January 17, 2023

The Great Environmental Awakening with Douglas Brinkley

44 minutes

Don Boozer, the Literature Department Manager and Ohio Center for the Book Coordinator at Cleveland Public Library, steps in as Page Count’s guest host to interview author and historian Douglas Brinkley. During a discussion that covers the burning Cuyahoga River, the conservation policies of past American presidents, environmental activism, and his latest book, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, Brinkley sheds light on the history of U.S. environmentalism while offering hope for the future.

Mentioned in this episode:

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009)

Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America (2016)

Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening (2022)

The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1879–1960 (2011)

1969 Cuyahoga River Fire Coverage from the National Park Service and Cleveland Historical

Lake Erie information from the Environmental Protection Agency

Seuss, The Lorax, and Lake Erie

National Park Service: Ohio

Douglas Brinkley’s Official Website

1969 Time article about the Cuyahoga River

1960s Plain Dealer photograph of pollution in Cuyahoga River

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Photo credit: Moore Huffman

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.

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