The The Hello and welcome to Behind the News, my name is Doug Henwood.

Two guests today, no surprise there.

Elizabeth Wrigley Field will discuss the enormous racial disparities in death at the hands of the police and also

in normal life expectancy.

And then Tom Philpot will analyze the profound ecological crises facing two crucial food-growing

regions of the U.S.

California's Central Valley and the Midwestern Corn Belt.

Even if you're aware of the depth and cruelty of racism in the U.S.

Every now and then you come across some evidence of it that stops you in your tracks.

And by you, I mean a well-informed but comfortable white person.

The sociologist and demographer Elizabeth Riggly Field has done just that with two recent papers on black-white differences in mortality.

In one, she takes the measure of years of life lost to police violence.

In the other, she asks, how many extra white people would have to die of COVID-19 to match the normal death rate of black Americans.

The numbers are staggering.

In the interview I mentioned a New York Times article from earlier this week that draws in her work. It's a piece by

Gus Wozerk called Racism's Hidden Toll posted in August 11th. Say what you will

about the Times and one can say many critical things about it but their data

visualization graphics are first-rate in this piece is a fine example of that.

Elizabeth Riggly Field and yes that's really her name her mother is

Riggly and her father Field is an assistant professor of

sociology at the University of Minnesota and an affiliate of the Minnesota

Population Center, Elizabeth Riggly Field. We have been paying a lot of attention the fact that American police kill a lot of people,

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