In the 1950's, survival rates from cancer of any kind were low. Damaging surgery and unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Cervical cancer was often asymptomatic until it was well advanced, and by that time, it was often a death sentence. This dramatic story of the fight against cervical cancer revolves around three main characters: Dr. Papanicolaou, a Greek immigrant whose single-minded pursuit of the development of a diagnostic test saved hundreds of thousands of women; Hashime Murayama, the exquisitely talented artist who became National Geographic's first inhouse illustrator, but because of his Japanese heritage, was fired, interned in a WWII camp, then released to work on the project; and Helen Dickens, a groundbreaking Black female surgeon, who overcame deep distrust between the Black community and medical professionals to save the lives of thousands of women. The work of these three true life savers slashed death rates of this previously unfightable cancer by more than 60 percent.

In the 1950's, survival rates from cancer of any kind were low. Damaging surgery and unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Cervical cancer was often asymptomatic until it was well advanced, and by that time, it was often a death sentence. This dramatic story of the fight against cervical cancer revolves around three main characters: Dr. Papanicolaou, a Greek immigrant whose single-minded pursuit of the development of a diagnostic test saved hundreds of thousands of women; Hashime Murayama, the exquisitely talented artist who became National Geographic's first inhouse illustrator, but because of his Japanese heritage, was fired, interned in a WWII camp, then released to work on the project; and Helen Dickens, a groundbreaking Black female surgeon, who overcame deep distrust between the Black community and medical professionals to save the lives of thousands of women. The work of these three true life savers slashed death rates of this previously unfightable cancer by more than 60 percent.

In the 1950's, survival rates from cancer of any kind were low. Damaging surgery and unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Cervical cancer was often asymptomatic until it was well advanced, and by that time, it was often a death sentence. This dramatic story of the fight against cervical cancer revolves around three main characters: Dr. Papanicolaou, a Greek immigrant whose single-minded pursuit of the development of a diagnostic test saved hundreds of thousands of women; Hashime Murayama, the exquisitely talented artist who became National Geographic's first inhouse illustrator, but because of his Japanese heritage, was fired, interned in a WWII camp, then released to work on the project; and Helen Dickens, a groundbreaking Black female surgeon, who overcame deep distrust between the Black community and medical professionals to save the lives of thousands of women. The work of these three true life savers slashed death rates of this previously unfightable cancer by more than 60 percent.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.

In the summer of 1943, a thick noxious haze of smog enveloped the Los Angeles region. Residents complained of burning eyes and lungs, and some experienced nausea. The physical distress caused by the haze was so bad that many feared it was a Japanese chemical warfare attack. Over the next several years, the problem reached crisis proportions. Farmers began complaining of discolored lettuce, wilted crops, and dying produce. Many suspected emissions from sulfur-emitting factories had caused the foul air, but a chemist at the California Institute of Technology had a different theory. Arie Haagen-Smit determined that the smog was the result of sunlight breaking down incompletely burned gasoline and other hydrocarbons found in car emissions. Meanwhile, across the country, toxicologist Mary Amdur made a disturbing discovery: the combined effects of air pollutants, even when not lethal, she determined, could cause permanent damage to lungs. Both Haagen-Smit and Amdur would suffer reprisals from entrenched industries threatened by their discoveries, but as the 1950s progressed, ordinary citizens became active in the fight to address air pollution across the country until, in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Clean Air Act, one of the nation's first environmental laws. War on Smog will tell the story of the epic struggle against airborne toxins that lead to a national reckoning about air quality and the creation of the Clean Air Act.

In the summer of 1943, a thick noxious haze of smog enveloped the Los Angeles region. Residents complained of burning eyes and lungs, and some experienced nausea. The physical distress caused by the haze was so bad that many feared it was a Japanese chemical warfare attack. Over the next several years, the problem reached crisis proportions. Farmers began complaining of discolored lettuce, wilted crops, and dying produce. Many suspected emissions from sulfur-emitting factories had caused the foul air, but a chemist at the California Institute of Technology had a different theory. Arie Haagen-Smit determined that the smog was the result of sunlight breaking down incompletely burned gasoline and other hydrocarbons found in car emissions. Meanwhile, across the country, toxicologist Mary Amdur made a disturbing discovery: the combined effects of air pollutants, even when not lethal, she determined, could cause permanent damage to lungs. Both Haagen-Smit and Amdur would suffer reprisals from entrenched industries threatened by their discoveries, but as the 1950s progressed, ordinary citizens became active in the fight to address air pollution across the country until, in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Clean Air Act, one of the nation's first environmental laws. War on Smog will tell the story of the epic struggle against airborne toxins that lead to a national reckoning about air quality and the creation of the Clean Air Act.