From the Vault: Rachel Carson and Silent Spring

Description

“For all at last returns to the sea — to Oceanus, the ocean river, like the everflowing stream of time, the beginning and the end.”

~ Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964)

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s seminal work Uncle Tom’s Cabin drove a nail into the institution of slavery, helping to significantly cripple and eventually curtail the cruel practice.

Fifty-four years later, Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle shed light on the grisly secrets of U.S. meat production in the same way, leading to a revolution of standards for production, processing, and distribution of food.

And sixty years after Upton Sinclair, another author managed to awaken the nation (and the world) in a single volume: Silent Spring. In it, marine biologist Rachel Carson predicts the death of the natural world, caused in large part by the “miracle” pesticide DDT, and the greedy chemical industry that relentlessly promoted it; indeed, Rachel Carson’s book inspired a massive environmental movement that today resonates stronger than ever.

So, as Rachel Carson’s 100th birthday rememberence approaches in May, From the Vault pays tribute to this amazing and inspirational scientist and writer, through archival recordings of Carson in her own voice, and through the voices of those she inspired, like Cesar Chavez, Delores Huerta, Upton Sinclair, Eugene Coan, and David Brower.

Broadcast date

04/20/2007

Program Length

59 minutes

Archive number

PZ0673.50

top