Performing at a strip club can be lucrative, but it requires financial and psychological savvy — and an eye for social trends. Zachary Crockett takes a look.

• SOURCES:
  • Layla, stripper.
  • Dave Manack, publisher and editor-in-chief of Exotic Dancer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "A Look at Washington State’s ‘Strippers’ Bill of Rights’," by Aimee Ortiz (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "These L.A. Strippers Won a Union. But the Dance Isn’t Over," by Suhauna Hussain (Los Angeles Times, 2023).
  • "Dancers at Northwest Portland Strip Club Vote to Form City’s First Strippers Union, Second in U.S.," by Kristine de Leon (The Oregonian, 2023).
  • "'Everyone and Their Mum Is on It': OnlyFans Booms in Popularity During the Pandemic," by Matilda Boseley (The Guardian, 2020).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why is Everyone Having Less Sex?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).

Why does treating a venomous snake bite cost as much as a house? Zachary Crockett slithers over to North Carolina to find out.

• SOURCES:
  • Steve Anderson, emergency medicine business unit leader at BTG Pharmaceuticals.
  • Nick Brandehoff, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado and executive director of the Asclepius Snakebite Foundation.
  • Sean Bush, emergency physician and president of the North American Society of Toxinology.
  • Nitin Deshpande, business consultant with Premium Serums & Vaccines.
  • Jack Facente, owner-operator of AGRITOXINS Venom Production Laboratory.

• RESOURCES:
  • "This New Antivenom Defangs the Toxins of Cobras, Black Mambas and More," by Cassandra Willyard (Scientific American, 2024).
  • "Perspectives on Snakebite Envenoming Care Needs Across Different Sociocultural Contexts and Health Systems: A Comparative Qualitative Analysis Among U.S. and Brazilian Health Providers," by Eleanor Strand, Felipe Murta, Anna Tupetz, Charles J. Gerardo, et al. (Toxicon: X, 2023).
  • "Access to Antivenoms in the Developing World: A Multidisciplinary Analysis," by Julien Potet, David Beran, David J. Williams, et al. (Toxicon: X, 2021).
  • "The Lab Saving the World From Snake Bites," by Myles Karp (Smithsonian Magazine, 2020).
  • "Why Competition Hasn't Brought Down The High Price Of Snakebite Treatment," by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez (NPR, 2019).
  • "Summer Bummer: A Young Camper’s $142,938 Snakebite," by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez (KFF Health News, 2019).
  • "The Amazing Science Behind Fatal Snake Bites," (BBC News, 2015).
  • "Southern Californians See a Rise in Venomous Snakes," by Rebecca Fairley Raney (The New York Times, 2006).
  • Venom Week.

• EXTRAS:
  • Venom Hunters, TV series (2016).

Online companies promised to bring transparency to the mattress-buying experience. Did that work out? Zachary Crockett takes a look under the sheets.

• SOURCES:
  • Derek Hales, founder and editor-in-chief of NapLab.com.
  • Joe Megibow, C.E.O. of Casper Sleep.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Drake Has a $400,000 Bed − We Asked Why and Where You Can Buy It," by Emilia Hitching (Homes & Gardens, 2024).
  • "Casper Tests a New Store Design as It Rethinks Its Retail Strategy," by Anna Hensel (Modern Retail, 2024).
  • "Is The Direct-To-Consumer Bedding Business Turning Into A Bad Dream?" by Warren Shoulberg (Forbes, 2019).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are We in a Mattress-Store Bubble?" by Freakonomics Radio (2016).