Back to the future
Rethinking old ideas about what we eat, where we live and work, and how we power our communities.
This edition of The Highlight is a thought experiment: What if some of the solutions to our most urgent challenges, from climate change to public health crises, could be found by reimagining old concepts and outmoded technology? The future is closer than we think — we just need to rethink what we already know, whether that’s the meat we consume, the office spaces we haven’t returned to, or the batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution.
Here’s how to fix them — and what’s getting in the way.
By Keren Landman
Hybrid cars gave way to electric vehicles. Could “hybrid meat” do the same for beef and pork?
By Kenny Torrella
In the EV era, old automakers are learning new tricks.
By Rebecca Heilweil
Americans are terrible at recycling. Electric cars are a chance to change that.
By Rebecca Leber
Toxic landfills are emblems of environmental injustice across the US. Clean energy can remake them.
By Neel Dhanesha
What’s going to happen to the office space we no longer need?
By Rani Molla
CREDITS
Editors: Samantha Oltman, Adam Clark Estes, Libby Nelson, Izzie Ramirez, Brian Resnick, Bryan Walsh
Copy editors: Kim Eggleston, Elizabeth Crane, Caitlin PenzeyMoog, Tanya Pai
Art direction: Dion Lee, Bita Honarvar
Audience: Gabriela Fernandez, Shira Tarlo, Agnes Mazur, Mary Perkins
Production/project editors: Susannah Locke, Nathan Hall
