This is 99% invisible.
I'm Roman Mars.
When the Endangered Species act passed in 1973, it was a bipartisan home run.
The act established protections for plants and animals on the endangered
and threatened species lists and across the aisle,
everyone seemed to agree that it would be bad for a bunch of species to go extinct.
When the act went to a vote, not a single senator voted against it.
Flash forward just over 50 years, and the story could not be more different.
Today, communities across the nation are fighting over the esa,
and a whole legal specialty has sprung up around how to use it and how to fight it.
The 1973 Endangered Species act is the subject of an incredible new podcast called the Wide Open.
The series is hosted by Nick Mott.
We're going to be playing an episode from the Wide Open, but before that,
I had a conversation with Nick about his new series and the controversial law at its center.
Hi, Nick.
So you host a podcast called the Wide Open.
Its first season is about the Endangered species Act of 1973,
which gave federal protection to plants and animals listed as either threatened or endangered.
And I just want to start from the beginning.
Like, what made you want to do a story about the Endangered Species act specifically?