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The story of our relationship with dams, in the book 'Cracked'

Three conversation topics come up again and again in our region: fires, trees, and dams. We'll focus on the third item in the list, because it's especially relevant to the moment, when one of the Klamath River dams is mostly gone, and three others are awaiting demolition.

Those dams and many others demonstrate how government and big business--in this case an electric utility--worked together to make major changes to the environment. There's a lot of second-guessing of that approach these days, including in Steven Hawley's new book Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World.

The author gives the history of the 20th Century dam-building binge, and what we have to show for it now. He joins us for a live chat on the JX.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.