Mary E. Mendoza, "Deadly Divide: How Insects, Pathogens, and People Defied the US-Mexico Border" (UNC Press, 2026)
About this episode
Mary E. Mendoza discusses her book 'Deadly Divide', exploring the environmental history of the US-Mexico border and the risks faced by those crossing it.
As many as ten thousand people attempt to illegally cross the border between the US and Mexico each month, braving deserts, rivers, and other environmental hazards in the process. But the very illegality of that crossing has an environmental history, writes Penn State University assistant professor Mary Mendoza in Deadly Divide: How Insects, Pathogens, and People Defied the US-Mexico Border (University of North Carolina Press, 2026). It was diseases, microbes, insects, and animals which, in part, hardened the border from a porous array of landscapes into the militarized zone seen on the news every night. However, despite the ecological and political difficulties of doing so, people continue to cross the border between the two countries, defying environmental odds and risking death along the way. In Deadly Divide, Mendoza explains why, underscores the risks involved, and shows how we got to this point, keeping an eye on the border region's stark landscape with every step of the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies
People in this episode
Host: Marshall Poe
Guest: Mary E. Mendoza
Topics covered
- border crossing
- environmental hazards
- diseases
- ecological history
- US-Mexico relations
- insects and pathogens
Keywords
- border
- insects
- pathogens
- environment
- migration
- ecology
- US-Mexico border
- disease
- landscape
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of North Carolina Press, Penn State University
Places: US, Mexico
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