That interest landed him in the Democratic Republic of Congo because. It's what keeps that little battery icon green as we scroll through social media or turn on GPS or swipe right or left on a dating app. Several years ago, he became interested in a metal called cobalt, a key ingredient in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. KARA: I am a researcher on modern-day slavery and child labor and author of the book "Cobalt Red: How The Blood Of The Congo Powers Our Lives."ĪRABLOUEI: For over 20 years, Siddharth has dedicated his life to understanding the conditions for workers at the bottom of the supply chain, the people who extract the resources that go into products that fuel the world economy. Above the dirt, where all this cobalt is located, is a population of some of the poorest people on the planet.ĪRABLOUEI: He's a professor at the University of Nottingham in England. KARA: And that, invariably, flows up through the formal supply chain into our phones and stuff as we plug them in each day. And their day is measured in kilos of cobalt. KARA: At that very moment, when you click over to social media, there'll be a mother with a baby strapped to her back, and she will be hacking at the earth under a scalding sun without any reprieve, trying to fill up a sack desperately, bent over, scrounging away, releasing toxic puffs of cobalt dust into her lungs and her baby's lungs, 'cause cobalt is toxic. KARA: When you wake up, like I do, I'll start swiping, just like you, and checking how much charge I have and so on. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This thing turns your pillow into a giant, comfy Bluetooth. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Imitating phone ringing). UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Come on into a giant, comfy Bluetooth headphone. 'Cause it's in our smartphone, our tablet, our laptop and our electric vehicles. SIDDHARTH KARA: You and I, people listening to this conversation, we cannot function for 24 hours without cobalt. A quick heads-up before we get started - there are references to violence in this episode that some listeners might find disturbing.
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