Cool as Ice
Ice Sculpting
Guest: Shintaro Okamoto Founder/Creative Director of OKAMOTO STUDIO
Shintaro Okamoto has been carving ice ever since he was a kid in Alaksa. He and his father took a gamble and moved to New York City, where his studio creates intricate sculptures, including the Statue of Liberty.
Delicious Ice
Guest: Nathan Hopson, Associate Professor, Modern Japanese and East Asian History, Nagoya University, Japan
The Japanese commercialized the ice trade way back in the 11th century. Kakigori was a frozen Japanese delicacy that eventually led to the shave ice craze that pops up every year on American street corners.
How the World Kept Cool When “The Ice King” Ruled
Guest: Jonathan Rees, Professor, History, Colorado State University-Pueblo, author, "Refrigeration Nation," "Before the Refrigerator," and "Refrigerator"
Before the refrigerator, or air conditioning, or electric fans, ice was a hot—or rather, cold—commodity. We’re talking with Jonathan Rees about the surprisingly complex workings of the ice industry, and the “Ice King” who started it all by shipping New England ice all around the globe.