(Not Just) Another Brick in the Wall
99% Invisible

(Not Just) Another Brick in the Wall

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 6, 202628 min

A closer look at the messy, beautiful bricks hiding across Chicago. 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 1 of 12 · 0:00

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The Monadnock Building in Chicago is unlike any structure you'll ever come across.

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  • B20:54
  • B24:29
  • B210:15
  • C212:11
  • B214:32
  • B218:59
  • C121:16
  • B226:19

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 31%A2 37%B1 20%B2 9%C1 2%
  • 89% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 178 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 113 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. The Monadnock Building in Chicago is unlike any structure you'll ever come across. A few years back, I brought my wife Joy to gaze upon it with me because, you know, of course I did.

0:18

Okay, and so I want you to, I'm not trying to quiz you, but like I want you to tell me like what you see when you see this building, like what are some of its characteristics. Okay. Well, it's massive, but not in the same way, like, super tall like these other skyscrapers.

0:34

Yeah. It feels heavy. Yes, it feels heavy, dense. Built in 1891, the Monadnock is an office building that is needed shoring up to keep it

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