Do you remember the last time you carefully affixed a stamp and dropped a letter into a mailbox?

The postal service, once an instrument of imperial power and a lifeline for lovers, has witnessed humanity’s most primal desire for communication and accommodated countless outlandish acts of creativity. In this episode, we’ll trace the timeline to uncover the traces—both lost and preserved—behind the postal service.

This Episode’s Swing Pilots

• @Aiden
• @Flora

You’ll hear

Part 1: Introduction

• 00:00 The Experience of Sending a Letter After Many Years

Part 2: From “Privileged Messengers” to “Postage for All”

• 03:00 Transition 1: The Messenger Era
• 06:45 Transition 2: The National System
• 08:51 Transition 3: The Dawn of Commercialization
• 13:01 Transition 4: The Birth of the Modern Postal System
• 16:43 Transition 5: The Universal Postal Union: A Covenant of Human Civilization

Part 3: Amazing Ways to Send Mail

• 6:32 PM Sending Children: A 15-Cent “Full Boarding Service”
• 8:06 PM Mailing Banks: The Ultimate Way to Exploit the Government
• 21:47 The Postman’s Human Database: Can Santa Claus Receive Letters?
• 26:58 The Amazing Stamp Awards

Part 4: What’s Gone and What’s Left

• 30:23 The Disappearing Mailboxes and Letters
• 32:44 Japan Post’s Lonely Redemption
• 34:23 China Post’s “Snow Line” and “Islands”
• 36:23 The Romantic Human Contract

Part 5 Swing

• 38:02 Swing Time
• 39:52 Luis Bacalov - Il Postino (Titoli) (From the Il Postino Soundtrack)

Contact Us

• RedNote: @Swing
• Instagram: @swing.std
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.swingstudio.net