Dust is everywhere, but we rarely see it. We shed it from our skin, hair, and nails, leaving little bits of DNA wherever we roam. More than 100 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth each day, leaving an archive of every "geochemical" substance that has fallen - at least some of it into our homes.
All of history is recorded in the dust we create: the pollution we make, the fires we start, the chemicals we use, the volcanos that erupt. Scientists can learn about the Roman Empire through the dust that has been compressed each year for thousands of years into layers of ice sheets in Greenland.
Today, we talk about the science, politics and ephemeral nature of dust.
GUESTS:
- - Geographer and research director at Pulsar Platform. She writes a newsletter about dust she calls, ()
- Jolie Kerr - Cleaning expert and advice columnist for and the host of the podcast “.” She’s also the author of She’s the for the New York Times. ()
- - Artist, sculpture and Assistant Professor, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
This show first aired on January 15, 2019