Ziya Tong: We Are the Plastic People

This week's guest is Ziya Tong, an award-winning author and broadcaster, best known for her work with Discovery’s flagship science show, Daily Planet, and NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. She is the author of the best-selling book The Reality Bubble, which was shortlisted for Canada’s most prestigious non-fiction literary prize, and won the Lane Anderson Award for best science writing. Ziya served as the Vice Chair of WWF Canada and currently serves as a trustee of WWF International.

Ziya co-directed a new documentary called Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics with Ben Addelman, and she stars alongside Executive Producer Rick Smith.

"We live in a time where some of our greatest threats are invisible. Like the climate crisis, microplastic pollution cannot be: it spans the globe, chokes up rivers and animals, and insidiously infiltrates the human body. As a science journalist and author, I have been reporting on the threat of plastic for almost two decades and believe that now more than ever, we need to reveal the connection between planetary health and human health, which is why I’ve put my own body on the line for the “Plastic People” project. As part of my journey, I will test my own home, my own food, and even my own feces for microplastics. We are very fortunate to also have a world-first for this project, as we meet surgeons and scientists who are probing the human brain to reveal whether microplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier. The results of testing here will be incredibly significant."

Ziya discusses her experience premiering the documentary at South by Southwest and the positive reception it received. She explains that the threat of microplastics is similar to the climate crisis in that it is invisible to the naked eye. She also shares some shocking findings from her research, including the presence of microplastics in the human body and the intentional spread of microplastics in the food chain. She also talks about her experience as a first-time filmmaker and the challenges she faced as a director.

Ziya also discusses the challenges of dealing with misinformation online, the experiences of women in the media industry, and the importance of supporting upcoming female journalists. Ziya mentions Sarika Suzuki and Severn Suzuki (David Suzuki's daughters) as women she admires in the media.

Ziya and her team are still raising money for the documentary's impact campaign and they plan to release a podcast to delve deeper into the dark secrets and stories of the plastics industry.

Find out more: https://plasticpeopledoc.com/takeaction/