The topic of 'Air conditioning' is central to the two podcast episodes provided, which explore the various cultural, social, and environmental impacts of this ubiquitous technology.

In the first episode, Hsuan L. Hsu's 'Air Conditioning', the author examines how air conditioning shapes our daily lives, from creating comfortable indoor climates to being leveraged as a tool of marketing, social control, and labor management. The episode also delves into how the uneven access to climate-controlled environments reflects and perpetuates broader societal divides.

The second episode, Keeping the Power On During a Climate Crisis, discusses the strain that air conditioning usage places on the electrical grid, particularly during extreme heat events, and the need for improving the efficiency of air conditioning systems to address these challenges.