Caroline Tracey, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History" (W. W. Norton, 2026)

Salt lakes are some of the most beautiful and unusual landscapes that you can find on this planet, even as they can be quite alien to people used to fresh bodies of water. They're also uniquely threatened, both by everyday human activity such as farming and industry and by the looming problem of anthropogenic climate change. As the lakes dry up, the consequences to the surrounding ecosystems can be devastating; meanwhile, people who live nearby can suffer from declining air quality, toxic levels of exposure to minerals in the lakebeds, and long-term health concerns. In Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History (W. W. Norton, 2026) that's part memoir and part history and geography, Caroline Tracey describes a series of journeys across North America and Central Asia that brought her close to numerous different salt lakes. She outlines their history, the threats facing them, their ecological and cultural significance, and how people are trying to protect and conserve them. And even as she does the work of telling their history, she also makes clear the effect that these landscapes had on her in developing a greater understanding of her own sexuality and place in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member!

You can listen to Caroline Tracey, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History" (W. W. Norton, 2026) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Caroline Tracey, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History" (W. W. Norton, 2026) is an episode from New Books in Environmental Studies by New Books Network.

This episode is 46:13 long.

This episode was published on Apr 3, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from New Books in Environmental Studies when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.