Like many summer stories, this one from Scott Carrier begins with a whim and ends with a whimper. He travels cross-country without air conditioning, during weather in which it's too hot to stay in the car and too hot to get out. (24 minutes)


Song: "Summer in the City," Barry Morrow


Act Two. It's Not the Heat, It's the Humility.

Jonathan Goldstein heads into an environment that's so hot that they people there believe that sweating — simply sweating — is getting something accomplished. Life in the Division Street Russian Bath turns out to follow a different — and superior — set of rules to life elsewhere. Jonathan's the author of the novel Lenny Bruce is Dead. (14 minutes)


Song: " Too Darn Hot," Ella Fitzgerald


Act Three. You Can Have Your Cave and Eat It Too.

Sarah Vowell brings us the story of a national dispute involving Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, a sandwich, park rangers, scientists, and the United States Congress. (14 minutes)

Scott Carrier and Sarah Vowell's stories were produced with help from HearingVoices.com, with funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Song: " Underground," The Upsetters