What Doesn't Kill You

Episode 128: Antibiotics with Maryn McKenna

Episode Summary

Antibiotic use in livestock is a topic that has been discussed many times on Heritage Radio Network, but this week on What Doesnt Kill You, journalist, author and blogger Maryn McKenna explains whats going on in a way that should make it clear for everybody. Maryn McKenna is an independent journalist specializing in public health, global health and food policy. She is a contributing writer for Wired and also for National Geographics food-writing platform The Plate, and writes for Scientific American, Nature, Slate, the Guardian, the Atlantic, and other publications in the United States and Europe. She is the author of the award-winning books SUPERBUG, about the global rise of antibiotic resistance, and Beating Back the Devil, about the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is currently working on a book about food production. She is a Senior Fellow of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and a research affiliate at MIT. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard and Winery. I think that what i see happening is that the market is moving the companies much more than the regulators can. [23:00] I think of antibiotics are the wizard behind the curtain. They are this thing causing all the other change in the meat industry from 1940 forward. [43:00] --Maryn McKenna on What Doesnt Kill You

Episode Notes

Antibiotic use in livestock is a topic that has been discussed many times on Heritage Radio Network, but this week on What Doesn’t Kill You, journalist, author and blogger Maryn McKenna explains what’s going on in a way that should make it clear for everybody. Maryn McKenna is an independent journalist specializing in public health, global health and food policy. She is a contributing writer for Wired and also for National Geographic’s food-writing platform The Plate, and writes for Scientific American, Nature, Slate, the Guardian, the Atlantic, and other publications in the United States and Europe. She is the author of the award-winning books SUPERBUG, about the global rise of antibiotic resistance, and Beating Back the Devil, about the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is currently working on a book about food production. She is a Senior Fellow of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and a research affiliate at MIT. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery.


“I think that what i see happening is that the market is moving the companies much more than the regulators can.” [23:00]

I think of antibiotics are the wizard behind the curtain. They are this thing causing all the other change in the meat industry from 1940 forward.” [43:00]

–Maryn McKenna on What Doesn’t Kill You