T.C. Boyle on ‘When the Killing’s Done’

In 1853, a steamship named the Winfield Scott ran aground near the Channel Islands, which are off the coast of California. Unfortunately, when the ship landed, so did a certain foreign species that reproduced quickly, and ate the eggs of native birds and reptiles: the black rat.  In 2001, the National Park Service began fighting the rats with poison. Members of a fringe environmental group responded by scattering vitamin K – an antidote to the poison.  It’s this real struggle between warring environmentalists, humans, and animals that is at the center of T.C. Boyle’s newest novel “When the Killing’s Done.” The celebrated author joins us to talk more about environmental activism and moral struggles.