Advertise here with Carbon Ads

This site is made possible by member support. ❤️

Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.

When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!

kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.

🍔  💀  📸  😭  🕳️  🤠  🎬  🥔

Does lead cause crime?

In recent years, we’ve seen a pretty steady drop in serious crime in many American cities. There are several theories to explain the drop — better policing strategies, shifting demographics, economic ups and downs — but none of them seems to provide a full and consistent explanation. In Mojo, Kevin Drum thinks he may have found the villain behind crime (and lower IQs and ADHD): Lead. “When differences of atmospheric lead density between big and small cities largely went away, so did the difference in murder rates.” I’m not sure if this is truly the answer, but it’s a very interesting read: America’s Real Criminal Element.