Decision making in the age of plastics

By Mitch Wertlieb,

Published December 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM EST

With more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface covered by water, what’s contained in all that H2O is pretty important. A Granville-based marine conservation and expedition scientist has traveled as far as Antarctica to sample and study microplastics in the world’s water supply, chronicling and explaining the dangers they pose.

Rachael Z. Miller explores the choices around the plastics in our daily lives in her new book, Decision-Making in the Age of Plastics: A choose-your-own-adventure style guide to purchasing while balancing your health, the environment and your budget.

Broadcast live on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Mitch Wertlieb

A graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.

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Jon Ehrens

Jon has spent his entire adult life working in broadcast journalism. He began his career in Baltimore at WYPR, and has since been a producer for WHYY, Vox, The Majority Report with Sam Seder, and The Talkhouse. Jon is a lifelong recording artist whose projects include Repelican, The Art Department, and Dungeonesse. He lives with his wife in Panton, Vermont.

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