{"podcast":{"title":"Sea Change","slug":"sea-change-6175719","podcast_index_feed_id":6175719,"rss_url":"https://publicfeeds.net/f/3426/feed-rss.xml","website_url":"https://www.wwno.org/podcast/sea-change","image_url":"https://f.prxu.org/3426/images/951c2ca1-fe7d-4826-b88a-5eb18eec8ea6/Podcast_Show_Tile_PRX_NPR_3000x3000.png","author":"WWNO & WRKF (carlyle@wwno.org)","episode_count":90,"summary":"Living on the coast means living on the front lines of a rapidly changing planet. And as climate change transforms our coasts, that will transform our world. Every two weeks, we bring you stories that illuminate, inspire, and sometimes enrage, as we dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We have a lot to save, and we have a lot of solutions. Join us as we investigate and celebrate life on a changing coast. It’s time to talk about a Sea Change. Based in New Orleans, Sea Change is a production of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio. Sea Change is a part of the NPR Podcast Network and is distributed by PRX. Hosted by Carlyle Calhoun. Our theme song is by Jon Batiste. Sea Change is made possible with major support provided by The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and The Water Collaborative. The Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Meraux Foundation.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T02:17:23.535001+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sea-change-6175719"},"episode":{"title":"Surfing in a Plastic Sea","slug":"surfing-in-a-plastic-sea","published_at":"2026-07-30T13:53:02+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sea-change-6175719/surfing-in-a-plastic-sea","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sea-change-6175719","url":"https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_3426_703a37b3-4a63-4a69-b10c-30075b02fb88&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F3426%2Ffeed-rss.xml","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/dovetail.prxu.org/3426/703a37b3-4a63-4a69-b10c-30075b02fb88/surfing_plastic_p1.mp3","summary":"Neil McQueen learned to surf as a Texas teenager, and it changed his life – eventually pulling him away from a career as a plastics engineer and into the fight to save the very waters that shaped him. Thanks to the way ocean currents loop through the Gulf, the Texas coast collects roughly 10 times more plastic debris than any other Gulf state, much of it spilling from the massive petrochemical complex that lines its shores. In this episode of Sea Change, reporter Avery Thompson follows Neil from the surf off Mustang Island to the halls of the Texas Capitol to witness a personal reckoning with the plastics economy that helped build modern Texas—and one man’s determination to leave the ocean better than he found it. To learn more about the citizen-led science project tracking pre-production plastics, called nurdles, check out the Nurdle Patrol. And for more about the Surfrider Foundation's work on the Texas coast, click here. CREDITS This episode was reported by Texas-based reporter Avery Thompson. It was edited by Carlyle Calhoun and Eve Abrams, with additional help from Johanna Zorn, Eva Tesfaye, and Michael McEwan. Carlyle Calhoun is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Jon Batiste, and sound design by Dennis Funk with help from Avery Thompson. Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.","meta_description":"Neil McQueen learned to surf as a Texas teenager, and it changed his life – eventually pulling him away from a career as a plastics engineer and into the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2140,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sea-change-6175719/episodes/surfing-in-a-plastic-sea/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sea-change-6175719/surfing-in-a-plastic-sea.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}