Geological Disasters: Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester has written extensively about geological disasters from Krakatoa to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. We talk to him about the situation in Japan and what he thinks the earth might have in store for us next.



PART THREE

Geological Disaster - Simon Winchester

Mankind inhabits this earth subject to geological consent - which can be withdrawn at any time.

Simon Winchester wrote those words in Newsweek magazine last week. He wrote them in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan as well as powerful earthquakes in New Zealand and Chile and the on-going effort to re-build Haiti after the earthquake there 14 months ago.

The Currrent last spoke with Simon Winchester in the fall, when he published his biography of the Atlantic Ocean. He's also the author of Krakatoa and A Crack in The Edge of The World, about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Simon Winchester was in Sandisfield, Massachusetts.

Related Links:

Music Bridge

Artist: Bedouin Soundclash
Cd: Sounding a Mosaic
Cut: # 2, Shelter
Label: Stomp
Spine: STMP 043

Last Word - The Royals

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is still a little more than a month away. But Nancy Durham -- The Current's Royal Watcher -- is already hard at work.

On Monday, Nancy will take us to the Welsh Island of Anglesey. Prince William is stationed there, flying search and rescue helicopters. And that's where the couple will settle into marital bliss. But as anyone who has ever moved to a new place knows, there are rules that must be followed if you want to fit in. We ended the program with a preview of Nancy Durham's documentary.


Other segments from today's show: