This week I learned what movie producers in the 1940s used for snow, and more

Read more on the facts mentioned:

The internet has run out of four-letter dot-com names (Slate)

Farm pop: Why the rubber chicken (Modern Farmer)

Listen: Macaulay Culkin has a pizza-themed Velvet Underground cover band, The Pizza Underground (Pitchfork)

The gross secret behind Star Trek's old costumes (Fast Company)

Let it snow: Rare photos from the set of It's a Wonderful Life (LIFE)

Watch Captain Picard "sing" "Let it snow":

Listen to more audio explainers:

• How to buy an engagement ring — a man's guide
• This week I learned the best place to sit in a movie theater, and more
• Plagiarism: An abbreviated history