What Big Oil doesn’t want you to know about plastic, with journalist Beth Gardiner episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 13, 2026 · 11 MIN

What Big Oil doesn’t want you to know about plastic, with journalist Beth Gardiner

from Climate Curious

From WWII radars to Tupperware, LEGO, and even heart transplants, plastic permeates every facet of our lives. But how much of this was Big Oil's "Plan B” strategy to triple production and keep profits high? Climate Curious gets the scoop on big plastic's secret and shocking history from environmental journalist and TEDxLondon speaker Beth Gardiner. As Beth tells us, "it's actually enraging rather than depressing" when you learn to see through the lies that CEOs have sold us – around individual blame and beach litter cleanups – versus the real solution: corporates cleaning up their own mess. Read more in Beth Gardiner’s new book, ‘Plastic Inc.’: https://linktr.ee/plasticinc Who do you want to hear from next on Climate Curious? Fill out our quick listener feedback survey: https://tedxlondon.typeform.com/climatecurious ​​Join the Climate Curious conversation on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/climatecuriouspod/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@climatecuriouspod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtF6xzNkVIczlDmVcH8FCMA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10996041/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxLondon Website: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/ All other links: https://linktr.ee/climatecuriouspod Created by TEDxLondonExecutive produced by Josie ColterProduced by Ben BeheshtyCurated by Deesha ChandraHosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben HurstCommunications by Tara Cooper and Issey Gladston Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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What Big Oil doesn’t want you to know about plastic, with journalist Beth Gardiner

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