What do concrete buildings, roads, stained-glass windows, and your computer screen have in common? They’re all made from sand. Sand is like the cell structure of the built environment. And it turns out we’re running out of it.
On today’s episode, Patty talks with journalist Vince Beiser about this oft-overlooked natural resource and commodity: sand. Over the course of the hour, they discuss the history of sand, the involvement of organized crime in sand theft, fracking sand in Wisconsin, and the disappearing beaches around the world.
Vince Beiser is the author of The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization.
Note: The audio cuts out briefly in the middle of the episode and returns a few seconds later.