Worldwide, we smoke six trillion cigarettes a year. Shouldn’t we know more about them? In Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition, historian Robert Proctor reveals little-known secrets of the cigarette, starting with the ingredient list: antifreeze, cocoa shells, liquorice, and over 100 other additives. Nora Volkow, who heads the National Institute on Drug Abuse, joins to discuss nicotine vaccines and the science of addiction.
Robert Proctor, author of Golden Holocaust, tells us why cigarettes could be worse for you WITH the filter. Listen to more of the conversation here.
Segment Guests
Robert Proctor
Robert Proctor is the author of the Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition (University of California Press, 2012) and a professor of the history of science at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
Nora Volkow
Nora Volkow is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Meet the Producer
About Christopher Intagliata
@cintagliataChristopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.