Another reason why it's a story worth telling and teaching is that it's important to point to these things,

where we are capable as a species on some level of solving problems that are deeply entrenched in everyday life and the routines and

technology and infrastructure of everyday life. I mean just think of all the

like gas stations around the world that were selling leaded gasoline. I think it

took us too long but it's also good to remind ourselves that sometimes we create

unintended consequences and negative externalities and then correct them. The? Welcome to the War on Cars.

I'm Aaron Napersack.

This year, 2023 is the 100th anniversary of the invention of leaded gasoline.

When you rank all of the many different ways that the automobile has harmed human health and the environment

over the course of the last hundred years. The effects of leaded gasoline have to be pretty close to the top of the list.

For centuries now, going back at least as far as the

Roman Empire, humanity has known that lead is a dangerous neurotoxin.

Ingesting or inhaling even tiny amounts of lead is extremely damaging to the

human brain and body, and especially the developing brains and bodies of young children.

Scientists were well aware of these dangers in the 1920s,

but adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline

made internal combustion engines work better and leaded gasoline made it possible

to turn the automobile into a mass market product.

Our guest on the podcast today is Stephen Johnson.

Stephen is the best-selling author of 13 books at the intersection of science, technology,

and personal experience. His most recent is called Extra Life, a short history of living longer.

He also hosts the American Innovations Podcast.

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