Listen in to this conversation with leading scholar and critic Dorothy Roberts about the revival of a dubious and dangerous science of race. In her new book Fatal Invention: How Science, and Big Business Re-create Race in the 21st Century, she makes the case that cutting-edge genomic science and biotechnologies are once again justifying an archaic belief in race that promotes inequality and undermines a just society.

Alison Cuddy, the host of WBEZ’s Eight Forty-Eight, leads a lively conversation with Roberts about race, science, and justice in the twenty-first century.

Roberts is the Kirkland and Ellis Professor of Law at Northwestern University Law School and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. Her previous books include Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and The Meaning of Liberty and Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare. She has written more than seventy articles and essays in books and scholarly journals and is the coeditor of six books on gender and constitutional law. She serves as a chair of the board of directors of the Black Women’s Health Imperative. Roberts lives in Evanston, Illinois. Alison Cuddy is the host of WBEZ’s award-winning weekday news magazine Eight Forty-Eight. Prior to becoming the full-time host of the program, Alison served as the senior producer of Chicago Matters, the year-long series examining various topics of broad interest to the region.

Recorded Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at the Chicago Cultural Center.