The Sand Mafias

People are being killed over sand. Not diamonds, not lithium, not rare earths - sand, the second-most consumed resource on earth after water, and the one nobody thinks about twice. Mette Bendixen, a geoscientist at McGill, studies where it comes from and who pays the price for it. Dubai imports its sand from Australia. Greenland's melting ice sheet is quietly producing a new export. And somewhere in Rwanda, a woman crushes stones by hand for two weeks to earn twenty dollars. The foundation of the modern world turns out to be a resource with no lobby, no regulation, and a growing body count. -- Timestamps: (00:00) - Intro! (01:20) - Jacob Meets Expert (02:26) - Why Sand Matters (04:08) - Which Sand Works (05:45) - Where Demand Explodes (09:05) - Scarcity And Prices (12:02) - Dubai Imports Sand (13:32) - Greenland Sand Boom (19:04) - Africa And Mekong Mining (23:36) - Alternatives And Recycling (27:18) - Singapore Land Reclamation (34:13) - Why Study Sand (36:08) - Policy And Labor Dilemmas (43:06) - Wrap Up And Takeaways (46:50) - Outro And Credits -- Referenced in the Show: Mette Bendixon - https://www.mettebendixen.com/ Time Is Running Out For Sand (Nature) - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02042-4 Reddit Thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1usi0ze/what_is_a_multibillion_dollar_industry_that_the/ -- Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.com Jacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416 Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShap Jacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe -- The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com -- Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world. --