This Morning With Gordon Deal This Morning with Gordon Deal November 27, 2025
Nov 27, 2025
Guest
Emily Stewart
Guest
Zach Wichter
Guest
Owen Tucker-Smith
Guest
Julie Weil
Guest
Amy Renscher
Guest
Sabara Chowdhury
Sabara Chowdhury, a journalist and author, delves into the rise of single-use plastics and corporate influences that led to a waste crisis. Julie Weil, a business reporter, shares insights on how rising costs for housing, food, and healthcare are reshaping inflation. Owen Tucker-Smith discusses Massachusetts' efforts to revive happy hour to boost local nightlife. Zach Wichter highlights changes at Southwest Airlines concerning plus-size passenger policies. Emily Stewart explores the enduring appeal of treadmills and their mental health benefits.
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How Plastics Became The Default
- Single-use plastics became dominant because disposability massively boosted corporate profits and global distribution.
- Companies built supply chains around throwaway packaging without waste solutions, trapping them in that model.
The Mobro Barge Moment
- The Mobro 4000 garbage barge incident in 1987 sparked a major plastics backlash and national attention.
- That episode prompted companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola to pitch recycling solutions that later failed to move the needle.
Profit Drove Disposability Choices
- Profitability of disposability let companies externalize waste costs to municipalities and taxpayers.
- Reversing plastic dependency requires dismantling decades-old business models, not marginal fixes.
