Episode 7 E-Waste and Obsolescence: June 15, 2009.

[39:22]

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".

Please be sure to take a moment and review this podcast on our iTunes page.

Works Cited

Slade, Giles. Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006.

Sean Kheraj, Canadian History & Environment: http://seankheraj.wordpress.com

Music Credits

'Running Man' by short_hopper

'Do It, Bucky' by short_hopper

'Intergalactic Journey' by spinmeister

'Hej rozmaring (Folk Flutes)' by Grizzly616