A Terrible Thing to Waste
Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ron Butler
About this listen
A "powerful and indispensable book" (Gerald Markowitz) on the devastating consequences of environmental racism - and what we can do to remedy its toxic effects on marginalized communities.
Did you know...
- Middle-class African American households with incomes between $50,000 and $60,000 live in neighborhoods that are more polluted than those of very poor white households with incomes below $10,000.
- When swallowed, a lead-paint chip no larger than a fingernail can send a toddler into a coma - one-tenth of that amount will lower his IQ.
- Nearly two of every five African American homes in Baltimore are plagued by lead-based paint. Almost all of the 37,500 Baltimore children who suffered lead poisoning between 2003 and 2015 were African American.
From injuries caused by lead poisoning to the devastating effects of atmospheric pollution, infectious disease, and industrial waste, Americans of color are harmed by environmental hazards in staggeringly disproportionate numbers. This systemic onslaught of toxic exposure and institutional negligence causes irreparable physical harm to millions of people across the country-cutting lives tragically short and needlessly burdening our health care system. But these deadly environments create another insidious and often overlooked consequence: robbing communities of color, and America as a whole, of intellectual power.
The 1994 publication of The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. She takes apart the spurious notion of intelligence as an inherited trait, using copious data that instead point to a different cause of the reported African American-white IQ gap: environmental racism - a confluence of racism and other institutional factors that relegate marginalized communities to living and working near sites of toxic waste, pollution, and insufficient sanitation services. She investigates heavy metals, neurotoxins, deficient prenatal care, bad nutrition, and even pathogens as chief agents influencing intelligence to explain why communities of color are disproportionately affected -- and what can be done to remedy this devastating problem.
Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.
©2019 Harriet A. Washington (P)2019 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Infectious Madness
- The Surprising Science of How We "Catch" Mental Illness
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Infectious Madness, Washington presents the new germ theory, which posits not only that many instances of Alzheimer's, OCD, and schizophrenia are caused by viruses, prions, and bacteria but also that with antibiotics, vaccinations, and other strategies, these cases can be easily prevented or treated.
-
-
NOT Medical Apartheid
- By RLM on 08-06-18
-
As Long as Grass Grows
- The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
- By: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions and a call for environmentalists to learn from the indigenous community’s rich history of activism.
-
-
Unbalanced Information
- By J. Scott on 08-30-22
-
Carte Blanche
- The Erosion of Medical Consent (Columbia Global Reports)
- By: Harriet Washington
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carte Blanche is the alarming tale of how the right of Americans to say "no" to risky medical research is eroding at a time when we are racing to produce a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19. This medical right that we have long taken for granted was first sacrificed on the altar of military expediency in 1990 when the Department of Defense asked for and received from the FDA a waiver that permitted it to force an experimental anthrax vaccine on the ranks of ground troops headed for the Persian Gulf.
-
-
EVERY CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK
- By Rachel Buck on 10-07-21
-
Clean and White
- A History of Environmental Racism in the United States
- By: Carl A. Zimring
- Narrated by: Colleen Patrick
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Joe Biden attempted to compliment Barack Obama by calling him "clean and articulate", he unwittingly tapped into one of the most destructive racial stereotypes in American history. This book tells the history of the corrosive idea that whites are clean and those who are not white are dirty.
-
-
I will not think about clean the same way
- By Scott on 02-01-23
By: Carl A. Zimring
-
White Tears/Brown Scars
- How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
- By: Ruby Hamad
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called "powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times best-selling How to Be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how White feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women and women of color.
-
-
Though provoking and Important
- By Gabriella Hernandez on 05-06-21
By: Ruby Hamad
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Infectious Madness
- The Surprising Science of How We "Catch" Mental Illness
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Infectious Madness, Washington presents the new germ theory, which posits not only that many instances of Alzheimer's, OCD, and schizophrenia are caused by viruses, prions, and bacteria but also that with antibiotics, vaccinations, and other strategies, these cases can be easily prevented or treated.
-
-
NOT Medical Apartheid
- By RLM on 08-06-18
-
As Long as Grass Grows
- The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
- By: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions and a call for environmentalists to learn from the indigenous community’s rich history of activism.
-
-
Unbalanced Information
- By J. Scott on 08-30-22
-
Carte Blanche
- The Erosion of Medical Consent (Columbia Global Reports)
- By: Harriet Washington
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carte Blanche is the alarming tale of how the right of Americans to say "no" to risky medical research is eroding at a time when we are racing to produce a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19. This medical right that we have long taken for granted was first sacrificed on the altar of military expediency in 1990 when the Department of Defense asked for and received from the FDA a waiver that permitted it to force an experimental anthrax vaccine on the ranks of ground troops headed for the Persian Gulf.
-
-
EVERY CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK
- By Rachel Buck on 10-07-21
-
Clean and White
- A History of Environmental Racism in the United States
- By: Carl A. Zimring
- Narrated by: Colleen Patrick
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Joe Biden attempted to compliment Barack Obama by calling him "clean and articulate", he unwittingly tapped into one of the most destructive racial stereotypes in American history. This book tells the history of the corrosive idea that whites are clean and those who are not white are dirty.
-
-
I will not think about clean the same way
- By Scott on 02-01-23
By: Carl A. Zimring
-
White Tears/Brown Scars
- How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
- By: Ruby Hamad
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called "powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times best-selling How to Be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how White feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women and women of color.
-
-
Though provoking and Important
- By Gabriella Hernandez on 05-06-21
By: Ruby Hamad
-
Assata
- By: Assata Shakur, Angela Davis - foreword
- Narrated by: Sirena Riley
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2013 Assata Shakur, founding member of the Black Liberation Army, former Black Panther and godmother of Tupac Shakur, became the first ever woman to make the FBI's most wanted list. Assata Shakur's trial and conviction for the murder of a white State Trooper in the spring of 1973 divided America. Her case quickly became emblematic of race relations and police brutality in the USA. While Assata's detractors continue to label her a ruthless killer, her defenders cite her as the victim of a systematic, racist campaign.
-
-
Knowledge is power
- By Ashleigh Terry on 08-20-17
By: Assata Shakur, and others
-
The Intersectional Environmentalist
- How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet
- By: Leah Thomas
- Narrated by: Leah Thomas, Hayden Bishop, Erin Walker
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Intersectional Environmentalist examines the inextricable link between environmentalism, racism, and privilege and promotes awareness of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people. Written by Leah Thomas, a prominent voice in the field and the activist who coined the term intersectional environmentalism, this book is simultaneously a call to action, a guide to instigating change for all, and a pledge to work toward the empowerment of all people and the betterment of the planet.
-
-
Good to cover basics with highschoolers/undergrads
- By Mayra Rodriguez on 03-08-22
By: Leah Thomas
-
Mediocre
- The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America
- By: Ijeoma Oluo
- Narrated by: Ijeoma Oluo
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the last 150 years of American history—from the post-reconstruction South and the mythic stories of cowboys in the West, to the present-day controversy over NFL protests and the backlash against the rise of women in politics—Ijeoma Oluo exposes the devastating consequences of white male supremacy on women, people of color, and white men themselves. Mediocre investigates the real costs of this phenomenon in order to imagine a new white male identity, one free from racism and sexism.
-
-
This was so enlightening.
- By Firewhiskey Reader on 01-07-21
By: Ijeoma Oluo
-
Killing the Black Body
- Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
- By: Dorothy Roberts
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a no-holds-barred response to the liberal and conservative retreat from an assertive, activist, and socially transformative civil rights agenda of recent years - using a Black feminist lens and the issue of the impact of recent legislation, social policy, and welfare "reform" on Black women's - especially poor Black women's - control over their bodies' autonomy and their freedom to bear and raise children with respect and dignity in a society whose white mainstream is determined to demonize, even criminalize their lives.
-
-
Terribly sad but very informative. Highly recommend.
- By Jaecey Adams on 01-17-21
By: Dorothy Roberts
-
The Delectable Negro
- Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within US Slave Culture
- By: Vincent Woodard, E. Patrick Johnson - foreword, Justin A. Joyce - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Stan Brown
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scholars of US and transatlantic slavery have largely ignored or dismissed accusations that Black Americans were cannibalized. Vincent Woodard takes the enslaved person's claims of human consumption seriously, focusing on both the starvation of the slave and the tropes of cannibalism on the part of the slaveholder, and further draws attention to the ways in which Blacks experienced their consumption as a fundamentally homoerotic occurrence.
-
-
Necessary Reading
- By Airborne Infantry on 05-04-23
By: Vincent Woodard, and others
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
White Rage
- The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
- By: Carol Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Gibson
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'Black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'
-
-
Good History, Was Hoping For More Insight
- By Mike on 09-08-16
By: Carol Anderson
-
Punished for Dreaming
- How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal
- By: Bettina L. Love
- Narrated by: Bettina L. Love, Karen Chilton
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration.
-
-
Wow!!!
- By TKL on 10-20-23
By: Bettina L. Love
-
The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman
- Women in the West, Book 1
- By: Margot Mifflin
- Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1851, Olive Oatman was a 13-year-old pioneer traveling west toward Zion, with her Mormon family. Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. The Blue Tattoo tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapai Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own.
-
-
Mispronunciations
- By R. Brown on 06-07-18
By: Margot Mifflin
-
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us
- Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice
- By: Mariame Kaba
- Narrated by: Diana Blue
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if social transformation and liberation isn't about waiting for someone else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power to collectively free ourselves? In this timely collection of essays and interviews, Mariame Kaba reflects on the deep work of abolition and transformative political struggle.
-
-
content is great, but audiobook is unlistenable
- By Lesley Bredell on 03-22-22
By: Mariame Kaba
-
Freedom Dreams
- The Black Radical Imagination
- By: Robin D.G. Kelley, Aja Monet - foreword
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 2002, Freedom Dreams is a staple in the study of the Black radical tradition. Unearthing the thrilling history of grassroots movements and renegade intellectuals and artists, Kelley recovers the dreams of the future worlds Black radicals struggled to achieve.
-
-
Full of past and future freedom dreams
- By Ambre Nulph on 02-12-23
By: Robin D.G. Kelley, and others
-
Toxic Communities
- Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility
- By: Dorceta E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From St. Louis to New Orleans, from Baltimore to Oklahoma City, there are poor and minority neighborhoods so beset by pollution that just living in them can be hazardous to your health. Due to entrenched segregation, zoning ordinances that privilege wealthier communities, or because businesses have found the "paths of least resistance", there are many hazardous waste and toxic facilities in these communities, leading residents to experience health and wellness problems on top of the race and class discrimination most already experience.
-
-
Excellent Exposure of Prejudice When It Comes To Environmental Factors
- By lighten79 on 07-11-24
Critic reviews
"A Terrible Thing to Waste is a powerful and indispensable book for anyone who cares about a just and healthy future for all Americans. Harriet Washington asks the critical questions that get at the heart of racism and inequality in health, income, social welfare and power in 21st century America." (Gerald Markowitz, author of Lead Wars and distinguished professor, John Jay College, CUNY)
"In her groundbreaking new book, A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer and bioethicist Harriet Washington explores how environmental racism damages young minds, particularly the minds of impoverished African American children who are exposed inordinately to toxins and pathogens in marginalized communities. She writes lucidly of how pollutants such as heavy metals and neurotoxins injure developing brains and recounts vividly case after case of the devastating cost to human brains and bodies. As she demolishes racist notions of inherited intelligence, she describes the medical consequences of horrific environmental catastrophes that have largely been forgotten or overlooked. Revelatory and compelling, Harriet Washington's A Terrible Thing to Waste is the Silent Spring for the 21st century." (Robin Lindley, JD, Features Editor, History News Network)
"It's amazing how far you can get if you just study the data. And have a keen analytical mind. And are a gifted reporter. With a sense of social justice. By which I mean, if you are Harriet Washington. She methodically indicts environmental racism and its catastrophic effects, particularly on the cognitive abilities of America's children, a reminder that what we're told is immutable - our social conditions, our 'intelligence' - is nothing of the kind. The news she brings is grim, but she leaves the reader feeling not paralyzed by despair but determined to act." (Randy Cohen, host of Person Place Thing and original author of New York Times Magazine's The Ethicist column)
Related to this topic
-
Sicker, Fatter, Poorer
- The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals on Our Health and Future . . . and What We Can Do About It
- By: Leonardo Trasande MD MPP
- Narrated by: Leonardo Trasande MD MPP
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in our homes, hiding in our offices, and polluting the air we breathe is something sinister. Something we’ve turned a blind eye to for far too long. Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician, professor, and world-renowned researcher, tells the story of how our everyday surroundings are making us sicker, fatter, and poorer. Through a blend of narrative, scientific detective work, and concrete information about the connections between chemicals and disease, he reveals what we can do to protect ourselves and our families in the short-term, and how we can help bring the change we deserve.
-
-
The Must Read Book of 2019 is here early on Audio!
- By Ryan S on 12-21-18
-
Fatal Invention
- How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Dorothy Roberts
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An incisive, groundbreaking book that examines how a biological concept of race is a myth that promotes inequality in a supposedly "post-racial" era. Though the Human Genome Project proved that human beings are not naturally divided by race, the emerging fields of personalized medicine, reproductive technologies, genetic genealogy, and DNA databanks are attempting to resuscitate race as a biological category written in our genes.
-
-
everyone should read this book to understand
- By Kathleen D on 07-29-21
By: Dorothy Roberts
-
The HPV Vaccine on Trial
- Seeking Justice for a Generation Betrayed
- By: Mary Holland, Kim Mack Rosenberg, Eileen Iorio
- Narrated by: Caroline Slaughter
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancer strikes fear in people’s hearts around globe. So the appearance of a vaccine to prevent cancer - as we are assured the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will - seemed like a game-changer. Since 2006, over 80 countries have approved the vaccine, with glowing endorsements from the world’s foremost medical authorities. Bringing in over $2.5 billion in annual sales, the HPV vaccine is a pharmaceutical juggernaut. Yet scandal now engulfs it worldwide. The HPV Vaccine on Trial is a shocking tale, chronicling the global efforts to sell and compel this alleged miracle.
-
-
Outstanding Investigative Book!
- By Barbara Loeppke on 10-02-19
By: Mary Holland, and others
-
Denialism
- How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives
- By: Michael Specter
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter has twice won the Global Health Council’s Excellence in Media Award, as well as the Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Denialism, he fervently argues that people are turning away from new technologies and engaging in a kind of magical thinking that is hindering scientific progress.
-
-
A compelling read
- By S on 05-17-11
By: Michael Specter
-
The Truth About Cancer
- By: Ty M. Bollinger
- Narrated by: Ty M. Bollinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One out of three women alive today, and one out of two men, will face a cancer diagnosis, according to the World Health Organization. Ty Bollinger takes this personally: in the course of a decade, he says, "I lost my entire family to cancer. I don't believe I had to lose them." The Truth about Cancer has been written for one simple reason: to share the knowledge we need to protect ourselves, treat ourselves, and in some cases save our lives or the lives of those we love.
-
-
save a life with this valuable information.
- By edwin matias on 12-30-16
By: Ty M. Bollinger
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Sicker, Fatter, Poorer
- The Urgent Threat of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals on Our Health and Future . . . and What We Can Do About It
- By: Leonardo Trasande MD MPP
- Narrated by: Leonardo Trasande MD MPP
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in our homes, hiding in our offices, and polluting the air we breathe is something sinister. Something we’ve turned a blind eye to for far too long. Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician, professor, and world-renowned researcher, tells the story of how our everyday surroundings are making us sicker, fatter, and poorer. Through a blend of narrative, scientific detective work, and concrete information about the connections between chemicals and disease, he reveals what we can do to protect ourselves and our families in the short-term, and how we can help bring the change we deserve.
-
-
The Must Read Book of 2019 is here early on Audio!
- By Ryan S on 12-21-18
-
Fatal Invention
- How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Dorothy Roberts
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An incisive, groundbreaking book that examines how a biological concept of race is a myth that promotes inequality in a supposedly "post-racial" era. Though the Human Genome Project proved that human beings are not naturally divided by race, the emerging fields of personalized medicine, reproductive technologies, genetic genealogy, and DNA databanks are attempting to resuscitate race as a biological category written in our genes.
-
-
everyone should read this book to understand
- By Kathleen D on 07-29-21
By: Dorothy Roberts
-
The HPV Vaccine on Trial
- Seeking Justice for a Generation Betrayed
- By: Mary Holland, Kim Mack Rosenberg, Eileen Iorio
- Narrated by: Caroline Slaughter
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancer strikes fear in people’s hearts around globe. So the appearance of a vaccine to prevent cancer - as we are assured the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will - seemed like a game-changer. Since 2006, over 80 countries have approved the vaccine, with glowing endorsements from the world’s foremost medical authorities. Bringing in over $2.5 billion in annual sales, the HPV vaccine is a pharmaceutical juggernaut. Yet scandal now engulfs it worldwide. The HPV Vaccine on Trial is a shocking tale, chronicling the global efforts to sell and compel this alleged miracle.
-
-
Outstanding Investigative Book!
- By Barbara Loeppke on 10-02-19
By: Mary Holland, and others
-
Denialism
- How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives
- By: Michael Specter
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter has twice won the Global Health Council’s Excellence in Media Award, as well as the Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Denialism, he fervently argues that people are turning away from new technologies and engaging in a kind of magical thinking that is hindering scientific progress.
-
-
A compelling read
- By S on 05-17-11
By: Michael Specter
-
The Truth About Cancer
- By: Ty M. Bollinger
- Narrated by: Ty M. Bollinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One out of three women alive today, and one out of two men, will face a cancer diagnosis, according to the World Health Organization. Ty Bollinger takes this personally: in the course of a decade, he says, "I lost my entire family to cancer. I don't believe I had to lose them." The Truth about Cancer has been written for one simple reason: to share the knowledge we need to protect ourselves, treat ourselves, and in some cases save our lives or the lives of those we love.
-
-
save a life with this valuable information.
- By edwin matias on 12-30-16
By: Ty M. Bollinger
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
The Language of Life
- DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine
- By: Francis S. Collins
- Narrated by: Greg Itzin
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A scientific and medical revolution has crept up on us, based on study after study, from hundreds of laboratories around the world. It is no longer just a theoretical shift: every one of us will be touched by it, and many of us already have been. The meaning of disease, our understanding of the human body, and crucial decisions about what we all need to know and what choices we make about our health are at stake. Welcome to the new world of personalized medicine.
-
-
The future of medicine
- By Ronald E on 04-12-10
-
Missing Microbes
- How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
- By: Martin J. Blaser
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.
-
-
Very enlightening and information well supported
- By James on 05-03-15
By: Martin J. Blaser
-
EMF*D
- 5G, Wi-Fi & Cell Phones: Hidden Harms and How to Protect Yourself
- By: Dr. Joseph Mercola
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hazards of electronic pollution may once have been the stuff of science fiction, but now we know they're all too real. And with the advent of 5G ultra-wideband technology, the danger is greater than ever. Dr. Joseph Mercola, one of the world's foremost authorities on alternative health, has mined the scientific literature to offer a radical new understanding of how electromagnetic fields impact your body and mind.
-
-
Top 10 best books ever
- By Priscilla Ferguson on 04-02-20
-
The Secret History of the War on Cancer
- By: Devra Davis Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War on Cancer was run by leaders of industries that made cancer-causing products and sometimes also profited from drugs and technologies for finding and treating the disease. Filled with compelling personalities and never-before-revealed information, The Secret History of the War on Cancer shows how we began fighting the wrong war, with the wrong weapons, against the wrong enemies, a legacy that persists to this day.
-
-
Silly Book
- By Adam Smith on 12-24-14
-
10% Human
- How Your Body's Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness
- By: Alanna Collen
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You are just 10% human. For every one of the cells that make up the vessel that you call your body, there are nine impostor cells hitching a ride. You are not just flesh and blood, muscle and bone, brain and skin, but also bacteria and fungi. Over your lifetime, you will carry the equivalent weight of five African elephants in microbes. You are not an individual but a colony. Until recently, we had thought our microbes hardly mattered, but science is revealing a different story, one in which microbes run our bodies and becoming a healthy human is impossible without them.
-
-
Must read for anyone that wants to be healthy
- By T. Kalinowski on 06-05-21
By: Alanna Collen
-
Between Hope and Fear
- A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity
- By: Michael Kinch
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between Hope and Fear tells the remarkable story of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases and their social and political implications. While detailing the history of vaccine invention, Michael Kinch reveals the ominous reality that our victories against vaccine-preventable diseases are not permanent - and could easily be undone. Between Hope and Fear relates the remarkable intersection of science, technology, and disease that has helped eradicate many of the deadliest plagues known to man.
-
-
Enjoyed
- By Minsi Zhang on 05-03-20
By: Michael Kinch
-
Panic Attack
- Playing Politics with Science in the Fight Against COVID-19
- By: Nicole Saphier
- Narrated by: Nicole Saphier
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical doctor and national bestselling author of Make America Healthy Again Nicole Saphier reveals how politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic has baffled the public by creating distrust, fueling conspiracy theories, and making it harder for Americans to understand the necessary path forward. The pandemic has resulted in a failure of government, much of which is unavoidable in a unique disaster scenario. However, the rampant politicization of science has hopelessly muddied the water and knee-jerk anti-Trumpism made it all worse.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By K. Green on 07-29-21
By: Nicole Saphier
-
Radiation
- What It Is, What You Need to Know
- By: Robert Peter Gale, Eric Lax
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The essential guide to radiation: the good, the bad, and the utterly fascinating, explained with unprecedented clarity. Earth, born in a nuclear explosion, is a radioactive planet; without radiation, life would not exist. And while radiation can be dangerous, it is also deeply misunderstood and often mistakenly feared. Now Robert Peter Gale, M.D. - the doctor to whom concerned governments turned in the wake of the Chernobyl and Fukushima - in collaboration with medical writer Eric Lax draws on an exceptional depth of knowledge to correct myths and establish facts.
-
-
A great and accessible introduction to the field o
- By Neuron on 04-12-13
By: Robert Peter Gale, and others
-
The Future of Nutrition
- An Insider’s Look at the Science, Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right
- By: T. Colin Campbell PhD
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why, despite the many advances in science and technology over the past few decades, does our health only seem to be getting worse? Why, despite so much time and energy spent studying the foods we eat, are we more confused than ever about nutrition - what good nutrition looks like, and what it can do for our health? The Future of Nutrition offers a fascinating deep-dive behind the curtain of the field of nutrition - with implications both for our health and for the practice of science itself.
-
-
His problem is the problem he has with others
- By abatista on 02-10-21
-
An Epidemic of Absence
- A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases
- By: Moises Velasquez-Manoff
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An Epidemic of Absence asks what will happen in developing countries, which, as they become more affluent, have already seen an uptick in allergic disease: Will India end up more allergic than Europe? Velasquez-Manoff also details a controversial underground movement that has coalesced around the treatment of immune-mediated disorders with parasites. Against much of his better judgment, he joins these do-it-yourselfers and reports his surprising results.
-
-
The point of view from a Veterinarian immunologist
- By rtgymnast on 11-03-17
-
Chronic
- The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again
- By: Steven Phillips MD, Dana Parish, Kristin Loberg
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt, Thomas Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this timely book, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, Sony singer-songwriter Dana Parish, reveal striking evidence that a broad range of common infections, from COVID-19 to Lyme and many others, cause a variety of autoimmune, psychiatric, and chronic conditions. Chronic explores the science behind what makes them difficult to diagnose and treat, debunks widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, and provides solutions that empower sufferers to reclaim their lives.
-
-
A must read book
- By Amazon Customer on 03-01-21
By: Steven Phillips MD, and others
-
Trick or Treatment
- The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine
- By: Edzard Ernst, Simon Singh
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or are simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity. In this groundbreaking analysis, over 30 of the most popular treatments - acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic, and herbal medicines - are examined for their benefits and potential dangers. Questions answered include: What works and what doesn't? What are the secrets, and what are the lies?
-
-
Well researched
- By Erik J. Rasmussen on 09-09-20
By: Edzard Ernst, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Infectious Madness
- The Surprising Science of How We "Catch" Mental Illness
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Infectious Madness, Washington presents the new germ theory, which posits not only that many instances of Alzheimer's, OCD, and schizophrenia are caused by viruses, prions, and bacteria but also that with antibiotics, vaccinations, and other strategies, these cases can be easily prevented or treated.
-
-
NOT Medical Apartheid
- By RLM on 08-06-18
-
Clean and White
- A History of Environmental Racism in the United States
- By: Carl A. Zimring
- Narrated by: Colleen Patrick
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Joe Biden attempted to compliment Barack Obama by calling him "clean and articulate", he unwittingly tapped into one of the most destructive racial stereotypes in American history. This book tells the history of the corrosive idea that whites are clean and those who are not white are dirty.
-
-
I will not think about clean the same way
- By Scott on 02-01-23
By: Carl A. Zimring
-
Killing the Black Body
- Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
- By: Dorothy Roberts
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a no-holds-barred response to the liberal and conservative retreat from an assertive, activist, and socially transformative civil rights agenda of recent years - using a Black feminist lens and the issue of the impact of recent legislation, social policy, and welfare "reform" on Black women's - especially poor Black women's - control over their bodies' autonomy and their freedom to bear and raise children with respect and dignity in a society whose white mainstream is determined to demonize, even criminalize their lives.
-
-
Terribly sad but very informative. Highly recommend.
- By Jaecey Adams on 01-17-21
By: Dorothy Roberts
-
As Long as Grass Grows
- The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
- By: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions and a call for environmentalists to learn from the indigenous community’s rich history of activism.
-
-
Unbalanced Information
- By J. Scott on 08-30-22
-
Toxic Communities
- Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility
- By: Dorceta E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From St. Louis to New Orleans, from Baltimore to Oklahoma City, there are poor and minority neighborhoods so beset by pollution that just living in them can be hazardous to your health. Due to entrenched segregation, zoning ordinances that privilege wealthier communities, or because businesses have found the "paths of least resistance", there are many hazardous waste and toxic facilities in these communities, leading residents to experience health and wellness problems on top of the race and class discrimination most already experience.
-
-
Excellent Exposure of Prejudice When It Comes To Environmental Factors
- By lighten79 on 07-11-24
-
Medical Apartheid
- The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge - a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
-
-
Sobering... but necessary.
- By Dr. Pepper on 10-27-16
-
Infectious Madness
- The Surprising Science of How We "Catch" Mental Illness
- By: Harriet A. Washington
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Infectious Madness, Washington presents the new germ theory, which posits not only that many instances of Alzheimer's, OCD, and schizophrenia are caused by viruses, prions, and bacteria but also that with antibiotics, vaccinations, and other strategies, these cases can be easily prevented or treated.
-
-
NOT Medical Apartheid
- By RLM on 08-06-18
-
Clean and White
- A History of Environmental Racism in the United States
- By: Carl A. Zimring
- Narrated by: Colleen Patrick
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Joe Biden attempted to compliment Barack Obama by calling him "clean and articulate", he unwittingly tapped into one of the most destructive racial stereotypes in American history. This book tells the history of the corrosive idea that whites are clean and those who are not white are dirty.
-
-
I will not think about clean the same way
- By Scott on 02-01-23
By: Carl A. Zimring
-
Killing the Black Body
- Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
- By: Dorothy Roberts
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a no-holds-barred response to the liberal and conservative retreat from an assertive, activist, and socially transformative civil rights agenda of recent years - using a Black feminist lens and the issue of the impact of recent legislation, social policy, and welfare "reform" on Black women's - especially poor Black women's - control over their bodies' autonomy and their freedom to bear and raise children with respect and dignity in a society whose white mainstream is determined to demonize, even criminalize their lives.
-
-
Terribly sad but very informative. Highly recommend.
- By Jaecey Adams on 01-17-21
By: Dorothy Roberts
-
As Long as Grass Grows
- The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
- By: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Native peoples’ resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions and a call for environmentalists to learn from the indigenous community’s rich history of activism.
-
-
Unbalanced Information
- By J. Scott on 08-30-22
-
Toxic Communities
- Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility
- By: Dorceta E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From St. Louis to New Orleans, from Baltimore to Oklahoma City, there are poor and minority neighborhoods so beset by pollution that just living in them can be hazardous to your health. Due to entrenched segregation, zoning ordinances that privilege wealthier communities, or because businesses have found the "paths of least resistance", there are many hazardous waste and toxic facilities in these communities, leading residents to experience health and wellness problems on top of the race and class discrimination most already experience.
-
-
Excellent Exposure of Prejudice When It Comes To Environmental Factors
- By lighten79 on 07-11-24
What listeners say about A Terrible Thing to Waste
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Deon Temne
- 02-03-20
Extremely Informational
Should be mandatory reading for any parent, most importantly parents of African American children. We must understand how the system of racism affects all..well racism and financial greed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L
- 12-18-20
Great writing, pleasant voice, very informative
Harriet A. Washington is an outstanding medical writer - her view on this topic was very insightful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cuvvy
- 02-12-23
thorough and enlightening research
The research and the stories bring so much information to the issues of environmental justice in America today.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve H
- 03-02-21
Read this now
Everyone should read this. What we don’t know can literally kill us. Especially people in minority communities.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Trell
- 06-29-21
Washington does it again!
This book, no matter what race its readers are, touches on the treatment of minorities. African Americans continue to be targeted in unimaginable ways. The warfare will never end. Awareness is key!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 02-19-22
Highly informative
As always, excellently researched with data backed facts that provide detail into the scope of the brains infinite struggles battling infection and chemicals. Brilliant.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nibs
- 02-07-22
Informative and Well-Written
A thorough essay on the poisoning of principally minority communities by for-profit companies and the government. Fact-based and well-researched. I’m taking off points because I really think this book should have been narrated by a black woman, if not by the author herself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sam P
- 02-15-23
Book misuses problematic IQ measure
You can't have IQ as your backbone without talking about racial implications. The author admits that IQ is an imperfect measure of intelligence, especially across different countries. However, this book still relies on IQ to measure differences in intelligence across communities within the United States. Numerous studies have shown that it is inaccurate for all but rich, white, Western communities. I believe that the environmental racism outlined in this book is real, important, and damaging. However, using a racist measure correlated with the effects of environmental racism the author aims to quantify is necessarily problematic. If IQ is mismeasuring the intelligence of marginalized populations, we can't safely use it to measure differences in intelligence due to environmental racism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laura
- 02-21-21
ABLEIST
THIS BOOK IS ABLEIST AND PERPETUATES SYSTEMIC ABLEISM. VERY BIGOTED AND HARMFUL. STIGMATIZES THE EXISTENCE OF AUTISTIC PEOPLE.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dreamer
- 12-03-20
Wish this was read by a black WOMAN
I found this really jarring to listen to. Ron Butler is an excellent narrator, but this is written by a black WOMAN. This isn't a piece of fiction where the narrator needs to assume multiple voices of multiple genders to tell a story.
I was only able to make it through the first hour or so - hearing a male voice speaking a woman's story was too jarring. I am now reading the paper copy and attempting to return the audiobook.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful