Living on Earth: June 14th, 2024
Air Date: June 14, 2024
Clouds of diesel fumes clog the air in Beirut, Lebanon where the virtual collapse of the power grid has led residents to rely on diesel generators. The city’s air is now so badly polluted researchers at the American University of Beirut are linking it to a startling 30% spike in cancer cases. Chemistry professor Najat Saliba, who is also a member of Lebanon’s parliament, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the health toll of this pollution and its roots in Lebanon’s debt crisis.
Beirut's Deadly Air
9 min read · 12 min listen
Clouds of diesel fumes clog the air in Beirut, Lebanon where the virtual collapse of the power grid has led residents to rely on diesel generators. The city’s air is now so badly polluted researchers at the American University of Beirut are linking it to a startling 30% spike in cancer cases. Chemistry professor Najat Saliba, who is also a member of Lebanon’s parliament, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the health toll of this pollution and its roots in Lebanon’s debt crisis.
Black Hair Care Products & Toxic Exposure
14 min read · 19 min listen
Black women in America commonly use hair relaxers and leave-in conditioners to straighten and smooth their textured hair. But many of these products contain hormone-disrupting chemicals, which are associated with health problems such as early menarche, preterm birth, diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Tamarra James-Todd, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, spoke with Host Steve Curwood.
From the History Books
3 min read · 4 min listen
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to look back on the 1944 creation of Big Bend National Park, renowned for its Chihuahuan Desert ecology and dark skies. They also go further back in time to the 1889 New York law mandating that all electric and phone lines in New York City and Buffalo be placed underground.
Queer Brown Vegan
12 min read · 16 min listen
Isaias Hernandez is an environmental activist and social media creative who uses the handle @QueerBrownVegan on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. His topics include environmental racism, mushroom foraging, and queer ecology. He joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran during Pride Month to talk about intersectionality, “rainbow-washing”, and more.
Roots of Black Hair Care
17 min read · 22 min listen
Hair care products marketed to Black women today often include cancer-causing formaldehyde and hormone disrupting chemicals. But back in the early 1900s, an enterprising Black woman named Madam C. J. Walker used mostly natural ingredients in her hair products to empower Black women and become the first female American self-made millionaire. Host Steve Curwood talks with her great-great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, who wrote the 2001 book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.
