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Throughline

The Mask

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.715K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2020

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The N95 respirator has become one of the most coveted items in the world, especially by medical professionals. But how did this seemingly simple mask become the lifesaving tool it is today? From bird beaks to wrapping paper to bras, we follow the curious history of one of the most important defenses in our fight against COVID-19.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The fundamental question that existed in my life from the time I was this big was why?

0:14.5

In any explanation that I got, I asked the question why.

0:22.8

In 1958, a woman named Sarah Little Turnbull stood in the director's room at the 3am

0:29.4

company. And in true Peggy Olson Madman style, she pitched a room full of men, a presentation

0:37.3

called Why?

0:39.6

The presentation centered around this question. Why should 3am go into the non-woven business?

0:47.0

Non-woven. She was talking about the way many everyday products were manufactured. All sorts

0:52.7

of things from ribbons to gloves to masks were made out of woven material, like cloth. Fibers

1:00.0

woven together one over the other with tiny little gaps in between the threads.

1:05.2

But a new high-tech material had recently appeared on the market, which had polymers that were

1:11.1

melted together, hence the term non-woven.

1:15.3

Sarah had a lot of ideas about what to do with it. And after her presentation, 3am decided

1:21.8

on one idea in particular. They asked Sarah to design a molded bra cup. That's right, a

1:29.2

bra cup using this non-woven material.

1:33.3

Along with the design for the bra cup, Sarah came back to them with something else, something

1:39.0

revolutionary. It was a prototype for what would eventually become one of our most important

1:44.3

defenses in the fight against COVID-19, the N95 Mask.

1:50.7

No, no, no, no. Just something. Okay, so...

2:02.6

Okay, so yeah, so the N95 Mask is this circular mask that's semi-rigid and it's got two

2:12.4

straps attached and it's supposed to affix tightly to your face. There's usually a metal

2:18.4

clip on the nose that helps seal the gap between your face and the mask.

2:24.9

What is the shape reminds you of? Is there a menu of anything?

...

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