This podcast 'The Understory: Life in the Soil' is a BBC series about a soil expert, Isabelle Legeron, who brings the earth to life. She maps the rise and fall of our understanding of soil to her own life, growing up on a farm in Cognac, at a time when nitrogen fertiliser promised food for the world. Today it's the challenge of our time with increasing tracts of dead soil across over-cultivated regions of the planet. She considers soil on other planets, forest soils, rock soils, the character of soils and how this seemingly same earth gives each of us a powerful sense of our own identity.
In this episode, Isabelle Legeron, takes us to Giessen, Germany, where she embarks on a journey to the original laboratory of Justus Von Liebig, a 19th-century chemist. His work laid the foundation for subsequent developments like the Haber and Bosch processes in the 20th century. Liebig's efforts were closely entwined with the spirit of the Industrial Revolution, aiming to harness technical innovation to eradicate famine. This fervour for enhanced productivity echoed through the Green Revolution of the 20th century. Yet, a key question remains: But at what cost to the soil?
Listen to the podcast episode on BBC website.
Publication date: 21/10/2022.