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The Benefits of CFCs at the Cost of the Environment

Authors Seth Cagin and Philip Dray. Their new book is "Between Earth and Sky: How CFCs Changed Our World and Endangered the Ozone Layer." It's about how CFCs (or chlorofluorocarbons) went from being the "miracle compound" to the the biggest threat to the ozone layer. CFCs came into being in 1928 and made possible the mass use of refrigerators and air conditioners. By the 1950s they were used in aerosol sprays and in the manufacture of Sytrofoam. But by 1974, scientists began to see their deleterious environmental effects.

22:43
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Other segments from the episode on May 24, 1993

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 24, 1993: Interview with Seth Cagin and Philip Dray; Interview with Joe Ely; Review of Rory Nugent's book "Drums Along the Congo."
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15:40

Lubbock, Texas Rock Musician Joe Ely

Producer Amy Salit interviews singer/songwriter and guitarist Joe Ely. He's been called the "underappreciated American rock 'n' roll legend." This country rocker hails from Lubbock, Texas and has been recording and playing music for 20 years, releasing nine albums. He began his career playing traditional country but now leans more toward the country-rockin' blues that has become a distinctive Texas sound. His latest album is "Love and Danger."

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20:50

Putting Wisconsin's Union Battle In Historical Context

In There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, journalist Philip Dray follows the labor movement as it grew out of 19th century uprisings in textile mills. There are several parallels between those historical battles and what is currently going on in Wisconsin, he says.

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42:09

Author Philip Dray

Author Philip Dray is the author of the book, At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America. Dray chronicles lynching. He looks at the perpetrators, the groups and individuals who courageously took a stand against it (the NAACP, Ida Wells, and W.E.B. Du Bois) and the legacy it left behind. Dray researched his book at the Tuskegee Institute where records about lynchings have been kept from 1882. He is also the co-author of We Are not Afraid: The Story of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney and the Civil Rights Campaign for Mississippi.

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37:24

How Jared Kushner is mixing U.S. diplomacy with his billion-dollar business

Journalist DEXTER FILKINS, a staff writer for The New Yorker. His new piece, "Jared Kushner’s Dollar Diplomacy," looks at Trump’s son-in-law’s growing role in American foreign policy while his private-equity firm is backed by billions of dollars from governments in the Middle East. (INTERVIEW BY TONYA MOSLEY) (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

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52:30

Singer/actor Danielle Brooks says 'gratitude should always lead the way'

Actress DANIELLE BROOKS. She’s known for her roles as Tastee in Orange in the New Black and Sophia in the Broadway revival and film adaptations of The Color Purple. She co-stars in the new film If I Go Will They Miss Me. (INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

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