Thermal Delight

The strange history of a punctuation mark that makes writing feel human, and why people now think it proves the opposite. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visi ...  Show more

This is the sixth episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss Article III, which establishes the judicial branch, alongside New York Times chief legal affairs correspondent, Adam Liptak. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ ...  Show more

Tim Harford tells the surprising story of air conditioning which was invented in 1902 to counter the effects of humidity on the printing process. Over the following decades “aircon” found its way into our homes, cars and offices. But air conditioning is much more than a mere conv ...  Show more

Air conditioning aspires to be unnoticed. Yet, by manipulating the air around us, it quietly conditions the baseline conditions of our physical, mental, and emotional experience. From offices and libraries to contemporary art museums and shopping malls, climate control systems sh ...  Show more

Global warming means the world will need a lot more air conditioning - but will the AC just make global warming even worse?The Middle East already experiences peak temperatures over 50C, as the Kuwaiti social media influencer Ascia Alshammiri testifies. And things are only set to ...  Show more

Air conditioners are a nifty -- and sometime life-saving -- invention, but how does an air conditioner make air cooler? What does a compressor do? What’s a swamp cooler? Tune in for answers to these questions and more in this episode of TechStuff.