Articles of Interest Announces New Season, Investigating the Connection Between United States Military & Outdoor Clothing Industry and America’s Long-Running “Gorpcore” Obsession
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August 18, 2025 – Articles of Interest – the acclaimed podcast created and hosted by Avery Trufelman – announces a new season, a forthcoming special series illuminating the connection between the United States Military and the outdoor clothing industry. The series will premiere October 22nd in partnership with Radiotopia from PRX.
Previewed in today’s episode about the unlikely, decades-long and at times heartbreaking story behind the invention, adoption and proliferation of the zipper, the new podcast series will serve as the culmination of more than two years of research and far-reaching reporting. As Trufelman unpacks America’s growing obsession with “gorpcore,” this revelatory new installment of Articles of Interest marks the show’s most ambitious work to date, exploring how the military informs the world of high-tech performance wear, and vice versa, and how all of our clothes became gear.
Listen to Articles of Interest and preview its next season in “Zippers,”
the new episode out today
“The military does seem to pop up in some way, manner, or form in almost every single story I’ve ever done. But the quest for high tech clothing in the United States has been egged on by this ongoing and long running tango between the military and the outdoor industry.
So that is why I’ve spent two years exploring the intersection of the military and the outdoor industry and how all of our clothing became performance wear. That will be the next season of Articles of Interest coming this fall. Stay tuned.”
-Avery Trufelman
Helmed by fashion thought-leader, public radio pro and design veteran Avery Trufelman(99% Invisible, The Cut, Curbed) – and recently named one of the Best Podcasts of All Time by TIME – Articles of Interest is the premier show about what we wear, investigating clothing and culture in a way that’s “always well researched, unexpected, and entertaining,” says The New Yorker. “And is all the more impressive for the fact that Trufelman writes, produces, reports, sound designs, mixes, masters, and hosts it, with a voice that’s like velvet for the ears.” But as clothing becomes more and more high-tech, and garments are increasingly expected to “perform” in a changing climate, millions more people all over the world are wearing clothes that have a connection to America’s military. From the sweatshirt to the t-shirt, hoodie and rubber-soled shoe, timeless classics and everyday staples were once the uniforms of soldiers, whether we realize it or not.
As Articles of Interest‘s newest special series since “American Ivy,” a 2023 National Magazine Award finalist, which The New York Times also called one of the Best Podcasts of 2022, these seven upcoming episodes have taken Avery Trufelman to a military convention in Washington, D.C., the Outdoor Recreation Archive in Utah, the Quartermaster Corps Archive in Virginia, the corporate archives of REI in Seattle, and a myriad of other places across the country, some of which have never allowed press, until now.
A precursor to the season, “Zippers” finds Avery Trufelman at the Functional Fabric Fair in Portland, OR, as well as YKK’s zipper factory in Macon, GA, where she begins to establish the dynamic link between the bedrock financial security of the military, and the similarly cutting-edge, potentially life-saving, all-terrained innovation that drives the outdoor industry. She also explores why the Amish community considers zippers to be more modern and high-tech than phones, e-bikes and electronic sewing machines, how zippers became the most common yet superfluous machines in our lives, the way in which the device ushered in the integration of textiles and technology, and the United States’ crucial Berry Amendment.
Tonight, Avery Trufelman will join NPR’s Planet Money for an evening of politics, economics and big questions, taping live at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY.
For more Articles of Interest updates ahead of the new season’s premiere, subscribe to the companion newsletter at articlesofinterest.substack.com.
Articles of Interest is available free on-demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, and Overcast.
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About Articles of Interest
Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear and is the podcast industry’s prestige show touching on fashion and culture. Host and producer Avery Trufelman investigates our collectively held beliefs about fashion and explores topics like the intellectual property law behind knockoffs, creation of tartan and the history of plaid, and how a collection of dolls in a rural museum in Washington state saved French haute couture. Articles of Interest is a smart, insightful take on the clothing industry, for fashion nerds and dilettantes alike. Host Avery Trufelman is a veteran of the design podcast 99% Invisible, and former host of The Cut from New York magazine, and Nice Try! from Curbed.
About Radiotopia from PRX
Created in 2014, Radiotopia from PRX is the first network of its kind. As a network of independent podcasts, Radiotopia empowers audio creators with the artistic freedom to thrive on their own terms and to bring audiences inspired, high-quality, and well-crafted soundscapes. Programming from across Radiotopia has received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the Tribeca Festival, the National Magazine Awards, and the Pulitzer Prizes.
Immerse yourself in stories and conversations of all kinds — intellectual and emotional, real and imagined, entertaining and thought-provoking. Be part of a community that values bold authenticity and boundless creativity. Discover award-winning audio with vision at Radiotopia.fm.
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