97: Vince Beiser | Why Sand Is More Important Than You Think It Is

Vince Beiser ( @vincelb ) is an award-winning journalist specializing in social issues, technology, and the places they intersect. His latest book is The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization . What We Discuss with Vince Beiser: Sand is to cities what flour is to bread -- without sand, civilization as we know it could not exist. Sand is at the core of our daily lives , used to make concrete, glass, asphalt, silicon chips in laptops, and smartphones. Usable sand is a finite, endangered resource and desert sand doesn't work for construction -- in fact, Dubai imports sand from Australia. There's a black market for sand, and there are sand pirates -- it's a resource over which people literally die. Nearly 70% of sand on Earth is quartz (one of the most common minerals on earth), and the cycle to create new sand takes 200 million years. And much more... Sign up for Six-Minute Networking -- our free networking and relationship development mini course -- at jordanharbinger.com/course ! Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally! Full show notes and resources can be found here . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .