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Plastic Podcast | Pollution, Policy, and People

by Pine Forest Media | Environmental Science Podcasts

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Latest episodes

NEW Show: Oceanography (Trailer)

July 24, 2025 · 2 min

🎧 New from Pine Forest Media: Oceanography From the creators of The Plastic Podcast, Oceanography is a new weekly series exploring the science, policy, and people working to protect our oceans. Hosted by science communicator Clark…
The Road to Busan and Beyond: A United Nations Treaty on Plastics

November 6, 2024 · 46 min

How does a global plastics treaty get negotiated? Researcher Tara Olsen joins host Clark Marchese to explain the process, actors, and competing interests behind the United Nations effort to regulate plastic pollution. Using the road to the…
The Evolution of Anti-Plastic Norms

October 30, 2024 · 33 min

Anti-plastic norms spread when health enters the story. Global health policy researcher Leah Shipton explains how local plastic bag bans developed into an international movement, with examples from early policy adopters including…
Cancer Alley and Environmental Gaslighting

October 23, 2024 · 46 min

Cancer Alley links plastic production to public health. Dr. Kimberly Terrell and Gianna St. Julien of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic explain research on toxic air pollution, cancer risk, and racial disparities along Louisiana’s…
Neuston: Life on an Ocean Garbage Patch

October 16, 2024 · 31 min

Ocean garbage patches are also living habitats. Marine ecologist Dr. Mark Gibbons introduces neuston, the diverse organisms that live on or just below the ocean surface, from bluebottles and sea snails to fish eggs and larvae. He joins…

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Plastic and Tourism: How to Travel Better and Transform the Industry

October 9, 2024 · 21 min

Tourism creates more plastic waste than travelers see. Green marketing and sustainable development researcher Dr. Farzana Quoquab explains why plastic consumption often rises in popular destinations and why responsibility cannot rest on…
Ocean Hotspots: Macro and Micro Plastics

October 2, 2024 · 22 min

Ocean plastic hotspots are not where maps expect. Dr. Annika Jahnke and researcher Robby Rynek bring Plastic Podcast aboard a Pacific research expedition from Vancouver to Singapore. They explain how scientists sample macroplastics and…
Digital Tech and the Circular Economy of Plastic across African Contexts

September 25, 2024 · 39 min

Digital tools are reshaping plastic recovery in Africa. Dr. Seun Kolade and Wunmi Ogunde discuss research on digitally enabled business models for a circular plastic economy in Africa. They explain s how mobile platforms, data, and new…
Indigenous Approaches to Plastics Pollution Governance

September 18, 2024 · 31 min

Plastic governance changes when Indigenous voices lead. Researcher Riley Cotter joins Plastic Podcast to discuss microplastics research, Indigenous participation, and the colonial assumptions built into many environmental institutions…
The Future of Plastics and Climate Action

August 7, 2024 · 31 min

Can plastics ever become carbon negative? Dr. Vassilis Daioglou of the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency explains how integrated assessment models test possible futures for carbon-negative plastics and climate change. He and…
How do plastics impact coral reefs?

July 31, 2024 · 30 min

Plastic pollution has reached deep-sea coral reefs. Marine scientist Dr. Lucy Woodall joins Plastic Podcast to explain the ecological roles of deep-sea corals and how discarded fishing gear, larger debris, and microplastics interact with…
South Pole Cross Over: Plastic in Antarctica

July 24, 2024 · 33 min

Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s ecosystems. In this crossover from South Pole, British Antarctic Survey researcher Dr. Clara Manno explains how plastic travels to polar regions and how Antarctic wildlife and Southern Ocean…

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About the show

Plastic pollution reaches our oceans, food, bodies, and laws. Plastic Podcast is a 28-episode limited series exploring microplastics, human health, recycling, climate change, and the policies shaping the future of plastic. Hosted by science communicator Clark Marchese, the series brings together chemists, marine biologists, historians, artists, activists, legal researchers, Indigenous scholars, and policy experts to trace the past, present, and future of humanity’s relationship with plastic. Episodes investigate microplastics in food, drinking water, soil, coral reefs, and Antarctica, alongside biodegradable plastics, chemical recycling, the global plastic waste trade, Cancer Alley, zero waste cities, and the UN plastics treaty. Rigorous without being alarmist, Plastic Podcast connects environmental science with policy, culture, health, and justice. Discover not only where plastic pollution ends up, but how it was created, who bears its costs, and how the systems behind it can change. Plastic Podcast is produced by Pine Forest Media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.