Ice

From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—a Cool History of a Hot Commodity

By: Amy Brady

Narrated by: Jennifer Aquino

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

The unexpected and unexplored ways that ice has transformed a nation—from the foods Americans eat, to the sports they play, to the way they live today—and what its future might look like on a swiftly warming planet.

Ice is everywhere: in gas stations, in restaurants, in hospitals, in our homes. Americans think nothing of dropping a few ice cubes into tall glasses of tea to ward off the heat of a hot summer day. Most refrigerators owned by Americans feature automatic ice machines. Ice on-demand has so revolutionized modern life that it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always this way—and to overlook what aspects of society might just melt away as the planet warms.

In Ice, journalist and historian Amy Brady shares the strange and storied two-hundred-year-old history of ice in America: from the introduction of mixed drinks “on the rocks,” to the nation’s first-ever indoor ice rink, to how delicacies like ice creams and iced tea revolutionized our palates, to the ubiquitous ice machine in every motel across the US. But Ice doesn’t end in the past. Brady also explores the surprising present-day uses of ice in sports, medicine, and sustainable energy—including cutting-edge cryotherapy breast-cancer treatments and new refrigerator technologies that may prove to be more energy efficient—underscoring how precious this commodity is, especially in an age of climate change.

©2023 Amy Brady (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of The Next Big Idea Club's June 2023 Must-Read Books

“[A] colorful new history of America’s pursuit of crystalline cold...Touches on the complex, often counterintuitive science of ice...Ms. Brady’s eye for such hidden connections is sharp, and her curiosity is infectious.”—Wall Street Journal

“You can’t possibly imagine what’s inside this cover! Fidel Castro is there, eating 18 scoops at a sitting and negotiating with Canada so US sanctions won’t cut off access to his beloved HoJo’s. People are skating on summertime rinks of hog fat. Ice men are stealing housewives' hearts and bars are hiring teams of "shaker boys” to keep up with America's sudden passion for iced cocktails. Machine-made ice goes from blasphemy to medical miracle to environmental disaster. In Amy Brady’s expert hands, ice is sexy, mysterious, funny, and endlessly fascinating.”—Mary Roach, author of Fuzz and Stiff

"Amy Brady has written a sweeping historical narrative on a uniquely cool topic in a style that is both thoroughly informative and buoyantly engaging."—Timothy Winegard, author of The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator

Engaging, well-researched and diverse

Wide-ranging and full of interesting stories and details. Incorporates history and science so you never get too bogged down in one or the other. Also, I now want to experience some of these fancy cocktail ice cubes! Who knew!

Fun and Fascinating!

Loved this journey of the history of ice in America! Brilliantly written mix of stories and facts. Have fun with this one!

A good effort but fell short

The narrator was annoying to listen to - all sentences ended up with the same phrasing and fake excitement. Some sections were interesting, like the types of ice for sports , but the section on modern refrigerators was way too long and veered off into a rant about climate change. Several of the topics stretch their connection to ice - the boom could have been a couple of hours shorter.

Disconnect between narration and story

If I’d read this with my eyes I’d probably give it a much better review. The narrator was truly awful, mispronouncing words and reading line by line rather than sentence by sentence. Her treatment of “mercury chloride” still grates.

The story itself was quite interesting overall, especially the part about icemen (my immigrant grandfather worked as an iceman in New York City in the early 20th century).

A lot of promise here if you can stand the narration.