Rubber has been crucial to the modern age. The pneumatic tyre made modern car and plane travel possible. The substance has a long history. It’s been known for well over a thousand years, extracted first from Latin American jungles. The Aztecs made balls for recreation. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, the rubber trade was tied up with slavery by the European colonial powers. Lorenza Bacino traces the dramatic history of rubber.
Producer: Lorenza Bacino
Broadcast: November 15, 2000