The Gray Area with Sean Illing

E.O. Wilson's plan to save the world

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Vox's Benji Jones talks with the celebrated entomologist, biologist, and naturalist E.O. Wilson. They talk about Wilson's sixty-plus years as a leading thinker in his field, how his expeditions studying ant species around the world informed his understanding of human beings, and how his discoveries and ideas have mainstreamed the idea of biodiversity and inspired bold new conservation movements.

Host: Benji Jones (@BenjiSJones), Environmental reporter, Vox

Guest: E.O. Wilson, author; professor emeritus, Harvard University; chair, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation (@EOWilsonFndtn)

References: 

  • Sociobiology: The New Synthesis by Edward O. Wilson (Harvard; 1975)
  • "What 'extinction' really means — and what it leaves out" by Benji Jones (Vox; Sept. 30)
  • "The case against the concept of biodiversity" by Clare Fieseler (Vox; Aug. 5)
  • The Theory of Island Biogeography by Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson (Princeton; 1967)
  • Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life by Edward O. Wilson (Liveright; 2017)
  • The Half-Earth Project


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    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Editor: Amy Drozdowska
    • Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
    • Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
    • Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez

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