Chalk Apocalypse - Great Big Story - Podcast on CNN Audio

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Great Big Story

A podcast about the delightful, the surprising, and the untold true stories all around us. Hosted by Drew Beebe.

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Chalk Apocalypse
Great Big Story
Aug 18, 2020

Once upon a time, a mysterious substance emerged that was so precious, so wondrous to have inspired a kind of worship. That magical object was … a chalk. But not just any chalk! This was Hagoromo: a Japanese brand so smooth, so perfect that some mathematicians wondered if it was made from the tears of angels. But one day it was threatened with extinction, triggering the greatest crisis the world of chalk had ever seen. Pencils down, please, as we tell the tale of a writing implement so irreplaceable, professors stockpiled it. And we’ll meet the brave teacher who singlehandedly saved its legacy from being erased.