host. No new episodes have been released since December 2009.
*''PopStuff'': was an opinion based podcast, featuring Pop culture related topics, including televisions shows and movies. Hosted by Holly and Tracy. The last episode aired on March 18, 2013, with reruns of certain episodes airing until June 3, 2013.
*''Stuff for a Stylish Home'': was a podcast on home decor, DIY, and home style.
*''Fw: Thinking:'' a podcast that focuses on the future of science and technology. It was hosted by Jonathan Strickland, Lauren Vogelbaum, and Joe McCormick.
See also
* eHow
eHow is an online how-to guide with many articles and 170,000 videos offering step-by-step instructions. eHow articles and videos are created by freelancers and cover a wide variety of topics organized into a hierarchy of categories. Any eHow use ...
* ''How It's Made
''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in French) is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the Discovery Channel in Canada and the Science Channel in the United States. The program is produced in th ...
''
* ''The Way Things Work
''The Way Things Work'' is a 1988 nonfiction book by David Macaulay with technical text by Neil Ardley. It is an entertaining introduction to everyday machines and the scientific principles behind their operation, describing machines as simple ...
''
* wikiHow
wikiHow is an online wiki-style publication featuring how-to articles on a variety of topics. Founded in 2005 by Internet entrepreneur Jack Herrick, its aim is to create an extensive database of instructional content, using the wiki model of ope ...
References
External links
*
*
''How Stuff Works''
at Discovery Channel
{{authority control
2002 mergers and acquisitions
2007 mergers and acquisitions
2014 mergers and acquisitions
2016 mergers and acquisitions
2018 mergers and acquisitions
American educational websites
Education companies established in 1998
Internet properties established in 1998