In this episode, we’ll discuss the life and work of Rachel Carson, a hugely influential marine biologist and nature writer. Her 1962 book Silent Spring is perhaps her most recognized work, as it led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides and sparked the worldwide environmental and conservation movements. The Library of America recently released a collection of Carson’s Sea Trilogy, three books that poetically depict life in the world’s oceans.
We’re joined today by the editor of that collection, Dr. Sandra Steingraber.
Dr. Steingraber is an ecologist, author, cancer survivor, and an internationally recognized authority on the environmental links to cancer and human health. Her acclaimed book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment was adapted into a documentary film in 2010. She has also written Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood and Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis.
Heralded as “the new Rachel Carson,” she speaks extensively and serves as a senior scientist for the Science and Environmental Health Network where she researches and writes about the risks and harms of oil and gas extraction.
Dr. Steingraber is interviewed by Nate King, Content and Communications Coordinator for the American Writers Museum.