Air Date: Week of July 26, 2002

This week we dip into the Living on Earth mailbag to hear what listeners have to say.

Transcript

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CURWOOD: Time for comments from you, our listeners. Linn Norton from Plattsmouth, Nebraska was listening to KIOS when she heard our review of the documentary "Hybrid" about corn farmer, Milford Beeghly. She took issue with our reviewer’s idea that the film might have been less about the invention of hybrid corn, and more about "Midwesterners, isolated by geography and culture, yearning for the comfort of human contact."

"Those of us who do love the solitude of open, empty places are battling desperately to maintain them from becoming more suburban sprawl, strip malls and parking lots," wrote Ms. Norton. "This reporter’s final remarks gave me the impression that he felt open space, which divided people from the masses, was a bad thing. For me, anyway, it left me less interested in the subject, and disoriented by such a judgmental comment."

Rich Weaver heard our interview about the negative effects of antibiotics on plants over WPSU in State College, Pennsylvania. He writes, "I did not hear any discussion on the possibility the antibiotics might be harmful to the beneficial bacteria in the soil. And this might be what’s harming the plants. It seems that nitrogen is processed in the soil by bacteria. And if they cannot do their work, plants will suffer. I suspect that is why manure contaminated with antibiotics would be ineffective."

Your comments on our program are most welcome. You could call our listener line anytime at (800) 218-9988. Or write to us at letters@loe.org. Once again, letters@loe.org. And our postal address is 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.