In this episode of the Hagley History Hangout we interview Simone M. Muller, professor of global environmental history at the University of Augsburg and author of the Hagley Award-winning book The Toxic Ship: The Khian Sea and the Global Waste Trade. 

From the publisher: “An infamous voyage explores the hazardous waste trade and environmental justice - 
 
In 1986 the Khian Sea, carrying thousands of tons of incinerator ash from Philadelphia, began a two-year journey, roaming the world's oceans in search of a dumping ground. Its initial destination and then country after country refused to accept the waste. The ship ended up dumping part of its load in Haiti under false pretenses, and the remaining waste was illegally dumped in the ocean. Two shipping company officials eventually received criminal convictions. 
 
Simone M. Müller uses the Khian Sea's voyage as a lens to elucidate the global trade in hazardous waste—the movement of material ranging from outdated consumer products and pesticides to barges filled with all sorts of toxic discards—from the 1970s to the present day, exploring the story's international nodes and detailing the downside of environmental conscientiousness among industrial nations as waste is pushed outward. Müller also highlights the significance of the trip's start in Philadelphia, a city with a significant African American population. The geographical origins shed light on environmental racism within the United States in the context of the global story of environmental justice. Activism in response to the ship's journey set an important precedent, and this book brings together the many voices that shaped the international trade in hazardous waste.” 

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The Toxic Ship: The Voyage of the Khian Sea and the Global Waste Trade with Simone M. Müller

Side Effects

Baby Steps

When lexicographers look at linguistic corpora, they find that the color name hazel is most often followed by the word brown. The descriptive term hazel blue, as in hazel blue eyes, is rarely used. If you ever get tired of using the word hazel, you could always reach for the word avellaneous, which means the same thing. http://waywordradio.org

1677-Caller-Tristan-Hazel-Eyes

A listener in Colby, Wisconsin, says that growing up, she called a drink with ice cream in root beer a black cow. But when she moved to Wisconsin, she found that the locals called the same beverage a root beer float. The era of drugstore fountains and soda jerk slang led to lots of colorful names for these bubbly beverages, including brown cow (chocolate ice cream in root bear), purple cow (grape soda and vanilla ice cream), orange cow (orange soda and vanilla ice cream). Other colorful drink names include mud fizz and black-and-white. In Australia and New Zealand, where ice cream and soda drinks are called spiders, you can have a lime spider or an orange spider. In some Spanish speaking countries, a cola-flavored drink with ice cream is a vaca negra or vaca preta, both of which mean “black cow.” http://waywordradio.org

1677-Caller-Vlasta-Black-Cow

In English, you can express skepticism with the saying when pigs fly. In Tagalog, a similar sentiment is expressed with a phrase that translates “when the crow turns white, when the heron turns black,” and there’s a Hungarian phrase that translates as “when red snow falls.” German speakers invoke Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag or “St. Never's Day.” http://waywordradio.org

1677-Intro-Expressing-Skepticism

In Japanese, an irresistibly cute baby might be described with an expression that translates as “Even if I put it in my eye, it wouldn’t hurt.” It’s a form of what psychologists call cute aggression, or the overwhelming urge to squeeze, crush, or nibble something that seems impossibly adorable. http://waywordradio.org

1677-Irresistibly-Cute

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (Bookshop|Amazon) is a powerful and fascinating look at the history of the disease and how its persistence continues to shape global health. The author, John Green, writes movingly about his own struggles as well, and the challenges of writing in general. Green is also the author of the wildly popular young adult novel The Fault in Our Stars (Bookshop|Amazon). http://waywordradio.org

1677-Lex-Bag-Everything-Is-Tuberculosis

A Vietnamese phrase suggesting the impossibility of something occurring translates as “when the loach lays eggs at the top of the banyan tree,” a loach being a bottom-dwelling fish. http://waywordradio.org

1677-Vietnamese-Phrase

Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a take-off puzzle involving the letters V and W. Each sentence clues two words, one of which has lost either a V or a W. For example, what two words does the following sentence suggest? He plugged his guitar into the loudspeaker and began an improvised intro. http://waywordradio.org

1677-Word-Quiz-Take-Offs

Disiz, Theodora - Melodrama (Mitch Parker Remix)


Every time a bomb falls,
we see a Technology, a Science
without intelligence, without ethics;
Every time a bomb falls,
we see an Economy at war
with the beloved community, 
the beloved sanga Of the Earth itself;
Every time a bomb falls,
we see the left hand of humanity
at war with its right;
Every time a bomb falls,
we see the utter insanity of the idea
of a chosen people, of Hydrocarbon Man
at war with the energy of the Universe itself;
Every time a bomb falls,
we see the implosion of promise,
we see the death of Poetry, 
we hear a deafening drone drowning 
out the cries of the cildren of the World,
drowning out the  Musics of the World.
Every time a bomb falls.
Every time a bomb falls.

++++ 

CADA VEZ QUE CAE UNA BOMBA
Cada vez que cae una bomba,
vemos una Tecnología, una Ciencia
sin inteligencia, sin Ética;
Cada vez que cae una bomba,
vemos una Economía en guerra
con la amada comunidad,
con la amada sanga de la Tierra misma;
Cada vez que cae una bomba,
vemos la mano izquierda de la humanidad
en guerra con su derecha;
Cada vez que cae una bomba,
vemos la absoluta locura de la idea
de un pueblo elegido, del Hombre Hidrocarburo,
en guerra con la energía del Universo mismo;
Cada vez que cae una bomba,
vemos la implosión de la promesa,
vemos la muerte de la Poesía,
escuchamos un zumbido ensordecedor que ahoga
los gritos de los niños del mundo, que ahoga las Músicas del Mundo.
Cada vez que cae una bomba.
Cada vez que cae una bomba.

Heartbreak Meadow, los Wallowas,
OREGON 22/11/2026

IMAGE: SUNSIGHT! over the WALLOWAS, Whitebark Country, Eagle Cape Wilderness, OREGON

The Toxic Ship: The Voyage of the Khian Sea and the Global Waste Trade with Simone M. Müller

Hagley Museum and Library