The Explainer

What happens to recalled meat?
What’s the difference between a serial killer and a spree killer?
How do you stop a lava flow?
Does homeowner’s insurance cover murder?
And what is Ovaltine anyway?

Answers to these and other fascinating questions you never thought to ask, from the writers at Slate Magazine

An entertaining and genuinely informative compilation of answers to some of life's most improbable questions, from the writers of the online magazine Slate. Often inspired by events in the news, the “Explainer” column asks the questions we never think to ask, or that we’re too embarrassed to admit we don’t know how to answer. Filling in these overlooked blanks of our daily lives, the book provides memorable tidbits for conversations, further rumination, or important context as we follow current events from day to day. Full of fascinating information about unlikely but important subjects, The Explainer will entertain and inform anyone who has ever stopped to wonder who runs Antarctica, how cell phones can reveal your location, or whether one can live off lizard meat.

Slate.com is one of the leading general-interest daily Internet magazines. Slate currently has more than six million visitors each month. Founded in 1996, Slate’s focus in on providing commentary and analysis of politics, technology, business, and the arts. Slate’s writers have won numerous journalism awards including The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Journalism Award, the Polk Award for Local Reporting, and the David N. Schramm Science Journalism Award, to name a few.