What a Failed Rat Hunt Says About Colonialism

The story of colonial-era French-controlled Hanoi being overrun by rats illustrates how prejudiced, arrogant, and perverse incentives lead to ineffective solutions. Guest: Michael G. Vann, Professor of History at California State University, Sacramento; author of "The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam"; host of “New Books in History” podcast