Arthro-Pod EP 76: What Bugs Bug the Entomologists?

06/09/20 • 0 min

Usually, the Arthro-Pod crew is all about tying to convince people that insects are cool and to be appreciated. However, they are only human and even they have some insects that they have convoluted pasts with. Some of them they may have come around on but others... well maybe it's best they stay separated! Tune in to hear each host's story!

Previous Episode

Arthro-Pod EP 75: The Rise and Fall of DDT Part 2

Welcome back to Arthro-Pod! Today is part two of our deep dive into the history of DDT, a long and convoluted story that has lots of effects on us today. This portion of the story is about the long fall that DDT had, beginning with the publication of "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson and ending with the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. We talk about the way people viewed Rachel Carson and her work, what the problem is with believing in a "silver bullet", and how DDT may have helped politicize environmentalism.

Show notes
Learn more about Rachel Carson and her work at https://www.rachelcarson.org

This is also a good look at current perspectives on her and her work
https://slate.com/technology/2012/09/silent-spring-turns-50-biographer-william-souder-clears-up-myths-about-rachel-carson.html

If you enjoyed the show, the majority of the research for it came from David Kinkela's book "DDT and The American Century". It's highly recommended if you want to see more of the primary sources and the inspiration for a lot of our discussion.

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469609775/ddt-and-the-american-century/

Questions? Comments?

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Next Episode

Arthro-Pod EP 77: All About Galls with Denise Montelongo

Hey everyone, Michael here. I'm excited to share an interview I recorded with Denise Montelongo about gall wasps and her work on them at Penn State. We talked about what a gall is, what kind of organisms make galls, cynipid gall wasps, and a whole lot more.