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Coal: Part II
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Listen to this on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome to the second episode of Stepchange —where we explore the technologies and systems that have transformed human civilization. In Part II of our coal saga, we witness how this ancient rock evolved from household hearths to the invisible force powering the modern world. The 20th century would see coal take on its most consequential role yet—as the foundation of electrical grids that would light cities, power industry, and ultimately reshape geopolitics. We journey through coal's central role in America's Gilded Age monopolies, the brutal labor battles that defined generations of miners' lives,…