Yesterday

Saving your bacon: healthy-eating policy evolves

Decades of messaging have not worked, so governments are trying new ways to get citizens to eat well, from scary labelling to taxing the junkiest foods. Will it work? The death of a plague researcher in Russia is made more mysterious by the government’s resolute lack of transpare ... Show More

24m 42s

Oct 8

Valley of the shadow of debt: bond-market jitters

Bond yields across the rich world keep ticking up. We take a global look at where the risks are mounting most, and just how much worry is warranted. What might have once seemed fanciful is becoming real: delivering daylight to dark parts of the world using mirrors in space. And t ... Show More

21m 39s

Oct 7

Gilets jeunes? France’s school protests

What started as a small protest about conditions of a school and of schooling has mushroomed, and tapped into national anxieties that may prove hard to tame. In the context of the “Cornell 7” case we examine Title IX, the statute that should protect students—but that is failing. ... Show More

19m 36s

May 2025

People vilify plastic. they should use it better instead

Many people view plastic as an environmental disaster that blights landscapes and chokes marine life. Our correspondent argues that instead we need to better understand this miracle material. To make prison work, governments need to have better strategies for managing inmates’ re ... Show More

22m 14s

May 2021

Plastic (not so) Fantastic

A closer look at the UK’s single-use plastic problemWe dive into the UK’s use of single-use plastics. Where’s it coming from? Where’s it ending up? And what needs to change? We speak to our Science Editor, David Shukman and TV presenter Julia Bradbury, who wants us to dump the pl ... Show More

34m 57s

Dec 2022

The Myth of Plastic Recycling

For many, recycling feels like a tangible way to personally combat climate change and to positively affect the environment. But after a years long investigation, NPR correspondent Laura Sullivan finds that reality is generally the opposite: Only a small fraction of plastic is ult ... Show More

13m 48s

Apr 2024

The stream of plastic pollution: could a global treaty help us turn off the tap?

Guardian Seascapes reporter Karen McVeigh tells Madeleine Finlay about a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands, where mounds of plastic waste are washing up and causing problems for endemic species. Tackling this kind of waste and the overproduction of plastic were the topics on t ... Show More

15m 56s

Nov 2021

171. IELTS 16 General Training | What Damage Does Plastic Do to the Environment?

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment. What damage does plastic do to the environment? What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem? Read the sample essay here: https://www.ieltsessaybank.com/plastic-bags-plastic ... Show More

4m 56s

Mar 2024

88. That’s rubbish: How our waste is choking the planet and how we can clean it up

Just ahead of Zero Waste Day, this episode of The Weekly Tradecast talks trash with UNCTAD economist Henrique Silva Pacini Costa. From plastic packaging to fast fashion to car batteries, we have been creating mountains of waste for decades. It’s everywhere – in landfills, in the ... Show More

9m 25s

Apr 2023

A smarter way to melt down plastics?

In this episode:00:45 A new method to break down plastic polymersPlastic waste is an enormous problem, with much of it being incinerated or ending up in landfill. One way to give plastics another life is to break them down into their individual components using heat, but this met ... Show More

21m 13s

People vilify plastic. they should use i...