On the left side of all the hearings and president ial events of the day and then right underneath that on the left si side. They appear in the order that they are on the network. You can search for a persons name. They contain the video and on that page is a search box and you put in a word so lets say they talked about climate chan change. The public statements of those demanding full support on the clean powerplant. Put in those words and that will get you to the particular small pieces almost like paragraphs where they made the remarks. The soldiers were members of the field are mary regimen as the first calvary division. They swore to protect the United States. Across the top, we have the link that says the video clips. I certainly hope it is assad. I do too but i dont think so. Theres another one that says the mentions are valuable. Valuable. What a decision by the president of mexico to invite donald trump down there. On the fa on the far left side there are breakdowns much like you would say on any shopping website. I want to see a persons name or the Senate Committee or the tag for the policy. It is narrowing down the. On the Video Library cspan cspan. Org. The book is defenseless under the knife, the years int and the origins of Homeland Security. What was the role in the creation of the office of civilian defense . For many years was very interested in how democracy was going to defend itself against what seemed to be an existential threat into fascism. She worked very strategically to promote the defense as a wartime new deal so as it was petering out, she and others felt she launched a campaign. Democracy has to be strengthened at home setup in 1941 by the executive order but roosevelt was instrumental in the idea of the volunteer participation that every american had a role to play and they should make life more living in the democracy. Prior to world war ii the scarcity of the fulltime with their peace versus war on a fulltime basis . Most progressives became pacifists and followed the postworld war i lot. There was a sense of dean mobilization and of course the neutrality act and the country was in deep isolationist but by the mid1930s, the civil war in spain, the bombing and attacks on ethiopia by italy, the demise of hitler and the fascist demand. They began to creep into the american political consciousness. We are seeing at this point radio dramas. Famously the war of th word of d and there were a series of fees articles that could fly nonstop. That was the theory is that it does begin to percolate into the media starts covering the war overseas including the outbreak of course in world war ii and the fear from 1935 to 1940 in dramatic ways and the government, the country is struggling to figure out a response. D. You think Homeland Security, which is now what the office two has been successful at making america feel safe or do you think its had the opposite effect over the years . I think its been both. Its made some americans feel more secure like their government has been taking proactive steps. Remember right after 9 11, there was a great deal of fear across the country and there is today but he was even more so after 9 11. The department created in that atmosphere that gave people the sense in the response from the e government as dysfunctional as it may seem today. At the same time look at hurricane katrina. We have spent billions of dollars and merged all these agencies together to protect the country and yet this massive hurricane strikes. The department of Homeland Security is incapable of saving lives on u. S. Soil and hundreds of thousands of people died in hurricane katrina. Then the security agents at the airport, and theres a lot of unhappiness about that, so its been a mixed bag, but the question we would have to ask if there was no department of Homeland Security, what what af americans be clamoring for Something Like it. So thats not to say that its all good by any stretch, but people have reacted to the differently. [inaudible conversations] okay. Once more if i can have your attention, please. Also, if you are in the back and anybody is standing, there is a monitor in the cafe and buy one of the register the registers nt if anybodyou soif anybody wantsy better view you can go to the cafe or the monitor. I am dana kelly. Its a pleasure to have you all here. Shes been here for any number of titles and its always a pleasure to have her back. Tonight is about the military and what they have to go through. We are going to the front lines and there are some things i certainly didnt know that you will find out about what the military has to go through in various ways. And i will just mention one. Part of the things we learned how it can be a threat to national security. [laughter] quick from the boston globe, a bit of brilliance written in the books examining the Science Behind the war into the researchers leading the charge. Its a triumph and engaging anecdotes, research and reflection. Merry as you know its one of the authors of packing for mars, the science, the curious coupling of science and sex, science tackles the afterlife and human cadavers as the writing has appeared in every magazine you can possibly imagine. Shes going to be in conversation tonight with our own Jeff Greenwald the author of five bestselling books including scratching the surface, future perfect for star trek conquered planet earth, and the latest. Just also yes, he works in the factory. Besides that, hes also on the faculty. So if there are any writers in the audience tonight, you can find out more about the conferences in july and august and jeff will be on the faculty so you can find all the information before you leave tonight or the newsletters. Without further ado, please welcome mary roach and Jeff Greenwald. [applause] eyeing a few octaves lower. Its not really laryngitis anymore, because you cant hear me now. I hope it holds out. We should be good. Lets go right into it and thank you for the great introduction. Im going to start with this question. Your work always sprouts from unusual seeds. So what gave birth to ground. Co. Grunt . I was reporting a piece on the worlds hottest chili pepper. I was in india and someone told me when i was reporting on this contest, somebodys head the military weaponize this chili pepper so i went over to this site and science lab and talked about the chili pepper they never deployed because they said it was prone to mildew. [laughter] so its kind of bombed. So it never was deployed there were other interesting things going on. They were working on a beach repellent right up my alley. So that is kind of where the idea came from. I thought it sounds far more esoteric and more than you might think. So thats what got the ball rolling. This is something i would like to ask about. All of your books are wonderful and really funny. Did you feel any worry about bringing this kind of lightness or breezy units which are convinced the grid in the United States right now they sacrifice a lot. How did you feel about bringing this humor to the subject . Abled trepidation and concerned. I have to be me. So id have to have some levity. Like you said, this is war and people are injured so i didnt want to be disrespectful or make light of it in an inappropriate way, so i did it too make fun of myself. At one point i have a chapter on basically how to design a vehicle for the automotive safety. How do you create a vehicle that will keep them safe so they were showing me around this large Armored Vehicle and talking about being struck down because you couldnt just keep adding more because it would make it too heavy for the engine, for the brakes etc. Its great that you still have cup holders. They said those are rightful holders. That would have been over and over because i havent spent any time in the military. My father was 65 when i was a born, born in england but moved here. In terms of you being this kind of person not knowing much about them, the last one that was a little bit similar was packing for mars. Was it harder to get access to the military or to the space program. It wasnt as difficult. They were very straightforward. Just write up front, no. People were helpful and willing to help. The difficulty is when people were saying no, nobody felt they had the authority to say no. So i cant say yes but i think you have to ask those people. It took a year and a half and again, it was just trying to find a way on their partly because i wanted to only be on a few days and not the month that they are on their. But it has its limits. The bad news is you would be on for 12 months. So the beauty in your book is in the details and sort of unforgettable. The one that for me is in the chapter about military uniforms, you mentioned that the specifications guide is 22 pages long. I was amazed to read that its clothing designers have a Fashion Design to create. Isnt that sort of an oxymoron . You would think so. I was surprised as well. The woman i was talking with at the lab basically the accessories to clothing, tents and sleeping, whatever. Whatever. They have a defined for the uniforms and this woman had a fashion degree and i thought that it makes no sense to me. If you think about it, it does because it is for a specialized activity. So it has to react in a certain way. She said here again what is a wedding gown, it is wearing specialty fabrics. [laughter] one thing that we learned from the book it can be a great deal of danger to soldiers but its no problem at all and other things you dont think about like diarrhea as a gigantic problem. Why is this such a problem for soldiers . [laughter] let me tel let me tell you. First off, historically doctor william had a great quote, the father of modern medicine. Anyway, he was the one that said dysentery is more fatal to soldiers than power or shot. The mexicanamerican war is an example. Seven soldiers died from dysentery and to, mostly dysentery to the one killed in combat. What happened is he would have field camps and youve got the tent that you are preparing for no refrigeration and you have another with a latrine and an unbelievable number of flies attracted if there were any bodies around. So the flies are landing on the latrine material and then buzzing over to the food is sitting there. So they land on this and then have these pathogens on their feet and inoculate the food sits there for two hours and then the whole camp gets dysentery or yellow fever, typhoid fever, whatever. So, it was a tremendous problem. Now, theres good hygiene on the bases and theres airconditioning so it can be sealed. There is no flies anymore so thats not a problem but it is a problem if you are saying special operations and you are one of these going out in a small unit. Those people are eating with the locals eat and its twice the rate of ordinary enlisted soldiers so if you are going to take down the osama bin laden. I went all the way to djibouti for the chapter. Thats just the kind of gal i am. [laughter] the researcher who is testing a very quick regimen in a matter of hours or days. It will be coming soon to a drug store near you. You would always take for granted that mexico is like the poster child. But its kind of an interesting story. If you go on to be database and put in diarrhea and guadalajara, you will get articles. I feel so sorry for guadalajara. Herbert, the godfather of the research honestly he has done more for counteracting van and the man on the planet. Where are people getting sick. So they set up the studys subjects and published a lot of papers as guadalajara. Do you think that the reason you havent one is because the committee is embarrassed to call him up . [inaudible] [laughter] you dressed up at one point for this interview for a journalist in the situations you were with a group called strategic operations. Is that the number of it where you have to play a role in the scene and what was that like and what was the role that he played . It is a big movie studio in Southern California that is now used for training the combat medics and because of the films that were made, they are good at loud noises and explosions and they have actors come in and theyve trademarked. So they are in training and they are immersed in this scenario. There are actors some of them are amputees that have a latex sleeve on the stump. If it isnt on proper it continues to bleed and then the actor gets very quiet and meanwhile the instructors are screaming hell did the doctors do in the situation, was the reason to feel confident about their abilities in the field . The difference between the first round of experiments versus the last the first one was there would be a guide to pick up the stretcher and you have to coordinate it. The other on the other hand doesnt know the ship sells off so they did that twice. A lot of words i cannot use on cspan2. The fight or flight response is great if you need to fight or run away but if you need to cut and agency or apply a tourniquet or do a compression because somebodys lungs had collapsed they need to be practicing bees spills in the worst physical scenario when you are flooded with adrenaline and that makes you shake. So that is kind of what it was, not so much afraid for my life, but it i isnt a relaxing afternoon. You never hear of people sort of on the front line in some obscure form of research. What are the qualities that attract you when you do these books . Iphone the strange emails as a testament to scientists they tend to be interesting to people. I have no idea what george peck would be like for the department of military. Not what i expected, a philosophical soul who loves nature in all of its form including maggots. I should explain maggots per for this amazing function and they eat the dead tissue that encourages the growth of the new tissue and five action delete the fight infection. So they would take these maggots out of wounds and was doing great on these ied injuries [inaudible] [laughter] i am sorry. Anyway, when an ied goes off into blasts all o lasts all of s debris amp dirt theres a lot of problems with infections said he was looking at bringing maggots to the armory of the surgeon and get people okay with that. She said i have a clutch of maggots and when you arrive they will be the same age as those we introduced. We had dinner and i was finishing my wine. He came back with what looked like a cut glass bowl with chocolate pudding. They were happily feeding which is what they do. Those Little Creatures can do what no surgeons scalpel can do so he had this tremendous respect and passion for these Little Creatures. Have you heard from george peck since the book came out . They are some of the most memorable characters in the book. However many you came in contact with. Among the strangest programs to you report on is the armys attempt to create a truly noxious stink bomb but it wasnt really a bomb. Its a nonlethal weapon thats a horriblthat thehorrible smell ua room. If i had one here in my bag [laughter] actually, no its not. I did have one called stenches soup. Its the one that everybody loathed and feared. My idea where i should open is the Republican National convention. [laughter] [applause] metaphorically writenow open. But its interesting because how its made would lead to the Chemical Center there is a woman that works with bad smells like a latrine or whatever. Shes actually, they start with the latrine and at this particular she traveled around the world and theres smelly feet, burnt hair, she had people rate this did you find it frightening, edible, it was hard to find the snow but all around the room they would say was horrible. Something like 3 find. It was the standard protesting the deodorizers if they had to have a compound thats not like open air, hot day. If you cant place it and dont know thidontnotice now that mie dangerous, so now it is scary. The other, heres the diabolical part, the first thing you get when you take a little snack because you tend to be tentative so the top is sort of fruity and that encourages view them o youe deeper inhales [laughter] so if you are writing a description, how would you describe it . With a robust latrine sent. You said you are not easily disgusted and that is clear. Were there any moments in the writing of the book that you wished even for a moment you were writing about wine country . A no, no. I think the closest would be a lady that sent a bunch of vials to me and those were gag worthy. It takes a lot. Where did you open them . Out on the deck. I hope your husband wasnt grilling at the time. What was the most fun you had working on this book . I love that film and i had been fascinated in the opportunity to go on board. It took a long time to set it up but it was interesting and fascinating. I would say that was the most comforting. How long were you on a submarine and get you have a run with the place . There were parts that were offlimits and classified information. I was in the enlisted crew lounge in on the corner there is a computer printer and it was labeled secret printer. I kept hanging out in the loun lounge. I couldnt go in that room because the idea is to stay down a long time. The idea is not to be seen or heard because of the strategic events can us it is a third of the Nuclear Arsenal basically. So they are just on trackable on the water down there. They dont have to refuel. [inaudible] [laughter] on a however was only down for five days. I went with a group of Commanding Officers during a practical exam so i could go out and come back so that works out well. There were deluxe accommodations. Some of them set up in between the nuclear xylose. The department is kind of like the University Library on four levels and very quiet there is not much going on other than armageddon. There were some submarines depending how big you were you had to get out and get back in. So youve got to see a lot of faces of how the military operates to the work that they are doing in the surgery with general injuries. If you were the chief of the armed forces and could suggest one change from which you have seen in the military what would you tell the presiden the presid commanderinchief, what would you say that you saw and would like to see changed . The loveliest thing i came across that was suggested in the brainstorming session at the laboratories at Wright Patterson air force base was the nonlethal weapons and there was one named Malcolm Kelly that had an idea if you had a compound that created feelings of motherly love i thought he meant something you could spray over the front if something would go why are we here. Thats how i interpreted it. I said is that what you meant and he said no. The first version i thought that would be lovely. Its one of those you can buy it and the spray it and they will buy your ideas because it creates the thoughts. He said we were looking i into each others eyes at one point. Lets go sprayed this over the west bank. Its great for book sales. If you could add one more chapter to the book, what would it have been . I tried and the it has been accepted by the u. S. I was going with the Chaplains Corps with units going out on a mine clearing vehicle but then because they were right there with the unit and at the same risk, they had a way to empathize and i thought that was an interesting approach. I wanted to do that. Their job is to cover. [laughter] so i was going to go with them but the Coalition Group wasnt just the United States, it was afghanistan we were talking about. So now they were only supporting daily journalist longterm projects that i would have liked to individually i had an idea. But they were not deploying anytime soon. I wanted to be doing emergency trauma care in a helicopter where people are firing and that is an intense scenario that would have been fascinating, logistically challenging and life or death challenging. But i would have liked to include that. One more question and we will spend 15 or 20 minutes. When you see these on the field carrying rolls of toilet paper, how do soldiers wipe their butts . Im glad you asked this question. [laughter] this is one packet from combat rations. I have stickers made, i thought of every [inaudible] anybody that buys the book will get some toilet paper. [laughter] i have about 2,000 of these, and i cant get rid of them all. [laughter] i should bring them to new orleans. Before the qanda to be directed by god to jot this down to remember to say it correctly but in the gift for being funny and different situations, people talked about how hard it is to be such a great writer and i just want to say a word about the writing. Its your best written book and i want to add the final paragraph of the book in my op