Neil Freiman

Multiple people are booking training courses per day, and there's 40 women members as well.

The reason why chimney sweeps are in demand is that

people are having more open fires in their home.

And the British government recommends chimneys be professionally swept once a year to limit air pollution.

The reason why people are having more open fires are varied.

The Times says that higher energy prices, the increasing use of wood-burning stoves, and concerns around a hostile state like Russia taking out the electric grid have all juiced their popularity.

And business is booming if you're in the chimney sweep business.

For H. Firkins & Sons, which has been sweeping chimneys since the 19th century, they get about 70 to 80 calls a day in the winter months.

Toby, I'm not sure how to say this.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

Chim-chim-chree, indeed.

All right, for my next number, I'll introduce you to a piece of infrastructure that saved countless lives netting alongside the Golden Gate Bridge.

As the New York Times reported, for decades, there had been an average of 30 suicides each year from people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

In the second half of 2025...

there were zero, almost certainly a record low for a bridge that was constructed nearly 100 years ago.

For this stunning decrease, there's only one thing to thank, a miles-long series of nets, or really stainless steel cables, that sit 20 feet below public walkways on both sides of the Golden Gate.

The project traces back to 2006, when family members of people who jumped from the bridge began brainstorming methods about ways to limit suicides.

They eventually landed on the net concept, which was borrowed from Bern, Switzerland.

this being san francisco the netting was not built in a day or even five years according to the times construction took seven years from 2018 to 2025 meaning that it took longer to rig up the netting than the bridge itself which was built in about four years cost balloon two from an initial estimate of 76 million dollars to 224 million now that it's finally up though the netting appears to be working as intended

For my final number, I'm going to ask you a question.