A look at the human toll of the construction of the Panama Canal : Code Switch : NPR

Author Cristina Henriquez next to the cover of her new novel, The Great Divide

Brian McConkey/Ecco

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Brian McConkey/Ecco

Author Cristina Henriquez next to the cover of her new novel, The Great Divide

Brian McConkey/Ecco

President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take back control of the Panama Canal. The Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. So how did we get here?

Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henriquez, the author of the novel, “The Great Divide.” Her book explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present.

This episode was produced by Christina Cala. It was edited by Leah Donnella. Our engineer was James Willets.