Al Gore discusses "The Future" in Science Friday

Al Gore's recent book "The Future" is a very good diagnosis of the challenges humanity faces, and the reasons why we seem incapable of moving anywhere on the issues - due to the extreme concentration of wealth among a very small elite that has managed to take over politics because politicians depend so badly on their contributions to get elected.
Gore reminds me of Kassandra, the mythological Greek figure, who was given the ability to look into the future - but was cursed that noone would believe her. Gore has done more than just about anyone else to tell the world of the challenges ahead - but noone seems to listen close enough to act.
"The future" is a good book - I reviewed it (in Danish ) for Politiken - but it is very heavy on facts.
An easier introduction to the themes is listening to this really good interview on NPRs Science Friday with Al Gore.

The fascinating story of plastic - for better or worse

Another great talk from the Long Now Foundation's series of seminars on longterm thinking:
Susan Freinkel, a journalist, presents the story of plastic. Fascinating, informative, and ultimately disturbing, Freinkel tells how quickly this material has conquered the earth. When Titanic sunk, no part of it was plastic. Today, most of us would be very seriously challenged to get by even a few minutes without using something made of plastic. It's everywhere, and unfortunately it ends up accumulating in nature, in oceans and landfills, where it breaks down only very slowly.
If you have an hour or so for listening, this podcast will fill you in on the state of plastic.