How Oil Got Into Everything

In June 2016, two journalists from NPR interviewed author, Carl Kaufmann, Baekeland’s step son-in-law, who appears in the film, “All Things Bakelite” and Roberta Roll, one of Baekeland’s great grand daughters. On August 19, 2016, the interview was broadcast as part of the NPR podcast series, “Planet Money”.

Segment #4 of the podcast is called “How Oil Got Into Everything”. You will hear how oil not only runs our cars, but it is in our toothpaste and in many unexpected products we use every day.  It also became an essential component of plastic, starting with Bakelite thanks to Leo Baekeland.

Because of increasing plastic pollution issues, the podcast tells how today’s chemists are coming up with unusual alternatives to oil in plastics with mixed results.

August 19, 2016

Episode four of five. View on NPR and see other episodes.