1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and Douglas. We're gonna kick 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: off the podcast with just a brief reading from a 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: little work of fiction that many of you. If you're 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: like me, you were forced to read at some point 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: and maybe didn't enjoy it, or maybe you got to 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: you you have the opportunity to read it later when 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: you could enjoy it and appreciate, uh, the the many 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: values of the text. But here's just a little bit 11 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: from the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: The dawn came, but no day. In the gray sky, 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: red sun appeared a dim red circle that gave a 14 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: little light like dusk. And as that day advanced, the 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: dust slipped back toward darkness, and the wind cried and 16 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: whimpered over the fallen corn. Men and women huddled in 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: their houses, and they tied handkerchiefs over their noses, and 18 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: they went out and wore God to protect their eyes. 19 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: When the night came again, it was black night, for 20 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: the stars could not pierce the dust to get down, 21 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: and the window lights could not even spread beyond their 22 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: own yards. Now the dust was evenly mixed with the 23 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: air and the emulsion of dust and air. Houses were 24 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: shut tight and cloth wedged around doors and windows. But 25 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: the dust came in so thinly that it could not 26 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen 27 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: on the chairs and tables, on the dishes. The people 28 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: brushed it from their shoulders. Little lines of dust lay 29 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: at the door sills, and it goes on like that. 30 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: But but I B it is a bleak existence, and 31 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: Steinbeck captures it so so beautifully on the page. And uh. 32 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: And since we are in this podcast discussing uh, some 33 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: of the science behind the dust bowl of the Great 34 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: Depression and the measures that were used then and now 35 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: to counter these traumatic ecological effects, it seemed fitting to 36 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: kick it off with that, yeah, which was, of course 37 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: the dust bowls that the backdrop for the Grapes of 38 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: Wrath and or talking about is a time period between 39 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one and nineteen thirty nine, so a good 40 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: eight years of this sort of existence of drought and 41 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: winds and clouds of dust that just plagued people, and 42 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: it just must have seemed like the end of the 43 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: world for many people it was well and of course, 44 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: and the other part of this is that the Great 45 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: Depression was going on. So, um, those are a good 46 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: field times, healthy lands, not at all. Yeah, Now the 47 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: roots of it kind of stretched back. Of course, the 48 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: roots of any bad time are always always go back 49 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: into a more prosperous eras um. So you you go 50 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: back to the to the late nineteenth century of pioneers 51 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: that moved into the semi aread midwestern southern plains of 52 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: the United States. Um. And they're enjoying some prosperous years 53 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: and they're they're they're planning, they're harvesting. It's going well. Um. 54 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: But then a recession set's in following the First World War. 55 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: Farmers need up their profits, right, staying up their reduction. 56 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: So they turned to the machines, the machine machines um, 57 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: and not so much robot overlords or anything, but rather 58 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: mechanized farming techniques. They bought plows and other farming equipment. 59 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: In between nineteen thirty more than five million acres of 60 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: previously unfarmed land went under the plow. And so they 61 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: were getting record crops in Yeah, which was great, but 62 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: we also lead to overproduction, right, So that supply and 63 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: demand was way off, and uh you know, as a 64 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: as a result, you had a bunch of wheat um 65 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: that was overproduced with a great depression, and that leads 66 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: to severely reduced market prices. Yeah, there's too much wheat 67 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: and there's not as much money to buy it with anymore. 68 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: So so whatater farmers gonna do. They're gonna try and 69 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: earn back their production cost by planning more wheat, expanding 70 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: their their fields even more in an effort to get 71 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,839 Speaker 1: blood out of that stone. Yeah, but the problem here 72 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: is that wheat is not so great um in in 73 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: a drought. In fact, the natural drought resistant grasses are best. 74 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: But unfortunately a lot of those were peeled away with 75 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: the plowing and the wheat again was placed in there, 76 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: and also on any unused fields were also left bare. 77 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: So what do you see happening here? You see a 78 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: lot of dust, right, and plus it uh, plow based farming, 79 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: it kills the soil. So the fertile top soil that's 80 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: so essential to anything growing out there, it gets uh 81 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: it's it's it's literally turned up into the wind. The wind. 82 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: It's it's it's it's turned up by the plow, the 83 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: wind catches it and it blows away. So and without it, 84 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: so the ground becomes less nurturing to anything you're trying 85 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: to grow in it, and it becomes even more susceptible 86 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: to drought. Right, And then of course in two what 87 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: they saw happen again this beginning nine that that's really 88 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: when the drought set in and the pain stop. High temperatures, 89 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: the sun's just bacon everything. Yeah, and just one year 90 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: there were fourteen dust storms report of course he's were 91 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: known as the black blizzards, and the number actually increased 92 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: to nearly forty. Right, and you should I'll make sure 93 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: that includes some sort of a historic photograph on the 94 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: blog posted accompanies this, uh, this what this episode. But 95 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: if you do like just a Google image search for 96 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: photos dust bowl, you will see some of these just 97 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: just really apocalyptic looking images of just i mean just 98 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: stuff right out of the grapes of wrath. Uh, you know, 99 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: these these thin farmers and their their families standing there 100 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: and on the horizon, just dark, billowing dust clouds. Yeah, 101 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: because we're talking about but just by the end of right, 102 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: just just a couple of years into this, thirty five 103 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: million acres of farmland ruined and the top soil covering 104 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: one million acres blown away. Yeah. And you know the 105 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: region again, as you've talked about, was that the Southern 106 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: Grape Plains, but um in in really in particular Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, 107 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: New Mexico, and Colorado were affected pretty greatly. Yeah. So 108 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: what happens, I mean, the ramifications of this. You have 109 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: farmers losing their land, they can't stay, they can't they 110 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: can't pay for it. Uh, they're having to flee elsewhere 111 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: to find work. They're going to California and try and 112 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: find migrant labor jobs. Um. Yeah, if you've ever heard 113 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: the term okay, that's what it is. That's abejorative term, 114 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: you know, referring to people who you know, you could 115 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: have come from Kansas, but you might have been called 116 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: in Oki after Oklahoma if you showed up in California. 117 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: Mainly because there were only so many jobs available in 118 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: um in California, and of course all the people coming 119 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: in from the Great Plains really just made all the 120 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: the people in California pretty upset. Yeah, there's a lot 121 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: of animosity between the native California's and the the the 122 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: foreign workers in their midst exacerbated again by the economic conditions. 123 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: So what so what really fascinates about me about all 124 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: this is that, I mean, you have this, uh, this 125 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: ecological disaster that occurs due to um in large part 126 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: to reagonized agriculture. Humans remake their world an attempt to 127 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: uh better feed themselves and to uh to better um 128 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: supply these standard of living they become accustomed to, and 129 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: in doing so, they almost create a desert in the 130 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: middle of the United States, um and uh. And luckily 131 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: people realize what was happening, you know, and then they 132 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: were like, well, let's let's fight this. Let's let's solve 133 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: this problem before it gets any worse, because it was 134 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: already pretty bad. So it's it's interesting to look at 135 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: these at some of the steps that they took to 136 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: to fight the dust bowl, to fix what had been broken. 137 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: And that's what I think it's so fascinating about this, 138 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: because it really is this large scaled effort by the 139 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: government to to come in and uh, you know, try 140 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: to reverse nature. Well, actually we shouldn't. The anti nature, 141 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: I suppose you could say, well to to sort of 142 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: take a more modern and futurist way of looking at 143 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: It's It's kind of like when when you look at 144 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: examples of climate change and people looking at the way 145 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: that that humans have remade the climate of the planet 146 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,239 Speaker 1: and then trying to to fix it, sometimes with crazy 147 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: schemes that also tinker with the environment, like the idea 148 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: of of putting hole munch of mirrors in orbit or 149 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: essentially setting off all I mean, they're their whole list 150 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: of different crazy seed clouding, various uh geo engineering techniques 151 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: that have been proposed over the years where you know, 152 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: it comes off like the water and the tub is 153 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: too cold, so let's add some hot and then and 154 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: then you can imagine a situation where the water in 155 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: the in the tub is too hot, so let's add 156 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:36,839 Speaker 1: some cold. Eventually does the tub overflow? I don't know. Yeah, 157 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: And when we talk about see cloudy, we're talking actually 158 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: about munitions shot up in the air, particularly during or 159 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: right before the Olympics in Beijing, and they were doing 160 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: that because they were trying to get actual rainfall to 161 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: come down to clear some of the pollutants in that city. 162 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: So that's what one of the things we're talking about. 163 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,599 Speaker 1: We're talking about engineering your environment. Um, let's talk a 164 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: little bit about how Fdr Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt actually created 165 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: something called the shelter belt project. But of course there 166 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:05,559 Speaker 1: were other steps that were taken on a more economic 167 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: level of various stuff with the new deal um civil 168 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: conservation core that came into and created all these new jobs, 169 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: and people are going around planting trees and digging ditches 170 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: and the like reservoirs. But the part that, you know, 171 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: the part that really interested us, was some of these 172 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: things such as the shelter belts, which again, imagine the 173 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: situation here. You've tinkered with the natural environment. You've taken 174 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: the landscape and changed it into wheat fields. And your 175 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: problem here is the wind is just sweeping across with 176 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: all this dust. So you want to somehow break that wind, 177 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: break it with trees. Yes, exactly, you want to break 178 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: up the wind. You want to you want to build 179 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: a wall against the wind. And what is nature's wall 180 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: against the wind? Um in many cases, it is trees. 181 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: So the idea of these shelter belts is to is 182 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: to plant rows of trees besides fields to slow the 183 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: wind and reduce wind to roach uh. And and of 184 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: course that wouldn't be the only thing. And also there 185 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: was also this push for no till farming, UH, so 186 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: that you're not turned taking your precious top soil and 187 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: turning it up and letting the wind take it. Um. Uh. 188 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: There's UH. And then there's also strip cropping. There was 189 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: another technique which was you've seen pictures of this. I 190 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:21,199 Speaker 1: had seen pictures of this and didn't really realize what 191 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: I was looking at un til now. And uh. And 192 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: this is where you have a strip of crops planet 193 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: and there's a strip of dirt and some crops planet 194 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: and strip of dirt. And from an aerial view especially, 195 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: it looks very it's very beautiful. It's like and there's 196 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: a pattern there across the fields. You've probably seen it 197 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: if you've had any kind of you know, flights across 198 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,959 Speaker 1: the states. But the idea here is you're gonna use 199 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: this section and you're gonna let this section of soil 200 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: replenish itself and then the next year the parts of 201 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: the parts, the strips that are crops will be dirt 202 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,079 Speaker 1: and the strips that are dirt will be crops. But 203 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: the shelter belt, how did this play out? What was 204 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: the original idea? Well, I mean this this idea it 205 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: was pretty huge. It was a project that was estimated 206 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: to cost seventy five million dollars over a period of 207 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: twelve years UM. And you know, of course funding disputes arose. 208 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: FDR had to transfer the program from the Civilian Conservation 209 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: Core to the w p A, where the project was 210 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: a little bit more hamstrung. Um. So what they were 211 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: talking about is replacing farmland with forest, and that of 212 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: course did not go over well with all the farmers, right. Yeah, 213 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: they were talking about forest like structures that mimic natural conditions, 214 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: basically walls made out of forest. And then yeah, this 215 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 1: side argues about it. This side brings up some concerns 216 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: and the the uh, the finished product is somewhat diminished 217 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:46,839 Speaker 1: from the original design. Yeah. And in fact, you know, 218 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 1: on a lot of the land that was supposed to 219 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: be used kind of got um attenuated to the point where, 220 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: you know, some some of the original plan was like 221 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: have to the amount of plan that was actually able 222 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: to be planted. Also, what was planted um was very 223 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: different from the original plan. You know, Conifers were something 224 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: that they thought would do well in some areas um, 225 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: but politics and economics force them to instead rely on 226 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: cotton woods. And the reason why they planted cotton woods 227 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: is because they grew pretty quickly and they were a 228 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: much more flashy, obvious sign that there was a plan 229 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: in place and being cultivated. And people were really kind 230 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: of anty about this. Again, remember it's the Great Depression. Um. 231 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: You know, people are in dire circumstances. They don't want 232 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: to wait twelve years to see this plan come to fruition, right, 233 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: And you have politicians involved in this that are very 234 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: concerned with not only the the act of helping, but 235 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: the perceived act of helping, right, right. And but it's 236 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:45,560 Speaker 1: a huge effort, right because you have to get everybody 237 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: on board with You have to get the farmers, you 238 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: have to get the politicians, you have to get the 239 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: public um. And of course it's just always a problem 240 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: when you try to get a bunch of people in 241 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: the room to agree on something. So was it successful, um? Well, 242 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: on on on one hand, no, they I mean they 243 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: were able to completely um reverse the effects about the 244 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: four d fifty million hectares of arid land in North 245 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: America still suffers from moderate to severe desert desertification. But um, 246 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,439 Speaker 1: they did say that it reduced it by sixty from 247 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: the amount of soil blowing around. So definitely definitely a 248 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: success when you look at it in that view. And yeah, 249 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: and of course this is one of those things when 250 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,559 Speaker 1: you step back historically, it looks like much more of 251 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: a success than at the time. And you know, some 252 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: forming practices came out of it that we're really beneficial 253 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: that are still being used today. Right, all right, we 254 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: are going to talk about Stalin and why he let 255 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: a quack biologist create his own sort of Great Stalin 256 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: Plan for the Transformation of Nature. That's the actual name 257 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: of that, the Great Stalin Plan for the Transformation of Nature. 258 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: I love that. It's it's so beautifully Um Soviet you 259 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: know it is as well, we will bend nature to 260 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: our will beginning now. Yeah, it was. It takes us 261 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: back to October eighth. Soviet government announces that, uh, what 262 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: was actually the world's first state centered program to reverse 263 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: human induced climate change. Uh. They were going to construct 264 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: five point seven million hectares of forest in the Russian South. Um, 265 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: you know, they were gonna irrigation canals, were gonna be built. 266 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: It was a crazy gigantic project. They were gonna be 267 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: shelter belts like we were talking about these these treat 268 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: forest strips to break up the wind and uh, and 269 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: they were gonna create like that. The idea was to 270 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: sort of recreate this imagined prehistoric state of the land. Yes, 271 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: they were going to try to change the topography of 272 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: this land, which I think is so ambitious and so 273 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: sort of wonderful. But of course the problem is that 274 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: Stalin had been taken by the ideas of this quack biologist, 275 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: Trophim Dashenko. And this guy was given carte blanche over 276 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: Soviet agriculture science um. And he had no solid scientific 277 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: theory on how to properly cultivate for shelter beds. And 278 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: he actually understood plant and trees is coexistence in terms 279 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: of class warfare. Yeah, and I mean seriously, this is 280 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: this is sort of what his um, the whole plan 281 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: was predicated on. Okay, and here's a little excerpt about 282 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: what he actually had to say about it. And I 283 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: will try my my Russian accent, although I'm gonna apologize 284 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: in advance for these are mortally afraid of step grasses, 285 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: particularly colch grass and catchweed. Okay, I'm gonna stop doing that. 286 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: The first attachment of step vegetation in the struggle between 287 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: the step and the forest. And then he goes on 288 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: to say planting oaks and dense clusters, however, could give 289 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: them an upper hand in this battle. Wild plants, particularly 290 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: various species of forest trees, possessed the biologically useful property 291 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: of self thinning. At this point that someone would want 292 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: to interrupt and be like, dude, are we still talking 293 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: about forests? What are you What are you really getting at? 294 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: Oh no, no, it gets better, It gets better. He says. 295 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: Dense sprouts of wild plants be these oaks in this case, 296 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: so regulate their number by means of self thinning. But 297 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: it's individual members cannot interfere or oppress each other. And 298 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: at the same time, the entire area is occupied by 299 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: this particular species. Other species competitors of a given species 300 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: are not admitted to this area. And so I love 301 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: this um. And this is according to Malcolm McGrath. He's 302 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: the author of Stalin and Modernity UM. He says the 303 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: fittest oak trees survive and pass their genetic material to 304 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: their offspring right while the less fit trees do not 305 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: survive or reproduce. Leshenko suggestion that oak trees banded together 306 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: and regulate their own growth, so it's not to oppress 307 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: or interfere with each other. Violated this most basic notion 308 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: of Darwin's theory. Leshenko had a misunderstanding basically of genetics 309 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: and biology, and he couldn't help really to to antimori 310 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: fize vegetation and imbue it with human traits. Like I 311 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: can't help but imagine him like throwing a meeting together 312 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: at work and doing this thing where like the proper 313 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: trees to be planted will be the ones that do 314 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: not steal other people's lunch from the refrigerator, and you know, 315 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 1: we're just taking out some of the kind yeah yeah, 316 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: and those oh those shrubs, Oh how they hate those 317 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: trees and those trees and shrubs. Um. But it would 318 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: mean it was kind of a big deal because this 319 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: was a huge project, and in fact, in celebration of 320 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: the plan, they had symphonies and stories were written. In 321 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: a painting showed Stalin unfurling maps of his agriculture schemes. 322 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: But as so often happens with with schemes that are 323 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: so attached to an individual, yeah, the individual dies, stal 324 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,199 Speaker 1: ends up dying. Uh in the and then it's kind 325 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: of falls apart. Yeah. See, that's that's that's the problem 326 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: of a dictatorship in this uh well in many cases, 327 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: but particularly here, because there's not a lot of voices 328 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: that were being heard, a lot of voices of dissent, right. 329 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: There weren't a committee of members brought in to say, hey, 330 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: let's talk about this plan and how best to execute it. 331 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: It was basically the brain child of this one guy 332 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,239 Speaker 1: who um who just thought it all had to do 333 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: with with these different socio economic classes of plants. Now 334 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: throughout the world, I mean, we continue this, this struggle 335 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: with and against nature. Um, you know, obviously continues to 336 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: play out anywhere there's desertification or climate change taking place. 337 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: I mean just in the same areas, the same regions 338 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: that were affected by the dust bowl. I mean, people 339 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: still make it there. It's still their job, in their 340 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: their their passion to figure out how best to balance 341 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: agricultural practices and the natural environment. Um. And then in 342 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: other areas, for instance, there's the Green Wall Sahara initiative, 343 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: which called for the planning of three hundred million trees 344 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: and three million hectares of of of land stretching across 345 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: the African continent and the whole idea here of of course, 346 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: to to keep the Sahara from advancing, to keep desertrification 347 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: from taking hold in in in crucial land areas uh 348 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: and then in in China there is there's likewise this 349 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: uh this green wall project there to prevent the Gobi 350 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: Desert from expanding, and so that they've been projecting this 351 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:17,120 Speaker 1: uh D miles stretch that goes from outer Beijing through 352 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: inner Mongolia. And this is again the forest belt, right, 353 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: the forest belt to service that natural wall against the 354 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 1: winds and the desert that it carries. And this is 355 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: actually that the dust that's carried over is called the 356 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: yellow Dragon. And each spring, the dust from from this 357 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: northern deserts is swept up and it just whips eastward, 358 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: blasting to Beijing. And in fact, in the Sierra Nevadas 359 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: in California, they've found evidence of that dust from China, 360 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: you know, spreading over to the United States and actually 361 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: changing they think there's some um, some somewhat definitive results 362 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 1: coming back from studies now actually changing the climate there 363 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,399 Speaker 1: in the Sierra Nevada. Well yeah, so these yeah, these 364 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,439 Speaker 1: dust storms, they can pose quite the problem from human civilization, right, 365 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: I mean, and for for agricultural practices especially. Yeah, and 366 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: in a lot of cases, this is a life or 367 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: death matter, right, um, and trying to control it just 368 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: sort of makes sense. I mean, it's unfortunate that there 369 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:17,159 Speaker 1: are ways that we have, um sort of screwed up 370 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: the land man has. And then of course there's you know, 371 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: obvious weather patterns that we can't do anything about. But 372 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: as much as we can go in and ameliorate this, 373 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: you know, the better, And it actually gives me hope 374 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: for terraforming in the future sometime. Yeah. You know, if 375 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: we know what we're doing when we go into go 376 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: into these these foreign worlds an attempt to recreate earthlike conditions, 377 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: we'll have a better understanding of what earthlike conditions actually are. Right. 378 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: I think the more manipulation we can uh you know, 379 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: do here on the Earth, positive manipulation, the better our 380 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: chances are understanding other atmospheres and environments and sort of 381 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: adapting to them. So, you know, we talked about the 382 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 1: Dicen sphere, we talked about all these other um sort 383 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: of what seemed pine the sky projects in the future, 384 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: but really mean this is this is um sort of 385 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: like where the Rubbert meets the road in terms of 386 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: trying to carry that out at a different level. Yeah, 387 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: and I think that's it's one of the things that 388 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: makes the desk bowl so fascinating and and and FDR 389 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: SO and the US government's approach to dealing with it. 390 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,679 Speaker 1: It serves as an interesting, interesting model and an interesting, 391 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: uh you know example. Well, all right, let's uh, let's 392 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: ask the robot to bring us some mail. All right, 393 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: thank you. Let's see what we have here. We heard 394 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: from a listener by the name of inc No co Sorry, 395 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: the email confused me. Their ink and the email and 396 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: then they're coal at the bottom. Uh. Cole's points out 397 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: that HSW we were talking about using the saying hs 398 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: dow here at work instead of how stuff works h 399 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: And he says, HSW has five syllables because of W 400 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,679 Speaker 1: has three syllables. How stuff works has three syllables total. 401 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: So I just clarifying there because I think I might 402 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: as the said something about how it has the same 403 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: number of syllables if you actually speak the abbreviation. But yeah, 404 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: you're actually using more syllables, so hs W how stuff works. 405 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: I still think that it's still more economic to to 406 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: you say H S W H S double U. That's five. 407 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: How stuff works, that's three. I don't know if you 408 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: break it down into syllables HS dow is just silly. 409 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,719 Speaker 1: But yeah, but I'm not going to draw out the W. 410 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: Yeah wekay, all right, I'll let you have that one. Um, 411 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 1: let's see who else did we hear from here? We've 412 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: heard from a listener by the name of Carlin, Uh 413 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: writes in and says you failed them talking about our 414 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: protest episodes with a couple of them. If you fail 415 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,399 Speaker 1: to mention one of the most successful protest movements of 416 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: our time, the Tea Party protests he started across the 417 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: country after the announcement announcement of Obamacare. They resulted in 418 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,479 Speaker 1: the election of Scott Brown h the change of control 419 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,200 Speaker 1: of Congress, and a takeover of the Republican Party. Yeah. 420 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 1: So I think that's valid. Uh. No matter what you 421 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: think of the Key Party, it uh certainly is a 422 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: caress roots movement that yeah, certainly involved protests. Do you 423 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: making a face that me though? Okay, well, this is 424 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: not a face, it's just a hey, that's a that's 425 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: a piece of meal right there. All right, So anyway, 426 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: Colin brings up a good point, so I thought, yeah, 427 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: I agree, and uh, who else do we hear from? Here? 428 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: We heard from listener Sarah. Sarah writes in and she 429 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 1: shared some interesting links with us that we'll we'll have 430 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: to look at in uh in more detail later. But 431 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: she also added during the summer's I either work at 432 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 1: summer camps in Colorado or participate in medical camps in Africa. 433 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 1: This gives me a lot of travel time to sit 434 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 1: and think and brood. Is for this reason that when 435 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,919 Speaker 1: I'm traveling or just left to my own devices, I 436 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:49,440 Speaker 1: like to tune into hs de WU because it keeps 437 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: my self abusive brain occupied and less likely to ruin 438 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: my good mood. I'm not sure if that is just 439 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,360 Speaker 1: masking a deeper societal issue, but it is a good 440 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: enough reason for me to keep my podcast as handy. 441 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of the HSB podcast, and I 442 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: am happy to blame you guys for my healthy state 443 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: of mind. Keep up the brilliant work. I like that 444 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: self abusive brain. I have to say that I think 445 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,120 Speaker 1: we all started with that sometimes. Definitely definitely, so yeah, 446 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: to any extent that we can, we can help you 447 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: guys out and occupy your mind and getting it, get 448 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: your mind rolling u around some issues outside yourself, and 449 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: then that's great. And to hire your mind. Now that's 450 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: a protest. There you go, occupy your mind and uh. 451 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,880 Speaker 1: And also sounds like Sarah's up to some really good 452 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,400 Speaker 1: uh stuff. You're participating medical cancer in Africa. All so 453 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: good good work. If you would like to share anything 454 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: with us, you can do so in a number of ways. 455 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,439 Speaker 1: There is a Facebook page, of course, we're stuff to 456 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,159 Speaker 1: Blow the Mind on there, and if you prefer to 457 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: use Twitter, we are on Twitter under the handle blow 458 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,199 Speaker 1: the Mind. And if you would like to expand beyond 459 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: one forty characters, you may do so by sending us 460 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: an email at blow the Mind at how stuff Weren't 461 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: dot com. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, 462 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: Stuff from the Future. Join House to Work staff as 463 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,760 Speaker 1: we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow.