Only 25% of French households have AC
Only about 25% of French households have air conditioning, leaving most of the population vulnerable to the record-breaking European heat waves.
Snapshot · Pod Save the World
Keeping Up With the Korruption in Kazakhstan
Explore episode
Jul 1, 2026
Where this was said
France's Air Conditioning Culture War and the European Heat Wave
At 53:10 · chapter starts 53:00
Tommy lays out the cultural stakes first: only 25% of French households have AC, and the arguments against expanding it range from environmental (it heats cities and uses energy) to identity-based (France will lose its outdoor culture). Then the political circus: Marine Le Pen is running on 'AC for All' while Jean-Luc Mélenchon opposes public building cooling and Macron's ecological minister says she's 'horrified' by AC proposals. The absurdity peaks when Tommy reports a Parisian hospital where 27 of 30 wards had no AC and temperatures reached 95 degrees, with staff telling patients to bring fans to the maternity ward. A French influencer video showing food being cooked on a window ledge in the sun illustrates just how hot it actually is. Ben Rhodes, who spent a week in 100-degree London without any AC and watched a heat conference get canceled because of the heat, frames the political lesson clearly: use the heat to argue for a clean energy transition, but do not oppose air conditioning in public buildings. Workers riding un-air-conditioned buses need relief now. The left will hand Marine Le Pen the Élysée if they choose this hill.
Living Ben's Heat Wave: London Was 100 Degrees and Nothing Had AC
Ben Rhodes was in London when it hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit — and podcasted through it in his un-air-conditioned Airbnb. He describes the genuine danger of a city where no bus, no train, no restaurant, no workplace offers any relief from the heat. The Tube stopped in a tunnel. A conference on extreme heat was canceled due to extreme heat.
The World Cup's Agony of Defeat: Germany, Netherlands, Uruguay All Fall
Ben Rhodes woke up at 5 AM in Amsterdam to the sounds of the city reacting to each Dutch penalty kick — and then to the sound of drunk people making 'very unpleasant noises' after Morocco knocked them out. Tommy adds that South Korea's president has ordered an investigation into the team's performance. The World Cup is delivering more drama off the pitch than on.
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