The Breakfast Club - IDKMYDE: Alice Parker

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

Are you familiar with Alice Parker?  She was the genius who invented central heating in 1919, proving that even in a world full of cold shoulders, her ideas could still heat things up. On today’s episode of IDKMYDE we learn that without her, we’d all still be fighting over the last log for the fire.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment, and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, an iHeart Women's Sports production on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers, and so many other fascinating people, like writer and actor, Dan Aykroyd.

I love writing more than anything. You're left alone, you know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school and write at night and after nine hours you come out with seven pages and then you're moving on. And actor and comedian Jack McBrayer. The most important aspect is the collaboration with people that I like, I trust, are talented. That has been the most amazing gift to me

about this crazy business that we've chosen. Meeting these people who have such diverse talents and you're able to create something together. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey you guys, I'm Catherine Legg. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast.

It's called Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events. Tune into my new podcast Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legge, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Maura Aarons-Mealy, host of The Anxious Achiever. On the show, business leaders and experts unpack the intersection of mental wellbeing, neurodiversity, leadership, and career.

We offer tools and strategies to enjoy better mental health and find the best way to work for you. Listen to The Anxious Achiever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On today's episode of I Didn't Know, maybe you didn't either, we are bringing that heat, literally, because I want to introduce to you someone who doesn't get nearly enough credit, Alice H. Parker. Don't know her? Well Well you should, because if you enjoy not freezing your butt off every winter, she's the reason for it. I didn't know maybe you didn't need.

I didn't know maybe you didn't need. I didn't know maybe you didn't need. I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know. Alice Parker was this brilliant black woman born way back in 1895. So already you know life wasn't handing out participation trophies to folks like her but Alice looked around at how people were heating their homes using wood and coal and thought this is trash. I mean imagine chopping wood and freezing cold

weather just so you cannot freeze in your house. Alice had the genius idea of using natural gas for central heating. Alright, she basically said what if we stop pretending we're on the Oregon Trail and brought some 20th century energy to the situation. How about that? Anybody in agreement with that? And she didn't just dream it up. She didn't just talk about it. She patented the design in 1919. That's like inventing wifi before anybody had ever seen a computer. And be clear, her design wasn't perfect, it wasn't what we use today, but it was

revolutionary. It laid the groundwork for modern central heating systems. Without Alice, a lot of us would still be huddled up around space heaters, arguing about who gets to stand the closest, or them kerosene heaters and go to school smelling like pump 11. And let's be real, it's only so many toes you can lose the frost bite before you start saying maybe there's a better way y'all. Now here's the kicker, why don't we know her name? Why are you today years old just finding out about Alice Parker?

And she did this over a hundred years ago, barely a footnote in history. Meanwhile Thomas Edison farts out a light bulb and we all act like he invented the sun. And he didn't even invent the light bulb! But that's a whole nother conversation for a whole nother episode. It's wild how black women like Alice were out here quietly saving the world while getting none of the credit. But her story should inspire us. She didn't let the fact that she was a black woman in 1919

when the world wasn't exactly rooting for her stop her. She had an idea and she made it happen. So the next time you cozy in your warm house, remember Alice Parker. She's the reason you're not out chopping wood like a lumberjack. And if that's not worth a round of applause or at least a thermostat adjustment in her honor,

I don't know what is. Thank you, Alice Parker, for making winter survivable and for proving that sometimes the warmest ideas come from the coldest challenges. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment, and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, an iHeart women's sports production on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers and so many other fascinating people like writer and actor Dan Aykroyd. I love writing more than anything. You're left alone, you know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school and write at night, and after nine hours you come out with seven pages and then you're moving on. And actor and comedian

Jack McBrayer. The most important aspect is the collaboration with people that I like, I trust, are talented. That has been the most amazing gift to me about this crazy business that we've chosen. Meeting these people who have such diverse talents and you're able to create something together. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This season, I'm competing in some of the world's most notorious racing events. Tune into my new podcast, Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Maura Aarons-Mealy, host of The Anxious Achiever. On the show, business leaders and experts unpack the intersection of mental well-being, neurodiversity, leadership, and career. We offer tools and strategies to enjoy better mental health and find the best way to work for you. Listen to The Anxious Achiever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.