CURRENTLY READING
The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus And A World Out Of Balance by Dan Egan
Monday, July 8 through Friday, July 26, 2024
Read by Norman Gilliland.
Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and “dead zones” in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Meanwhile, diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide ― which risks rising conflict and even war.
(WW Norton; ISBN-10: 1324002662)
Theme: Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story, New London Orchestra
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Latest Episodes
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The Devil’s Element 15 of 15
We have created a very real environmental dilemma by our overuse of phosphorous. But examples offered by Asian countries offer hope.
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The Devil’s Element 14 of 15
Since its discovery 200 years ago, we have managed to fill our soils and waters with life giving and killing phosphorus. But there are steps we can take to remove […]
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The Devil’s Element 13 of 15
As the agriculture and ranching industries in Florida continue to grow throughout the century, the dykes and canals installed by the Army Core of Engineers create a direct pathway for […]
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The Devil’s Element 12 of 15
In the 1920s, Florida’s Lake Okeechobee bursts its dyke and destroys a town and most of its residents prompting the government to build a system of dykes, canals and water […]
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The Devil’s Element 11 of 15
The implementation of the ethanol mandate sees a change in agriculture as farmers begin growing corn and soybeans for gasoline production, contributing to the environmental toll.
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Coming Next
West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Monday, July 29 through Friday, August 23, 2024
Read by Jim Fleming.
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane…
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