Braden Hall

So the more that we can invest as a society in social infrastructure, the more likely we're going to address the problem of social isolation and loneliness.

I think that's a great idea.

Anything that you can do to motivate yourself and push yourself to be more social, the better it is for you and for everybody else, including your community.

Acknowledge people you encounter through smiles, nods, or just pleasant comments.

Yeah, I think a lot of people take it for granted.

I don't think people necessarily realize that this goes all the way back to ancient Persia.

So for me, it's fascinating to look at things that are deeply embedded in our daily lives and stop and think, well, how do we get here?

How did this happen?

And then I sort of pull on that thread of the sweater and it unravels and unravels and unravels.

And then suddenly it's 550 BC and I'm looking at a huge dome-shaped structure in ancient Persia that was used to make ice cubes.

Yeah, absolutely.

Your Korean grocer doesn't necessarily have it.

So the ancient Persians figured out that in the desert, you could use evaporative cooling at night in the winter to create ice.

And then they would store it in these huge sort of beehive-shaped structures, which had like a solar chimney at the top to pull out hot air.

and a place at the bottom to bring in cool air, and that allows them to store ice year-round.

So rather than having to go to your nearest mountaintop and carve out a block of ice, they were able to make it in the middle of the desert, which I think is a pretty cool way to start.

Yeah, so it's fascinating that they figured this out and they exploited it.

And then that technology spreads as we get the Arabs coming in and conquering Persia in, let's say, like 650 AD.

And when that happens, they bring in their own bit to the equation, which is they go from using, let's say, rose water and honey to make sort of a shaved ice type of deal in Persia.

ancient Persia, they bring in milk and sugar that they've got from their trade routes.