1-800-PODCAST
99% Invisible

1-800-PODCAST

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 1, 202643 min

This week, two stories about the strange power of the 1-800 number. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Sentence 11 of 12 · 0:35

sitting on your doorstep.

by time or distance, right?

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  • B20:35
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  • B221:36
  • B224:28
  • C128:18
  • B235:21
  • C138:29

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 37%A2 37%B1 16%B2 9%C1 2%
  • 89% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 158 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 212 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

This is 99% Invisible. I'm Roman Mars. And I'm here with reporter Daniel Ackerman. Hey, Dan. Hi, Roman. So you reached out to us because you wanted to tell us about a very specific tool that you say completely revolutionized American consumer culture and created the blueprint for the modern retail economy.

0:19

It's like big words, if true. Yeah. So when you think about how many of us shop today, it's something that you can do whenever and wherever you want. Like you could be in bed at 3 a.m., hit a couple buttons on your phone,

0:32

and the next morning, there's a vacuum cleaner sitting on your doorstep. And that shopping impulse is not bound by time or distance, right?

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