How environmentalists lost the plot

About this episode

The episode explores the implications of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' on modern environmentalism and its relationship with progress.

Is modern environmentalism anti-progress? This week, Jerusalem Demsas and Matthew Yglesias read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring – the book that launched the modern environmental movement. Jerusalem and Matt find themselves surprised by what's actually in it. Is it a visionary scientific critique or a romantic backlash against modernity? And did Carson's legacy help or hurt the cause she championed? Plus: new research on whether leaving the workforce accelerates cognitive decline and what t...

People in this episode

Hosts: Jerusalem Demsas, Matthew Yglesias

Topics covered

• environmentalism
• progress
• cognitive decline
• modernity
• scientific critique

Keywords

• environmentalism
• Silent Spring
• Rachel Carson
• cognitive decline
• modernity
• scientific critique

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Silent Spring

More episodes of The Argument

• Do we need to build God to cure cancer? · June 4, 2026 · 58 min
• Why is crime falling everywhere? · May 28, 2026 · 54 min
• Why Democrats and Republicans want you to pay $50,000 for a car · May 21, 2026 · 58 min
• Did Joe Biden really kill Spirit Airlines? · May 14, 2026 · 1h 9m
• Boy moms and Nazi POWs: how "The Feminine Mystique" changed feminism · May 7, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Should we end asylum? · April 30, 2026 · 1h 13m