This animation was originally published January 22, 2019 in our Plastics issue.

For all the plastics accumulating in the sea, think, too, on the oft-hidden seas of production wastes that have been made in parallel—the pollutants sent skyward, cast downstream, and as told here, drummed and dumped. When I wrote American Petrotopia five years ago for Aeon Magazine, I had no idea it would resonate as it has, or reverberate in ways that would inspire such a talented team of editors, artists and composers to compress and recast American Petrotopia into such a stark and startling story about the underbelly of plastics’ production. – Rebecca Altman 

Written and Narrated by:  Rebecca Altman
Designed and Animated by: Sophie Feller 

Original Score by: Jacques Brautbar

Women of Watts acts as an information center working with at-risk families, parents and youth — especially with those who have lost a loved one as a result of being murdered by gang violence.

Left to Right: Lydia Friend, Pastor Allie Tramble, Pastor Donna Spivey, Danesha Sotelo, and Keivionna Corbin.

This piece was originally published in June 2018 during our month on the collateral consequences of incarceration. The Women of Watts were our co-editors, guiding us to understand more through their personal journeys. Below is the editors letter from that month, written by WOW.