The Rise and Fall of the Panama Canal : Code Switch : NPR
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The Panama Canal is known as the greatest engineering feat in human history. It has also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest freedom humanity has ever had from Mother Nature. Today both of those descriptions are contradictory; due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and less than half of the ships that once passed through are now navigable. How did we get here? Today on the show, we’re talking to Cristina Henriquez, author of a new novel that explores the creation of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to divide the land in half – and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act still resonate in our present.
This episode is hosted by Gene Demby and BA Parker, produced by Christina Cala and edited by Leah Donnella.