Episode 112: Plastic Problems, with William Gibson

“Greta the Great White Shark” is an art installation at Iowa State University, made entirely from plastic garbage and pollution that washed ashore from the ocean. It was designed by Angela Haseltine Pozzi. Via WashedAshore.org

Plastic was once a symbol of our shiny future, and now it represents our trashed, polluted present. What's the future of this fossil-fueled polymer? We talk about what makes plastic so scary -- in science and fiction. And then we call up William Gibson, who has thought a LOT about plastic, in fiction and real life.

Notes, citations, & etc.

William Gibson (also you can follow him on Twitter)

A nice video introduction to how plastic is made from National Geographic (includes nurdles!)

From Pollution to Solution: a global assessment of marine litter and plastic pollution (a UN report)

Less than 20% of all plastics are recycled (according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

NPR and PBS Frontline published an investigative report which revealed that plastic companies knew most of their products couldn’t be recycled, but still told consumers that it could be.

UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi

How Plastic-Eating Bacteria Actually Work, by Emily Flashman (via The Conversation)

Plastic-eating bacteria: genetic engineering and environmental impact, by Scott Dutfield (via Live Science)

Trashlands, by Allison Stine

A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), dir Yoshimitsu Banno

The Host, dir Bong Joon Ho

Waste Tide, by Chen Qiufan