Jul. 18, 2008: Word for Word: The history of insect control

APM: Word for Word

English - July 18, 2008 05:00 - 53 minutes - 24.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 20 ratings
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Previous Episode: Jul. 11, 2008: Word for Word: "Who Speaks for Islam?"

Next Episode: Jul. 25, 2008: Word for Word: How the rich get richer (David Cay Johnston)

The human battle with bugs has been going on for centuries, but James McWilliams says chemical insecticides came into the picture by accident. McWilliams is a fellow in the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University and an associate professor of history at Texas State University. His new book is "American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT" and he was one of the featured speakers at the 2008 Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado.