Exotic dancers, on-call drivers and writers might have a different name for what they do — freelancing, part-time work and independent contracting — but it all means the same thing. Work that doesn’t start at 9 and end at 5. And sure, it has its perks but do 1099 workers have protections?

In the 1980s, the world’s two largest diaper companies set out to destroy each other in a patent battle known as “the Diaper Wars.” The court battles lasted seven years and cost millions of dollars. What did we get out of it? Better diapers — and one very messy lesson in patent law.

Though jurors are sworn to uphold the law during their deliberation, they still have the power to decide that a defendant is innocent even when all signs point to their guilt. Prosecutor Paul Butler traces the ways this hidden process was a boon for abolitionists in the 1800’s, and a curse to contemporary prosecutors arguing for a guilty verdict.

Standing in the empty parking lot of a Subway store in Springfield, Illinois, Don Norton unfolds a ragged cardboard poster and holds it just below his chest. The sign, which reads, ‘Please help any way you can,’ is so old it looks like it’s about to dissolve.

It’s April and that means two things: spring and tax time! The US tax system is really, really complicated. Every time you do your taxes, you’re answering to multiple jurisdictions –– and all their laws about what you owe for what, and why. We’re taking a look at how our tax system got so complicated and how our attitudes about taxes have changed over the years.

We start with a story from Alisa Roth about a surprising group of taxpayers who live outside the law. Then we listen in as a group of scholars talk about how the tax system got so complicated, and how Americans ideas about citizenship and taxation have changed over the years.