Episode 7: E-Waste and Obsolescence
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The problem of e-waste grows with each new mobile phone, music player, laptop computer or other type of consumer electronic device. Because many of these products are made with toxic substances, disposal is a major challenge. The environmental crisis of e-waste can be attributed to a strategy of industrial manufacturing developed over the course of the twentieth-century known as obsolescence. On this episode of the podcast, we hear from Giles Slade, author of the award-winning book Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America, on this historical trend in manufacturing.
Also, Bill Turkel from the University of Western Ontario tells us about a workshop he held called “Hacking as a Way of Knowing“.

Guests:
Giles Slade
Bill Turkel
Works Cited:
Slade, Giles. Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006.
Sean Kheraj, Canadian History & Environment
Music Credits:
“Running Man” by short_hopper
“Do It, Bucky” by short_hopper
“Intergalactic Journey” by spinmeister
“Hej rozmaring (Folk Flutes)” by Grizzly616
Photo Credits:
“Family Portrait” by MattsMacintosh
Citation:
Kheraj, Sean. “Episode 7: E-Waste and Obsolescence.” Nature’s Past: Canadian Environmental History Podcast. 15 June 2009.

Sean Kheraj

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