ArtLife: Toxic Times with Elizabeth Mazzolini

ArtLife: Toxic Times with Elizabeth Mazzolini, University at Buffalo Associate Professor of English. Many of us use the term “toxic” in any number of situations that are not literally poisonous, including references to workplaces, personalities, masculinity, and so on.  Does metaphorical use diminish our capacities for action against literal toxicity?  This conversation will focus on a moment in recent history in which three very different poisoning events overlapped: the Love Canal disaster, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident, and peak cigarette smoking rates among Americans.  Snapshots from these events, which took place on a cultural and political cusp, help draw out the changing power of the term “toxicity,” providing insight into how the idea of “toxicity” has seeped into everyday discourse.