09/06/2026
Join Paul Saturday morning at 8 for the Not Old Better Show. Considered by many to be the “Mother of the Modern Environmental Movement,” Rachel Carson built a career as a beloved author known for her poetic nonfiction about the wonders of the living world, particularly the mighty, still-mysterious oceans. Published in The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, and with books perennially atop the New York Times Best Sellers List, Carson had become a household name as a "Biographer of the Sea," drawing on marine zoology training and over 15 years with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service before, during, and after World War II. But her final book, Silent Spring, came with such an impact that it alone soon defined her work in the popular consciousness.
In our interview on KSCW, America 250 historian, Smithsonian Associate, and environmental educator Rebecca Henson explores Carson's career as a science writer, patriot, including how she wrote Silent Spring, why it succeeded in shifting public perception about the environment, and where Carson had hoped her career would go next. In doing so, Henson illuminates the ecological philosophy and clear-eyed wonder in the living world around her that define Carson’s legacy.
