Caroline Fraser

Thank you for having me.

Yeah, well, I started thinking about this a long time ago.

The book's called Murderland.

Yeah, the book is Murderland.

And I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s around the time when there were a lot of

you know, serial killers beginning to pop up.

And there always had been this question, why are there so many serial killers in the Pacific Northwest?

And so that was the question I was really thinking about.

And the premise as it emerged from the research that I did and from some of the facts that I learned about what was happening in the Northwest in this run up to the 1970s

is that there may be a connection between the lead pollution that was prevalent in the area because of smelters and leaded gas

and serial killers because lead, of course, as we I think most people now know, has a connection to heightened aggression and violence in the people who've been exposed to it.

So that was what emerged to me gradually over the years.

I mean, I didn't know a lot about this when I started.

I knew about the serial killers, but I didn't really know about the whole lead story.

And that came about...

you know, I learned about it in part because of some murders.

I mean, I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is a lovely place.

Unfortunately, New Mexico has a high rate of homicides.

In part, it's because it's a poor state and doesn't have a big tax base and has, you know, some issues with

drug and alcohol addiction.