{"id":2415,"date":"2024-01-05T13:46:34","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T13:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=2415"},"modified":"2024-01-05T13:46:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T13:46:39","slug":"gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber\/","title":{"rendered":"Gregg Mitman &#8211; Empire of Rubber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gregg Mitman, Vilas Research and William Coleman Professor of History, Medical History, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison (USA), discussed his book\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/thenewpress.com\/books\/empire-of-rubber\">Empire of Rubber: Firestone\u2019s Scramble for Land and Power in Liberia<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(The New Press, 2021) in the Greenhouse environmental humanities book talk series on Monday, 10 January 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the early 1920s, Americans owned 80 percent of the world\u2019s automobiles and consumed 75 percent of the world\u2019s rubber. But only one percent of the world\u2019s rubber grew under the U.S. flag, creating a bottleneck that hampered the nation\u2019s explosive economic expansion. To solve its conundrum, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company turned to a tiny West African nation, Liberia, founded in 1847 as a free Black republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Empire of Rubber<\/em>&nbsp;tells a sweeping story of capitalism, racial exploitation, and environmental devastation, as Firestone transformed Liberia into America\u2019s rubber empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historian and filmmaker Gregg Mitman scoured remote archives to unearth a history of promises unfulfilled for the vast numbers of Liberians who toiled on rubber plantations built on taken land. Mitman reveals a history of racial segregation and medical experimentation that reflected Jim Crow America\u2014on African soil. As Firestone reaped fortunes, wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a few elites, fostering widespread inequalities that fed unrest, rebellions and, eventually, civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A riveting narrative of ecology and disease, of commerce and science, and of racial politics and political maneuvering,&nbsp;<em>Empire of Rubber<\/em>&nbsp;uncovers the hidden story of a corporate empire whose tentacles reach into the present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregg Mitman, Vilas Research and William Coleman Professor of History, Medical History, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison (USA), discussed his book\u00a0Empire of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2022-01-10-Mitman.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2022-01-10-Mitman_pod.jpg","cover_image_id":"2417","duration":"55:37","filesize":"40.83M","filesize_raw":"42815326","date_recorded":"2022-01-10","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[],"series":[16],"class_list":["post-2415","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","series-greenhouse-environmental-humanities-book-talks"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2022-01-10-Mitman_pod.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast-download\/2415\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber","player_link":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast-player\/2415\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber","audio_player":"<a class=\"wp-embedded-audio\" href=\"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast-player\/2415\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber\">https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast-player\/2415\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber<\/a>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/greenhouse-environmental-humanities-book-talks\/id1664960759","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/feed\/podcast\/greenhouse-environmental-humanities-book-talks\/","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0TNTSCl3zRBues4Eqjkwwm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/feed\/podcast\/greenhouse-environmental-humanities-book-talks","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Zl1UxCo0pi\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber\/\">Gregg Mitman &#8211; Empire of Rubber<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/newnatures.org\/greenhouse\/podcast\/gregg-mitman-empire-of-rubber\/embed\/#?secret=Zl1UxCo0pi\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Gregg Mitman &#8211; Empire of Rubber&#8221; &#8212; The Greenhouse Book Talks\" data-secret=\"Zl1UxCo0pi\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! 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