{"podcast":{"title":"Interesting Things with JC","slug":"interesting-things-with-jc-4639155","podcast_index_feed_id":4639155,"rss_url":"https://jimconnors.net/interesting-things-with-jc?format=rss","website_url":"https://jimconnors.net/","image_url":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bba2d6fca525b3efa21591f/1641345203068-7ISWC2M7C29QNG3DNOMY/Ray_Effect_for_Backgrounds_Transparent_PNG_Clip_Art_Image-01.jpg?format=1500w","author":"JC","episode_count":300,"summary":"Interesting Things with JC is a new podcast mini series, with highlight on some of the more interesting historical stories, current events as well as under-told stories.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-16T16:22:23.993393+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/interesting-things-with-jc-4639155"},"episode":{"title":"1626: \"Can You Hear Electricity?\"","slug":"1626-can-you-hear-electricity","published_at":"2026-04-18T07:00:47+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/interesting-things-with-jc-4639155/1626-can-you-hear-electricity","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/interesting-things-with-jc-4639155","url":"https://jimconnors.net/interesting-things-with-jc/2026/4/18/1626-can-you-hear-electricity","audio_url":"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bba2d6fca525b3efa21591f/t/69e2bf9d29ed1618ecf51cec/1776467874972/1626+-+Interesting+Things+-+Can+You+Hear+Electricity.mp3","summary":"The sounds we associate with electricity are actually the physical reactions of matter to energy. From lightning to phone chargers, every electrical noise is a byproduct of air expanding or materials vibrating.","meta_description":"Explore the physics of electrical sound, from the thunder of lightning to the high-frequency whine of modern phone chargers and magnetostriction.","key_points":["Main idea: Electrical 'sound' is actually the movement of air or matter reacting to energy changes","Physical mechanism: Rapid heating from discharges creates pressure waves that we perceive as sound","Practical takeaway: The hum in dimmers and chargers is caused by magnetic forces and high-frequency switching","Technical concept: Magnetostriction causes microscopic shape changes in inductors, creating audible whines","Failure mode: Corona discharges create a continuous hiss through localized air expansion"],"chapters":[{"start_ms":0,"title":"The Lab Experiment","summary":"An exploration of Francis Hawksby's 18th-century electrostatic generator and the physics of air expansion."},{"start_ms":40000,"title":"The Scale of Thunder","summary":"How the extreme heat of lightning channels creates massive shock waves across the sky."},{"start_ms":70000,"title":"The Hum of the Grid","summary":"Analyzing the 60Hz/120Hz fluctuations in US power systems and their effect on incandescent bulbs."},{"start_ms":90000,"title":"High-Frequency Switching","summary":"How modern phone chargers use high-frequency power conversion to create audible whines."},{"start_ms":120000,"title":"Magnetostriction","summary":"The phenomenon of microscopic material deformation caused by rapidly changing magnetic fields."},{"start_ms":140000,"title":"Corona Discharge","summary":"The continuous hiss and crackle produced by localized air expansion under high voltage."},{"start_ms":170000,"title":"The Sound of Impact","summary":"A concluding thought on how we hear the physical deformation of the world around us."}],"topics":["Physics","Electricity","Acoustics","Magnetostriction","Lightning","Power Electronics","Electromagnetism","Frequency"],"duration_seconds":213,"processing_state":"processed","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/interesting-things-with-jc-4639155/episodes/1626-can-you-hear-electricity/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/interesting-things-with-jc-4639155/1626-can-you-hear-electricity.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}