The history of light (classic)

Planet Money

NPR

News, Business

4.6 • 30.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

For thousands of years, getting light was a huge hassle. You had to make candles from scratch. This is not as romantic as it sounds. You had to get a cow, raise the cow, feed the cow, kill the cow, get the fat out of the cow, cook the fat, dip wicks into the fat. All that--for not very much light. Now, if we want to light a whole room, we just flip a switch.

The history of light explains why the world today is the way it is. It explains why we aren't all subsistence farmers, and why we can afford to have artists and massage therapists and plumbers. (And, yes, people who make podcasts about the history of light.) The history of light is the history of economic growth--of things getting faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

On today's show: How we got from dim little candles made out of cow fat, to as much light as we want at the flick of a switch.

Today's show was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum. It was originally produced by Caitlin Kenney and Damiano Marchetti. Today's rerun was produced by James Sneed, and edited by Jenny Lawton. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR sponsor Morgan Stanley with their podcast
0:04.1	What Should I Do with my money? Smart people don't always feel smart about money.
0:08.2	Listen to what should I do with my money to hear real people getting real help from
0:12.2	experienced financial advisors.
0:15.7	This is Planet Money from NPR.
0:19.0	Light. It's amazing, isn't it? We have it at our fingertips with the flip of a switch or a button on our phones these days.
0:30.0	It's a technology so convenient, so ubiquitous.
0:33.4	You almost forget it's a thing.
0:35.3	But the ways humans have captured and use lights
0:38.3	have evolved over the centuries.
0:40.3	And with each advancement,
0:41.6	we've been able to work longer, travel farther, invent whole new industries.
0:47.0	You could even say that as the technology of light progresses, so does humanity.
0:53.8	Back in 2014, David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein wanted to understand that exact correlation.
1:00.5	So they asked the question, at different points in history, how much did light cost?
1:06.0	Here's Jacob.
1:08.0	Long before there were light bulbs, there was fat.
1:11.0	For thousands of years, if you wanted to light up your cave, your mud hut, or if you were really
1:15.8	lucky, your castle, you had to find some fat, something to use for a wick, maybe some moss, maybe a piece of
1:21.9	fabric, and you had to light it on fire.
1:24.0	This was not easy. Even today it's a hard way to get light.
1:28.0	Adam and I know.
	...

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