EPISODE · Sep 15, 2025 · 10 MIN
Ep 92 The Great Disfarmament - The Great Disarmament Part 4: Trenches & Toxins
from Peace Is Here with Avis Kalfsbeek · host Avis Kalfsbeek
What happens when chemical warfare doesn’t end at the battlefield—but follows us home? In this episode of The Great Disfarmament – The Great Disarmament, we travel from the trenches of World War I to the poisoned fields of mid-century agriculture. We explore how the same compounds used for mustard gas and explosives were rebranded as fertilizers and pesticides—and how the Green Revolution masked a deeper ecological unraveling. We meet Sir Albert Howard, a botanist who saw soil not as a battleground but as a living system, and we revisit the literary trauma of All Quiet on the Western Front, where war clings to lungs and lingers in the land. If disfarmament began with conquest, this is the moment it became chemical. Listen in as we unearth the roots of modern agriculture—and how healing may begin by remembering what we’ve tried to forget. 📘 Download the Peace Resource Guide: aviskalfsbeek.com/peaceguide 📢 Share this episode using #TheGreatDisarmament 📚 Get Mono Mutante: aviskalfsbeek.com/mono-mutante 💛 Follow my Kickstarter: aviskalfsbeek.com/kickstarter 🎵 Music is by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez: The Red Kite Javier on Bandcamp: javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com Javier on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW?si=iFFXM2gYR2CuuGjmsfNViQ
What this episode covers
What happens when chemical warfare doesn’t end at the battlefield—but follows us home? In this episode of The Great Disfarmament – The Great Disarmament, we travel from the trenches of World War I to the poisoned fields of mid-century agriculture. We explore how the same compounds used for mustard gas and explosives were rebranded as fertilizers and pesticides—and how the Green Revolution masked a deeper ecological unraveling. We meet Sir Albert Howard, a botanist who saw soil not as a battleground but as a living system, and we revisit the literary trauma of All Quiet on the Western Front, where war clings to lungs and lingers in the land. If disfarmament began with conquest, this is the moment it became chemical. Listen in as we unearth the roots of modern agriculture—and how healing may begin by remembering what we’ve tried to forget. 📘 Download the Peace Resource Guide: aviskalfsbeek.com/peaceguide 📢 Share this episode using #TheGreatDisarmament 📚 Get Mono Mutante: aviskalfsbeek.com/mono-mutante 💛 Follow my Kickstarter: aviskalfsbeek.com/kickstarter 🎵 Music is by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez: The Red Kite Javier on Bandcamp: javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com Javier on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW?si=iFFXM2gYR2CuuGjmsfNViQ
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Ep 92 The Great Disfarmament - The Great Disarmament Part 4: Trenches & Toxins
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