Rare earths are not really 'rare'. They are quite abundant in the Earth's crust, and some of them are as abundant as copper or gold. But the misnomer sticks and continues to influence our popular imagination. But why is this so? With China imposing export controls on rare earth metals and magnets, Shobhankita Reddy and Tannmay Baid chat with Dr. Julie Klinger, Professor of Geography at the University of Delaware and the author of "Rare Earth Frontiers - From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes", to understand the historical and geopolitical context of the current trade escalations and what the way forward may be. They also discuss Nehru's ban on the exports of monazite sands, rich in thorium and rare earths, through the 1950s.
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