It has gone from luxury to necessity, and there are over 2 billion air conditioning units in the world today.
In this episode, we'll take a look at how air conditioning got started, why people didn't mind being hot in the past, and what the true cost of staying cool might be for future generations.
Full transcript, subtitles and key vocabulary available (F ... Show More
Jul 16
#622 | A Short History of Fire
A million years ago, in a cave in South Africa, our ancestors did something no other animal has ever done: they controlled fire. Fire cooked our food, shrank our guts, grew our brains, and gave us the deep sleep and fireside stories that made us human. This is the story of our sp ... Show More
24m 39s
Jul 2
#619 | Wyatt Earp | The Man Behind the Legend (English Listening Practice)
In 1881, a 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona made Wyatt Earp a legend of the Wild West. Earp was a gambler, a lawman, a fugitive, and later a showman who told his own legend for cash. So who fired first at the OK Corral, and how did Hollywood turn a frontier opportunist in ... Show More
23m 9s
Jun 18
#617 | Bob Denard: The Mercenary Who Ruled the Comoros (English Listening Practice)
In 1975, a French mercenary landed in the Comoros, a chain of small islands off East Africa, and decided he was going to run the place. Bob Denard staged four coups, converted to Islam, built a farm, and controlled the country from the shadows for over a decade. It was a story of ... Show More
25m 10s
Aug 2020
Keeping Cool | A Chilly Reception | S31-E1
Muggy. Sticky. Miserable. For eons, that’s just what summer was. In fact, when air conditioning first became available, few people took advantage of it. Wasn’t summer supposed to be uncomfortable? This is the story of how people finally warmed up to the idea of keeping cool.You c ... Show More
38m 53s