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417 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Bigfoot is from North Carolina
26 december 2024 · 25 min
Appalachia is Bigfoot territory. In a big way. This week, we look at the mythical beast's legend, lore and sizable economic impact in the region. And we follow one reporter’s journey through the mountains and foothills of western North Carolina in search of Sasquatch.
This episode comes to us from the wonderful folks at The Broadside from North Carolina Public Radio, a weekly podcast exploring stories happening in their home at the crossroads of the American South. Other topics include how the world ‘y’all’ is taking over the world, the impact of dangerous heat on workers, and why cola became the king of beverages.
Featuring Emily Cataneo and Jerry Millwood. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.
Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
Check out Emily Cataneo’s story on Appalachian Bigfoot culture at The Assembly here.CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Outside/In team: Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.
Executive Producer: Taylor Quimby
Intro music by bomull.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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No Regrets Coyote
19 december 2024 · 35 min
Coyotes are a sort of goldilocks animal. They can be active during the day, and at night. They can hunt in groups, or survive solo. They’re wolfish enough to survive in the wild, dog-like enough to blossom in the big city.
That adaptability has arguably made coyotes one of the most successful mammalian predators on the planet. It’s also given them a reputation as opportunistic villains that prey on neighborhood garbage, livestock, and (occasionally) household pets.
So what makes these animals so special? And if coyotes are so good at living amongst us, how do we get better at living amongst them?
Featuring: Daniel Proux, Dan Flores, Christine Wilkinson, Stan Gehrt, and Kieon Halona
SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
If you enjoyed learning about coyote vocalizations, check out Janet Kessler’s blog about San Francisco coyotes, or her YouTube page, where you can find dozens of videos showing the diversity of coyote yips, yowls, barks, grows, and more .
Read about coyotes in the Massachusetts town of Nahant, where municipal officials asked the federal government to help kill them in 2022. (New York Times)
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Kate Dario
Mixed by Kate Dario and Taylor Quimby
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Marina Henke
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What Remains: More MOVE remains found
12 december 2024 · 25 min
Just a few weeks after we released the What Remains series, news broke that the Penn Museum discovered additional remains of 1985 MOVE bombing victims in the museum.
How did this happen? And what's next for the thousands of other human remains still in their possession?
Producer Felix Poon knew just the person to talk to for answers.
Featuring Rachel Watkins.
MORE ABOUT “WHAT REMAINS”
Across the country, the remains of tens of thousands of human beings are held by museums and institutions. Scientists say they’ve helped lay the foundations of forensic science and unlocked the secrets of humanity’s shared past.
But these bones were also collected before informed consent was the gold standard for ethical study. 19th and 20th-century physicians and anthropologists took unclaimed bodies from poorhouses and hospitals, robbed graves, and looted Indigenous bones from sacred sites.
Now, under pressure from activists and an evolving scientific community, these institutions are rethinking what to do with their unethically collected human remains.
In this series from Outside/In, producer Felix Poon takes us to Philadelphia, where the prestigious Penn Museum has promised to “respectfully repatriate” hundreds of skulls collected by 19th century physician Samuel George Morton, who used them to pursue pseudo-scientific theories of white supremacy. Those efforts have been met with support by some, and anger and distrust by others.
Along the way, Felix explores the long legacy of scientific racism, lingering questions over the 1985 MOVE bombing, and evolving ethics in the field of biological anthropology.
Can the institutions that have long benefited from these remains be trusted to give them up? And if so, who decides what happens next?
LINKS
Read the Penn Museum’s statement about the latest discovery of additional MOVE remains at the museum.
Listen to WHYY’s news report, Penn Museum discovers another set of human remains from the MOVE bombing.
You can find our full episode credits… Lees meer -
Making the most of ‘stick season’
5 december 2024 · 55 min
Hear ye, hear ye! Winter is fast approaching, and it is time for our fifth annual ‘surthrival’ special, in which the Outside/In team reframes the endurance sport that is winter. We’ve got suggestions for thriving during the cold-season, which we hope will help you positively look forward to dirty snow banks and single-digit temperatures.
This year, though, there’s a twist. A listener asked us for advice on what to do before the snow starts to fall, when it’s gray and bleak. This is that dingy in-between period, known in New England as ‘stick season.’
Host Nate Hegyi is joined by Kate Dario, Taylor Quimby, and special guest Zoey Knox, offering suggestions for indoors and out, on-screen and off, and both serious and silly.
Featuring Eric Diven and special guest Zoey Knox. You can find our Outside/In 'Stick Season' Spotify playlist here. For a full list of this year’s recommendations visit our website.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Produced and mixed by Taylor Quimby.
Additional panelists: Kate Dario and Zoey Knox.
Edited by Rebecca Lavoie
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Marina Henke.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Shhhh! It’s the sound and silence episode
28 november 2024 · 33 min
Humans are noisy. The National Park Service estimates that all of our whirring, grinding, and revving machines are doubling or even tripling global noise pollution every 30 years.
A lot of that noise is negatively affecting wildlife and human health. Maybe that’s why we’re so consumed with managing our sonic environments, with noise-cancelling headphones and white noise machines — and sometimes, we get into spats with our neighbors, as one of our guests did…
So for this episode, producer Jeongyoon Han takes us on an exploration of three sonic landscapes: noise, silence, and something in between.
Featuring Rachel Buxton, Jim Connell, Stan Ellis, Mercede Erfanian, Nora Ma, and Rob Steadman.
This episode originally aired in July, 2023. Lees meerCREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Jeongyoon Han
Mixed by Jeongyoon Han and Taylor Quimby
Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Nate Hegyi, Jessica Hunt, and Felix Poon
Executive producer: Rebecca Lavoie
Special thanks to
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Edvard Grieg, and Mike Franklyn.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
If you’ve got a question for the Outside/Inbox hotline, give us a call! We’re always looking for rabbit holes to dive down into. Leave us a voicemail at: 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Don’t forget to leave a number so we can call you back.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Ballad and the Flood
21 november 2024 · 42 min
In Appalachia, Hurricane Helene was a thousand-year-flood. It flattened towns and forests, washed roads away, and killed hundreds.
But this story is not about the flood. It’s about what happened after.
A month after Hurricane Helene, our producer Justine Paradis visited Marshall, a tiny town in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina, a region renowned for its biodiversity, music, and art.
She went to see what it really looks like on the ground in the wake of a disaster, and how people create systems to help each other. But what she found there wasn’t just a model of mutual aid: it was a glimpse of another way to live with one another.
Featuring Josh Copus, Becca Nicholson, Rachel Bennett, Steve Matlack, Keith Majeroni, and Ian Montgomery.
Appearances by Meredith Silver, Anna Thompson, Kenneth Satterfield, Reid Creswell, Jim Purkerson, Jazz Maltz, Melanie Risch, and Alexandra Barao.
Songs performed by Sheila Kay Adams, Analo Phillips, Leah Song and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, and William Ritter. Lees meerLINKS
An excerpt of “A Paradise Built in Hell” by Rebecca Solnit (quoted in this episode) is available on Lithub.
“You know our systems are broke when 5 gay DJs can bring 10k of supplies back before the national guard does.” (Them)
The folks behind the Instagram account @photosfromhelene find, clean, and share lost hurricane photos, aiming to reunite the hurricane survivors with their photo memories.
A great essay on mutual aid by Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker)
CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, written, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Special thanks to Poder Emma and Collaborativa La Milpa in Asheville. Thanks also to Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR).
Music by Doctor Turtle, Guustavv, Blue Dot Sessions, Cody High, and Silver Maple.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.Learn more abo…
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What's living under your porch
14 november 2024 · 27 min
A few months ago, producer Marina Henke saw two skunks sprint under her porch. Since then, she can’t stop wondering what’s really going on beneath her feet.
And as it turns out, she’s not the only one. Every day across the country, homeowners are waging wars with the animals who stake out our porches, decks and crawl spaces. Have we as humans inadvertently designed luxury apartments for “unwelcome” wildlife? And is that necessarily a bad thing?
In a new edition of our (long-retired!) 10x10 series we’re going under the porch. So, grab your headlamps, put on a different pair of pants and watch out for skunks.
Featuring Christopher Schell, Kieran Lindsey, Josh Sparks and Maynard Stanley.
LINKS
Want more 10x10s? We’ve got ‘em! Listen here for traffic circles, gutters, sand beaches, kettle bogs and vernal pools.
You can read more about the “biological deserts fallacy” here.
The Schell Lab at UC Berkeley is up to all kinds of urban ecology research. Lees meerCREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced and mixed by Marina Henke
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon and Kate Dario
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, El Flaco Collective and Spring Gang
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
We want to hear from you! Hate what’s under your porch? Love what’s under your porch? You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Night Owls
7 november 2024 · 34 min
For over ten years, biologist Mark Higley has been stalking the forests of the Hoopa Valley Reservation with a shotgun. His mission? To save the northern spotted owl. The threat? The more aggressive barred owl, which has spread from eastern forests into the Pacific Northwest.
The federal government plans to scale up these efforts and kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls across multiple states. But can the plan really save the northern spotted owl? And is the barred owl really “invasive”… or just expanding its range?
In this episode, Nate Hegyi dons a headlamp and heads into the forest with Mark Higley to catch a glimpse of these two rivals, and find out what it takes to kill these charismatic raptors, night after night, in the name of conservation.
Featuring Mark Higley, Tom Wheeler, and Wayne Pacelle. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
The federal government’s barred owl management plan is very long but they have a helpful list of frequently asked questions.
Check out some beautiful photos of Mark Higley’s work in this Audubon magazine story from a few years ago.
Curious about the timber wars? Oregon Public Broadcasting has an excellent podcast miniseries you should listen to.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Mixed by Nate Hegyi
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public RadioSubmit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).
Learn more about yo…
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Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard
31 oktober 2024 · 31 min
For the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring the issue of human remains collections for our miniseries, “What Remains.” Today, we want to share another excellent series that has covered some similar, but also, very different ground.
Introducing “Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard,” the latest season of Last Seen from WBUR.
In this first episode, the police find buckets of body parts in a basement in Pennsylvania. Throughout the series, WBUR reporter Ally Jarmanning tells us what happened at Harvard, and how an elite university became a stop on a nationwide network of human remains trading.
It’s an excellent series, and a perfect follow-up to What Remains. If you want to hear the rest of the episodes afterwards, listen and follow Last Seen wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode of Last Seen: Postmortem was hosted and reported by Ally Jarmanning. It was edited by Dave Shaw and Beth Healy, with additional editing from Katelyn Harrop and Frannie Monahan Mixing and sound design. Paul Vaitkus. Last Seen’s Managing Producer is Samati Joshi. Executive Producer is Ben Brock Johnson.
Also, we have something new from NHPR’s award-winning Document team. Listen to “Emilia’s Thing,” a story of survival and resilience in the wake of January 6th. To listen, click here. Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What Remains, Part 2: In Memoriam
24 oktober 2024 · 51 min
A scholar and an activist make an uncompromising ultimatum. A forgotten burial ground is discovered under the streets of New York City. In Philadelphia, two groups fight over the definition of “descendant community.”
Featuring Michael Blakey, Lyra Monteiro, Chris Woods, aAliy Muhammad, Wendell Mapson, Sacharja Cunningham, Jazmin Benton, Amrah Salomon, and Aja Lans. Lees meerMORE ABOUT “WHAT REMAINS”
Across the country, the remains of tens of thousands of human beings are held by museums and institutions. Scientists say they’ve helped lay the foundations of forensic science and unlocked the secrets of humanity’s shared past.
But these bones were also collected before informed consent was the gold standard for ethical study. 19th and 20th-century physicians and anthropologists took unclaimed bodies from poorhouses and hospitals, robbed graves, and looted Indigenous bones from sacred sites.
Now, under pressure from activists and an evolving scientific community, these institutions are rethinking what to do with their unethically collected human remains.
Outside/In producer Felix Poon has informally gained a reputation as the podcast’s “death beat” correspondent. He’s visited a human decomposition facility (aka, “body farm”), reported on the growing trend of “green burial,” and explored the use of psychedelic mushrooms to help terminal cancer patients confront death.
In this three-episode series from Outside/In, Felix takes us to Philadelphia, where the prestigious Penn Museum has promised to “respectfully repatriate” hundreds of skulls collected by 19th century physician Samuel George Morton, who used them to pursue pseudo-scientific theories of white supremacy. Those efforts have been met with support by some, and anger and distrust by others.
Along the way, Felix explores the long legacy of scientific racism, lingering questions over the 1985 MOVE bombing, and evolving ethics in the field of biological anthropology.
Can the institutions that have long benefited from these r… -
What Remains, Part 1: No Justice, No Peace
17 oktober 2024 · 39 min
A classroom display of human skulls sparks a reckoning at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. A movement grows to “abolish the collection.” The Penn Museum relents to pressure. More skeletons in the closet.
This episode contains swears.
MORE ABOUT "WHAT REMAINS"
Across the country, the remains of tens of thousands of human beings are held by museums and institutions. Scientists say they’ve helped lay the foundations of forensic science and unlocked the secrets of humanity’s shared past.
But these bones were also collected before informed consent was the gold standard for ethical study. Now, under pressure from activists and an evolving scientific community, these institutions are rethinking what to do with their unethically collected human remains.
In this three-episode series from Outside/In, producer Felix Poon takes us to Philadelphia, where the prestigious Penn Museum has promised to “respectfully repatriate” hundreds of skulls collected by 19th century physician Samuel George Morton, who used them to pursue pseudo-scientific theories of white supremacy. Those efforts have been met with support by some, and anger and distrust by others.
Along the way, Felix explores the long legacy of scientific racism, lingering questions over the 1985 MOVE bombing, and evolving ethics in the field of biological anthropology.
Can the institutions that have long benefited from these remains be trusted to give them up? And if so, who decides what happens next?
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
The Morton Cranial Collection Lees meerThe Penn & Slavery Project Symposium in 2019 included a presentation on the Morton Cranial Collection.
aAliy Muhammad’s 2019 opinion piece: “As reparations debate continues, the University of Pennsylvania has a role to play” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Mar Portillo Alvarado’s 2020 opinion piece: “The Penn Museum must end abuse of the Morton collection” (The Daily Pennsylvanian)
Paul Wolff Mitchell’s 2021 report: “Black Philadelphians in the Samuel George Morton Cranial Col…
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What Remains: What's Past is Prologue
10 oktober 2024 · 35 min
A 1,500 year old skeleton is diagnosed with tuberculosis. A visit to a modern-day bone library. A fight over the future of ethical science. MORE ABOUT "WHAT REMAINS"
Across the country, the remains of tens of thousands of human beings are held by museums and institutions. Scientists say they’ve helped lay the foundations of forensic science and unlocked the secrets of humanity’s shared past.
But these bones were also collected before informed consent was the gold standard for ethical study. 19th and 20th-century physicians and anthropologists took unclaimed bodies from poorhouses and hospitals, robbed graves, and looted Indigenous bones from sacred sites.
Now, under pressure from activists and an evolving scientific community, these institutions are rethinking what to do with their unethically collected human remains.
Outside/In producer Felix Poon has informally gained a reputation as the podcast’s “death beat” correspondent. He’s visited a human decomposition facility (aka, “body farm”), reported on the growing trend of “green burial,” and explored the use of psychedelic mushrooms to help terminal cancer patients confront death.
In this three-episode series from Outside/In, Felix takes us to Philadelphia, where the prestigious Penn Museum has promised to “respectfully repatriate” hundreds of skulls collected by 19th century physician Samuel George Morton, who used them to pursue pseudo-scientific theories of white supremacy. Those efforts have been met with support by some, and anger and distrust by others.
Along the way, Felix explores the long legacy of scientific racism, lingering questions over the 1985 MOVE bombing, and evolving ethics in the field of biological anthropology.
Can the institutions that have long benefited from these remains be trusted to give them up? And if so, who decides what happens next? Lees meerADDITIONAL MATERIAL
The Smithsonian’s ‘Bone Doctor’ scavenged thousands of body parts (Washington Post)
Medical, scientific racism revealed in century-… -
"Primitive, Unconfined Recreation"
3 oktober 2024 · 36 min
When KALW’s Marissa Ortega-Welch hit the Pacific Crest Trail, she used her preferred method of navigation: an old-fashioned trail map. But along the way, she met a couple who only used phones to guide them, a Search and Rescue team that welcomes the power of GPS, and a woman who has been told her adaptive wheelchair isn't allowed in official wilderness areas (not actually true).
So… does technology help people access wilderness? Or does it get in the way?
This week’s episode comes to us from “How Wild” produced by our friends at KALW Public Media. In this seven-part series, host Marissa Ortega-Welch charts the complex meaning of “wilderness” in the United States and how it’s changing. Marissa criss-crosses the country to speak with hikers, land managers, scientists and Indigenous leaders – people who spend every day grappling with how ideas about wilderness play out in the hundreds of designated wilderness areas across the U.S.
LINKS
Check out more episodes of “How Wild” here.
SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook
HOW WILD CREDITS
How Wild is created and executive produced by Marissa Ortega-Welch.
Edited by Lisa Morehouse. Additional editing and sound design by Gabe Grabin.
Life coaching by Shereen Adel. Fact-checking by Mark Armao.
How Wild is produced in partnership with KALW Public Media, distributed by NPR and made possible with support from California Humanities, a partner of the NEH. This podcast is produced in Oakland, California…on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ohlone. Learn more about the Indigenous communities where you live at native-land.ca
OUTSIDE/IN CREDITS
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio is Rebecca Lavoie
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Kate Dario and Marina Henke.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire … Lees meer -
Ghosts in the machine
26 september 2024 · 34 min
Perhaps you’re familiar with our Outside/Inbox hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER. Anyone can leave us a voicemail sharing questions about the natural world, and we periodically answer them on the show.
A few weeks ago, it came to our attention that we hadn't gotten a new voicemail in some time. Turns out our hotline has been bugging out for at least six months, and we have a lot of catching up to do.
So, we present: Outside/Inbox, the lost voicemails edition.
Featuring Stephanie Spera, with contributions from Ariel, Joe, Carolyn, Maverick, Jarrett, Eben, a rooster, and a closet (?) full of snakes. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.
Subscribe to our newsletter for occasional emails about new show swag, call-outs for listener submissions, and other announcements.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
This is the study Marina mentioned with a comparative life cycle assessment of hand dryers vs. paper towel dispensers.
If you want to learn more about chronic wasting disease, Nate recommends listening to Bent Out of Shape, a three-part series from KUNC. For a quick read, here’s a fact sheet from the CDC.
Listen to Outside/In’s behind-the-scenes journey into a human decomposition facility, aka “body farm,” reported by Felix Poon.
If you’ve been to Acadia National Park in Maine and taken photos of the fall foliage anytime since 1950, you can participate in research about how climate change is shifting the timing of peak foliage. Contribute your pictures of the autumn leaves to the Acadia National Park Fall Foliage Project here.
Many are predicting that fall 2024 will be a banner season for spectacular foliage, including our colleagues at NHPR’s Something Wild. Plus, here’s more on the dynamics of fall foliage, precipitation, and anthocyanin.CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported by Justine Paradis, Nate Hegyi, and Marina Henke.
Produced and mixed … -
The cold, hard truth about refrigeration
19 september 2024 · 33 min
In the early 1900s, people didn’t trust refrigerated food. Fruits and vegetables, cuts of meat… these things are supposed to decay, right? As Nicola Twilley writes, “What kind of unnatural technology could deliver a two-year old chicken carcass that still looked as though it was slaughtered yesterday?”
But just a few decades later, Americans have done a full one-eighty. Livestock can be slaughtered thousands of miles away, and taste just as good (or better) by the time it hits your plate. Apples can be stored for over a year without any noticeable change. A network called the “cold-chain” criss-crosses the country, and at home our refrigerators are fooling us into thinking we waste less food than we actually do.
Today, refrigeration has reshaped what we eat, how we cook it, and even warped our very definition of what is and isn’t “fresh.”
Featuring Nicola Twilley. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
You can find Nicola’s new book “Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet and Ourselves,” at your local bookstore or online.CREDITS
Our host is Nate Hegyi.
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi and Taylor Quimby.
Mixed by Nate Hegyi
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Kate Dario and Marina Henke.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Mississippi Cyborg
12 september 2024 · 27 min
For more than two hundred years Americans have tried to tame the Mississippi River. And, for that entire time, the river has fought back.
Journalist and author Boyce Upholt has spent dozens of nights camping along the Lower Mississippi and knows the river for what it is: both a water-moving machine and a supremely wild place. His recent book, “The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi River” tells the story of how engineers have made the Mississippi into one of the most engineered waterways in the world, and in turn have transformed it into a bit of a cyborg — half mechanical, half natural.
In this episode, host Nate Hegyi and Upholt take us from the flood ravaged town of Greenville, Mississippi, to the small office of a group of army engineers, in a tale of faulty science, big egos and a river that will ultimately do what it wants.
Featuring Boyce Upholt. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
You can find Boyce’s new book The Great River, at your local bookstore or online.
The 2018 study which attributed increased engineering of the Mississippi as a greater influence to worsening floods on the river than climate change.
Check out Harold Fisk's 1944 now famous maps of a meandering and ever-changing Mississippi watershed.
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History has a remarkable collection of digitized photos from the 1927 flood.
To get a sense of the type of work being done on the Mississippi in modern day, a US Army Corps of Engineers video detailing concrete revetment on the Lower Mississippi.
Curious about recent controversy on the Mississippi? Read up on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion – a $3 billion coastal restoration project that will divert portions of the Mississippi’s flow in hopes of rebuilding lost land via sediment deposition.
CREDITS
Our host is Nate Hegyi.
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The $1,000 balloon
5 september 2024 · 40 min
Helium is full of contradictions. It’s the second most abundant element in the universe, but is relatively rare on Earth. It’s non-reactive, totally inert—yet the most valuable helium isotope is sourced from thermonuclear warheads.
And even though we treat it as a disposable gas, often for making funny voices and single-use party balloons, our global supply of helium will eventually run out. That’s because, at a rate of about 50 grams per second, this non-renewable resource is escaping the atmosphere for good.
In this edition of The Element of Surprise, our occasional series about the hidden histories behind the periodic table’s most unassuming atoms, we examine the incredible properties and baffling economics of our most notable noble gas.
Featuring Anjali Tripathi and William Halperin. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get occasional emails about new show swag, call-outs for listener submissions, and other announcements.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
Read John Paul Merkle’s petition arguing to change the name of helium to “helion.”
Despite being about a quarter century old, this passage from “The Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve” has a pretty comprehensive list of the uses and properties of helium.
More on the recent sale of the Federal Helium Reserve (NBC News)
Physicist William Halperin said the idea of mining helium-3 on the moon was… unlikely… but that hasn’t stopped this startup company from trying it. (Wired)
Want to learn more about the weird history of American airships? Check out this film produced by the U.S. government in 1937, when they were still hoping to keep our airship program afloat.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby
Editing by Rebecca Lavoie, with help from Marina Henke and Justine Paradis
Our staff includes Felix Poon
Executi… -
Why we get scared—and why we like it
29 augustus 2024 · 39 min
Jack Rodolico knows exactly what scares him. Sharks.
But here’s what he doesn’t get: if he’s so freaked out, why can’t he stop incessantly watching online videos of bloody shark attacks?
Why would he deliberately seek out the very thing that spooks him?
To figure it out, Jack enlists the help of other scaredy-cats: our listeners, who shared their fears about nature with us. Together, Jack and the gang consider the spectrum of fear, from phobia to terror, and what it might mean when we don’t look away.
Featuring Lauren Passell, Arash Javanbakht, Nile Carrethers, and Sushmitha Madaboosi.
This episode originally aired in October 2022. Lees meerSUPPORT
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Lauren Passell’s Podcast the Newsletter.
Related: why people love horror movies.
The ubiquity of smartphones means plenty of hair-raising amateur videos of shark attacks to get you started on your doomscrolling (warning: a couple of these are bloody).
If this image of an octopus freaks you out, you might share Lauren’s “fear of holes,” or trypophobia.
Learn more about augmented reality technology and other projects at Arash Javanbakht’s clinic.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Jack Rodolico
Mixed by Taylor Quimby
Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Nate Hegy, and Jessica Hunt.
Executive producer: Rebecca Lavoie
Music for this episode by Silver Maple, Matt Large, Luella Gren, John Abbot and Blue Dot Sessions.
Thanks to everyone who sent in voicemails and memos, even the ones we didn’t play: Erin Partridge, Lauren Passell, Nile Carrethers, Michelle MacKay, Alec from Nashville, and Hillary from Washington.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio… -
The not-so-secret life of plants
22 augustus 2024 · 39 min
From the perspective of Western science, plants have long been considered unaware, passive life forms; essentially, rocks that happen to grow.
But there’s something in the air in the world of plant science. New research suggests that plants are aware of the world around them to a far greater extent than previously understood. Plants may be able to sense acoustics, communicate with each other, and make choices… all this without a brain.
These findings are fueling a debate, perhaps even a scientific revolution, which challenges our fundamental definitions of life, intelligence, and consciousness.
Featuring Zoë Schlanger. Lees meerSUPPORT
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Zoë Schlanger’s book is called The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth.
“Everything Will Be Vine” is a great podcast episode from Future Ecologies featuring Zoë’s journey into the Chilean rainforest, where researchers are mystified by a once-overlooked vine.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was an Indian scientist who challenged the Western view of plants in the early 20th century. He studied electrical signaling in plants and argued that plants use language. Read about his life and work in Orion.
This is the now famous study by David Rhoades. Rhoades was derided for his “talking trees” theory, and only was proved correct after his death. Here’s an audio story which goes deeper on Rhoades.
Lilach Hadany, the scientist who likened a field of flowers to a “field of ears,” also recently found that plants produce sounds when stressed.
The study which found that plants respond to the sound of caterpillars chewing, a collaboration between Rex Cocroft and Heidi Appel.
The orga… -
This is your brain on GPS
15 augustus 2024 · 32 min
GPS is essential these days. We use it for everything – from a hunter figuring out where the heck they are in the backcountry, to a delivery truck finding a grocery store, to keeping clocks in sync.
But our reliance on GPS may also be changing our brains. Old school navigation strengthens the hippocampus, and multiple studies suggest that our new reliance on satellite navigation may put us at higher risk for diseases like dementia.
In this episode, we map out how GPS took over our world – from Sputnik’s doppler effect, to the airplane crash that led to its widespread adoption – and share everyday stories of getting lost and found again.
Featuring: Dana Goward, M.R. O’Connor, Christina Phillips, Michelle Liu, Julia Furukawa, and Taylor Quimby Lees meerSUPPORT
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In 2023, Google Maps rerouted dozens of drivers in Los Angeles down a dirt road to the middle of nowhere to avoid a dust storm.
Maura O’Connor traveled from rural Alaska to the Australian bush to better understand how people navigate without GPS – and sometimes even maps.
Here’s the peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Nature, that found that young people who relied on GPS for daily driving had poorer spatial memories.
Another study, out of Japan, found that people who use smartphone apps like Google Maps to get around had a tougher time retracing their steps or remembering how they got to a place compared to people who use paper maps or landmarks.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Edited by Taylor Quimby and Katie Colaneri
Our team includes Marina Henke, Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon
Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer
Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public RadioLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The fifth sense
8 augustus 2024 · 34 min
Once again, it’s that wonderful time when scientists everywhere hold their breath as the team opens the Outside/Inbox to answer listener questions about the natural world. Today’s theme is smell: how it works in the nose, the mind, and how much is still unknown about the fifth sense.
Question 1: Does it gross you out to know that every time you smell something, a little bit of that thing… is in your nose? What happens to the molecules we smell?
Question 2: Why do smells have such a powerful connection to memory?
Question 3: How do pheromones work in humans? Do ‘ideal mates’ really ‘smell better’ to us?
Question 4: Why does the smell of florals sometimes precede a migraine?
Question 5: What’s anosmia?
Featuring Rachel Herz, Bob Datta, Katie Boetang, and Tristram Wyatt, with thanks to Stephanie Hunter. Lees meerOutside/In seeks your questions for an upcoming Outside/Inbox.
What questions should the Outside/In team explore about the U.S. presidential election? What do you want to know about what this election means for climate change or environmental regulation? Maybe you’ve got questions about Project 2025, or maybe you’re curious about presidential transitions more generally.
You can send your questions to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a voicemail on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER.SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.
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Rachel Herz is the author of several books, including “Why You Eat What You Eat” and “The Scent of Desire.”
Tristram Wyatt is the author of “Pheromones and Animal Behavior.”
Katie Boetang hosts The Smell Podcast.
More on the connections between smell, memory, emotion, and health, featuring Bob Datta and Herz.
In the 1990s, one company claimed to have found human sex pheromo… -
Saving the tallest trees on Earth
1 augustus 2024 · 43 min
Redwood National and State Parks are home to giants: coast redwoods that can grow as tall as a thirty-story building. These ancient California forests support hundreds of different species, and store more carbon than any other forest on the planet. But in the last century, 95% of them were felled by loggers.
Now, scientists have discovered a surprising strategy to foster the next generation of old-growth redwoods… and it involves chopping some of the younger trees down.
This week’s episode comes to us from “THE WILD with Chris Morgan,” produced by our friends at KUOW. Chris has got an infectious enthusiasm for the natural world, and the podcast has an immersive sound that makes it feel like you’re standing right under the redwoods with him. Lees meerLINKS
Check out more episodes of THE WILD at https://www.kuow.org/podcasts/thewildSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.THE WILD CREDITS
THE WILD is a production of KUOW and Chris Morgan Wildlife, with support from Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek. It is edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Theme music is by Michael Parker.OUTSIDE/IN CREDITS
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio is Rebecca Lavoie
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Marina Henke. Our intern is Catherine Hurley.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hot Olympic Summer: Is Paris Greenwashing the Games?
25 juli 2024 · 30 min
Will Simone Biles live up to her moniker as greatest gymnast of all time? Will Lebron James and Team USA continue to dominate men's basketball? And will the Paris 2024 Games be the most sustainable in modern Olympic history?
While billions of viewers tune in for the drama of athletes competing on a global stage, climate scientists are tuning in to Paris's climate promises – from the locally sourced catering and carbon neutral Olympic cauldron, to head-scratching “solutions” like a sidewalk made of seashells, and not installing air conditioning in athletes’ housing.
Are these solutions making a difference? Or is it plain and simple greenwashing? We put these questions to the test in this episode on the XXXIII Olympiad. Let the games begin!
Featuring Martin Müller. Lees meerSUPPORT
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Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
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Read Martin Muller’s paper evaluating the sustainability of summer and winter Olympic games from the past 3 decades.
Listen to Civics 101’s episode on the politics of the Olympic Games.
Check out scenes from Olympic opening ceremonies from London 1908 to Rio 2016.
Watch a timelapse video of construction of the temporary beach volleyball venue in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Read up on fun Olympics trivia, like what the most common surname of athletes is, and about the time two athletes who tied for second place cut their silver and bronze medals and fused them together to make two “friendship medals.”CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon
Editing by Taylor Quimby.
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Marina Henke.
Our intern is Catherine Hurley.
Our Executive producer is Taylor Quimby.
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR's Director of On-Demand Audio.
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Joe E. Lee, Jay Varton, Arthur Benson, Philip Ayers, Kikoru, Trabant… -
Every bite is a story
18 juli 2024 · 29 min
You might not think much about the sticky bottle of vanilla sitting in the back of your pantry. But that flavor – one of the most common in the world – has a fascinating history, involving a fickle orchid and a 12-year-old enslaved boy who made the discovery of a lifetime.
That’s the sort of tale that attracts poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil. From peacock feathers to the sounds of garden insects, her work is known for magnifying the wonders of the natural world. Her latest book of essays, “Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees,” explores the unexpected connections between food, memory, and community.
So take a seat and pour yourself an aperitif, as Aimee Nezhukumatathil shares a few of these miniature morsels with Outside/In host Nate Hegyi: a three-course meal of grape jelly, sweet nostalgia, and just a hint of vanilla bean.
Featuring Aimee Nezhukumatathil
SUPPORT
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Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Nate Hegyi
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, Marina Henke, Felix Poon and Catherine Hurley
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Introducing “The Youth Development Center”
11 juli 2024 · 35 min
Introducing the newest series from NHPR’s award-winning Document team: “The Youth Development Center.” New Hampshire has sent its most troubled kids to the same juvenile detention center for more than a century. It's a place that was supposed to nurture them, that instead hurt them – in some of the worst ways imaginable. It's now at the center of one of the biggest youth detention scandals in American history. How did this happen – and how did it finally come to light?
The rest of the series is available now: listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, iHeart Radio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode includes content that may not be suitable for young listeners. If you have suffered abuse and need someone to talk to, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. If you’re in a mental health crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8. Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The new space race
4 juli 2024 · 39 min
Maybe you’ve looked at the sky on a clear night and spotted the International Space Station, a tiny white dot gliding through the stars. Maybe it felt special, a rare glimpse of a human-made satellite in space.
But what if you were to look up at the sky and see more visible satellites than stars? What if the Big Dipper and Orion were drowned out by a satellite traffic jam, criss-crossing through space?
A growing number of astronomers are sounding the alarm about such a possibility, even within the next decade. A new space race is already well underway. Commercial satellite traffic in low Earth orbit has skyrocketed in recent years, with more satellites launched into space than ever before. The majority of these satellites are owned and operated by a single company: Starlink.
Featuring Samantha Lawler, Jonathan McDowell, Aaron Boley, and Roohi Dalal, with thanks to Edward Oughton. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get occasional emails about new show swag, call-outs for listener submissions, and other announcements.
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Here’s a link to the most popular proceedings in the FCC docket, and a step-by-step guide for submitting your own comments (this guide was compiled for a previous filing by an advocacy group which includes Samantha Lawler).
COMPASSE, or the Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment, also stays up-to-date on FCC procedures.
In this episode, Nate and Justine looked at this 3D rendering of satellite constellations around the globe, including GPS and Starlink.
Space Data Navigator has nice visualizations of the number of launches, satellites, and debris over time, which relies in part on Jonathan McDowell’s data.
Aaron Boley’s article in Nature, “Satellite mega-constellations create risks in Low Earth Orbit, the atmosphere and on Earth.”… -
The Potato Show
27 juni 2024 · 38 min
Consider the potato.
The typical potato is not all that pretty. They can be beige and lumpy, dusty and speckled, and on top of that, they even sprout alien-like tentacles. Further, no one really knows what to make of the potato. Is it a vegetable, or so starchy that we should really consider it a grain?
It’s time for answers. The Outside/In team ventures into the potato patch and presents three stories on this “fifth most important crop worldwide.”
Part 1: An artist vaults the humble potato to luxury status.
Part 2: A deliberation on the potato’s true place in the food pyramid – or, that is, on “MyPlate.”
Part 3: When his mom was diagnosed with cancer, producer Felix Poon’s dad found a way to help her: fresh-squeezed potato juice.
Featuring Laila Gohar, Kristina Peterson, and Paul Poon. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
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Subscribe to our newsletter for occasional updates and special announcements.LINKS
Laila Gohar wrote about her potato party, and the Marie-Antoinette-era rebrand of the potato, in her column for the Financial Times.
For more details on the French pharmacist who transformed the potato’s image, check out this Atlas Obscura piece.
For a vinegary and vegetable-forward potato salad, Justine recommends this recipe from the great Deb Perelman.
Taylor recommends these vegan Bombay potatoes and peas (this is the closest recipe he could find online to the book recipe he uses at home).
Felix recommends trying Sichuan stir-fried potatoes from an authentic Sichuan Chinese restaurant if you haven’t had it before, and then give this Woks of Life recipe a try.
If you find yourself near the U.S.-Mexico border, Nate recommends you try some carne asada fries. Here’s a good recipe if you want to try them at home.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi, Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon
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Ed Yong and The Spoonbill Club
20 juni 2024 · 25 min
Ed Yong’s writing about the pandemic in Atlantic Magazine was read by millions of Americans. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for his coverage.
But behind the scenes, he was struggling with burnout, anxiety and depression.
Host Nate Hegyi sits down with Ed for a conversation about how he decided to step back from pandemic reporting, the benefits (and possible drawbacks) of birdwatching for mental health, and the unexpected club that’s bringing two halves of his life together.
Featuring Ed Yong. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
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Ed wrote an eerily predictive story about how America was not prepared for a pandemic in 2018.
You can find a link to all of Ed’s reporting for Atlantic Magazine here.
A description of “spoon theory” in Psychology Today.
For more information about the Spoonbill Club, check out Ed’s newsletter.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Mixed by Taylor Quimby, with help from our intern, Catherine Hurley
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradise and Felix Poon
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Winter Rangers
13 juni 2024 · 40 min
During their twelve seasons as winter rangers in Yosemite National Park, Rob and Laura Pilewski have learned a thing or two about what it means to love a place – and a person.
This episode comes to us from the wonderful folks at The Dirtbag Diaries, another podcast that features stories about conservation, epic adventures, and more.
Featuring Rob and Laura Pilewski Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.CREDITS
Host of The Dirtbag Diaries: Fitz Cahall
This episode was reported, produced and edited by Lauren DeLaunay Miller
Mixing by Evan Phillips
The Dirtbag Diaries Executive Producer: Becca Cahall
Music from Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto, Brian Bombadil, Joya, Roma 49, Garland, and Brendan O’Connell
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon. Catherine Hurley is our intern.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Wolves, water, and global weirding
6 juni 2024 · 25 min
What do wolves, waste-water treatment plants, and the Gulf Stream have in common? This episode, that’s what! It’s that wonderful time when we comb through all your wonderful questions and call up some scientists to help us answer them. Some of the more unlikely things that get brought up include dinosaur pee, abandoned shopping carts, and wolves preying on cheese curds.
Here’s what’s on the docket: Lees meerWhy is dog saliva slimier than human saliva?
Why do wolves get relocated in the middle of winter?
What if the Gulf Stream “shut down?”
How do wastewater treatment plants work?
Featuring Eric Odell, Alice Ren, and Sri Vedachalam.
SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby, Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon
Editing by Taylor Quimby.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Baegul, Hatamitsunami, and King Sis.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Dead bird rabbit hole
30 mei 2024 · 34 min
Every December, during the Christmas Bird Count, tens of thousands of volunteers look to the skies for an international census of wild birds.
But during migration season, a much smaller squad of New York City volunteers take on a more sobering experience: counting dead birds that have collided with glass buildings and fallen back to Earth.
In this episode, we find out what kind of people volunteer for this grisly job, visit the New York City rehab center that takes in injured pigeons, and find out how to stop glass from killing an estimated one billion birds nationwide every year.
Featuring Melissa Breyer, Linda LaBella, Gitanjali Bhattacharjee, Katherine Chen, and Tristan Higginbotham Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
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Want to see the migration forecast? Check out Birdcast.
Want to be a citizen scientist and report dead birds? Check out dBird.
Want to see volunteer Melissa Breyer’s photos of dead birds? Check out Sad Birding.
More about Project Safe Flight.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby
Editing by Rebecca Lavoie and Nate Hegyi.
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Department of Living Animals
23 mei 2024 · 31 min
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC is sometimes called “the people’s zoo.” That’s because it’s the only zoo in the country to be created by an act of US Congress, and admission is free.
But why did our federal government create a national zoo in the first place?
Producer Felix Poon has the scoop – from its surprising origins in the near-extinction of bison, to a look at its modern-day mission of conservation, we’re going on a field trip to learn all about the National Zoo.
Featuring Kara Ingraham, Daniel Frank, and Ellie Tahmaseb. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
William Hornaday founded the National Zoo, but his legacy is complicated, to say the least. Environmental journalist Michelle Nijhuis contemplates whether he’s a “villainous hero or heroic villain” (PBS).
“A Chinese cigarette tin launched D.C.’s 50-year love affair with pandas” tells the origin story of pandas at the National Zoo (The Washington Post).
The story of Ota Benga, the man who was caged by William Hornaday in the Bronx Zoo (The Guardian).
Environmental writer Emma Marris imagines a world without zoos in her opinion essay, “Modern Zoos Are Not Worth the Moral Cost” (NYTimes).
We looked at the court case of Happy the elephant in our 2022 Outside/In episode, “Et Tu, Brute? The Case for Human Rights for Animals.”CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon
Editing by Taylor Quimby.
Our staff includes Justine Paradis
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Thanks to Nick Capodice for performing William Hornaday voiceovers.
Music by Bluedot Sessions and Jules Gaia
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/… -
The papyrus and the volcano
16 mei 2024 · 37 min
While digging a well in 1750, a group of workers accidentally discovered an ancient Roman villa containing over a thousand papyrus scrolls. This was a stunning discovery: the only library from antiquity ever found in situ. But the scrolls were blackened and fragile, turned almost to ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Over the centuries, scholars’ many attempts to unroll the fragile scrolls have mostly been catastrophic. But now, scientists are trying again, this time with the help of Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology we’ve got: particle accelerators, CT scanners, and AI.
After two thousand years, will we finally be able to read the scrolls?
Featuring Federica Nicolardi, Brent Seales, Youssef Nader, Arefeh Sherafati, and Julian Schilliger. Lees meerSUPPORT
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The Vesuvius Challenge is not over. Find out more here.
Check out more pictures of the scrolls and the process of “virtual unwrapping” at the Digital Restoration Initiative website, or watch Brent Seales lecture about his technique.
A 60 Minutes story (2018) focusing on the conflict between Seales and scholars Vito Mocella and Graziano Ranocchia.
A replica of the marble floor discovered by Italian farmworkers in 1750.
A video illustrating the process of “virtual unwrapping” with a jelly roll.
Contestant Casey Handmer’s blog post detailing his identification of the “crackle signal” to the ink.
CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Music in this episode came from Silver Maple, Xavy Rusan, bomull, Young Community, Bio Unit, Konrad OldMoney, Chris Zabriski, and Blue Dot Sessions.
Volcano recordings came from daveincamas on Freesound.org, License Attribution 4.0 and felix.blume on freesound.… -
The Kings and Queens of "the Water Prom"
9 mei 2024 · 45 min
The Colorado River – and the people that rely on it – are in a state of crisis. Climate change and overuse are taking a significant toll. Seven states must compromise and reach a solution to prevent the river from collapsing.
In late 2023, tensions were running high between the major players in the water world as they convened at the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas. LAist Correspondent Emily Guerin was there, seeking to learn as much as she can about the people with the most power on the river, including a sharply-dressed 28-year-old from California.
This episode comes to us from the podcast Imperfect Paradise, which is releasing a whole series on the Colorado River water crisis. Lees meerSUPPORT
Donate $10 per month and get our new “I axolotl questions” mug!
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKS
Agriculture uses a lot of the Colorado River - what if we replaced that farmland with solar panels?
Speaking of farms, most of the crops raised with Colorado River water don’t go to people. They go to cows.CREDITS
This episode was written and reported by Emily Guerin
Imperfect Paradise host: Antonia Cereijido
Fact-checking by Gabriel Dunatov.
Mixing and Imperfect Paradise theme music by E. Scott Kelly with additional music by Andrew Eapen.
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Outside/In Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a…
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The Element of Surprise
2 mei 2024 · 30 min
You might associate it with the foil that wraps leftover pizza and the shiny craft beer cans sold in breweries, but aluminum is literally everywhere. Scoop up a handful of soil or gravel anywhere on Earth, and you’ll find atoms of bonded aluminum hidden inside. Over the past 150 years, that abundance has led production of the silvery metal to skyrocket (pun intended) and created an industry responsible for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
But even before it was used in everything from airplanes to deodorant, the trade of aluminum minerals helped color the world, finance the Vatican, and led to the mass collection of human urine.
In this episode, we’re piloting a new segment called “The Element of Surprise.” It’s all about the hidden histories behind the periodic table’s most unassuming atoms, isotopes, and molecules. And we’re kicking things off with aluminum.
Editor's note: A previous version of this episode misstated the number of Allied casualties during a 1943 bombing campaign against a German cryolite factory, claiming all but one of 180 bombers were destroyed. In actuality, all but one of 180 bombers returned home safely. The episode has been corrected.
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The World Economic Forum has published a number of studies and articles on the need to decarbonize the aluminum industry and the promising technologies that might help us get there.
A few years ago, Alcoa announced plans to build a new aluminum smelting plant in Maniitsoq, Greenland. PBS’s POV released a documentary about how people there reckoned with the island’s colonial past as the project progressed, stalled, and eventually collapsed.
The National Park Service has a fun little read about the Washington Monument’s aluminum tip.
Sean Adams, at the University … -
‘Til the landslide brings it down
25 april 2024 · 33 min
When officials commissioned a set of updated hazard maps for Juneau, Alaska, they thought the information would help save lives and spur new development. Instead, the new maps drew public outcry from people who woke up to discover their homes were at risk of being wiped out by landslides.
What’s followed has been a multiyear project – not to address the challenges posed by climate-fueled landslides – but to alter, ignore, or otherwise shelve the maps that outline the threat in the first place.
Host Nate Hegyi visits Juneau to see one example of why, across the country, even the most progressive Americans are rejecting tough truths about climate change when it comes knocking at their own back door.
Featuring: Tom Mattice, Christine Woll, Eve Soutiere, and Lloyd Dixon. Lees meerSUPPORT
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You can check out Juneau’s new hazard maps, along with many of its neighborhood meetings, on their website.
Dive into why the insurance industry stopped providing landslide coverage to Southeast Alaska.
KTOO had a wonderful story on how a 1936 landslide that killed 15 people in Juneau became a faded memory.
Zach Provant, a researcher at the University of Oregon, spent months investigating the rollout of Juneau’s hazard maps.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Edited by Taylor Quimby and Katie Colaneri
Editing help from Felix Poon and Justine Paradis
Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer
Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on… -
The mystery of the missing extinctions
18 april 2024 · 44 min
When it comes to protecting the biodiversity of Planet Earth, there is no greater failure than extinction. Thankfully, only a few dozen species have been officially declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the half-century since the passage of the Endangered Species Act.
But, hold on. Aren’t we in the middle of the sixth mass extinction? Shouldn’t the list of extinct species be… way longer? Well, yeah. Maybe.
Producer Taylor Quimby sets out to understand why it’s so difficult to officially declare an animal extinct. Along the way, he compares rare animals to missing socks, finds a way to invoke Lizzo during an investigation of an endangered species of crabgrass, and learns about the disturbing concept of “dark extinctions.”
Editor's Note: This episode was first published in October 2022. Since then, the US Fish and Wildlife Service officially delisted 21 of 23 proposed species due to extinction. The ivory-billed woodpecker was not one of them.
Featuring Sharon Marino, Arne Mooers, Sean O’Brien, Bill Nichols, and Wes Knapp. Lees meerLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Meet the meatfluencers
11 april 2024 · 58 min
Shirtless influencers on TikTok and Instagram have acquired millions of followers promoting the carnivore diet. They say studies linking meat consumption and heart disease are flawed — and plant foods are making people sick. "Western medicine is lying to you," says content-creator Dr. Paul Saladino, who co-owns a company selling desiccated cattle organs.
The online popularity of the carnivore diet is undeniable. Yet, no controlled studies have been published confirming its advertised benefits.
Our friends at WBUR’s podcast Endless Thread look at how social media cooked up the anti-establishment wellness trend. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
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"Red Shift" (The New Yorker)
"The 'You’re doing it wrong'-ification of TikTok" (Vox)
"The Evolution of Diet" (National Geographic)
"Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered" (New York Times)
"Against Meatposting" (Heated)
Endless Thread's unedited interview with Dr. Paul Saladino (WBUR)
CREDITS
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Outside/In Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
This episode of Endless Thread was written and produced by Dean Russell and Ben Brock Johnson.
Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Endless Thread is a production of WBUR in Boston.
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Reefer madness, the CBD bubble, and the future of hemp
4 april 2024 · 29 min
Hemp used to be a staple of life in America. King James I demanded that colonists produce it. Hemp rope and fabric were ubiquitous throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The USDA even produced a WWII newsreel called “Hemp for Victory.”
But other materials came to replace hemp – wood pulp for paper, and cotton and synthetics for fabric. Why?
For that matter, what is hemp? Is it different from weed? And does it actually have 25,000 uses as its proponents claim?
Featuring Hector “Freedom” Gerardo, David Suchoff, John Fike, and Danny Desjarlais. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
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Learn more about how the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation has worked with hempcrete, and how they hope it’ll transform their economy (Grist).
The 2018 Farm Bill inadvertently led to a multibillion-dollar market of hemp-derived THC products. Twenty-two AGs are now calling on congress to fix the legal loophole that has “[forced] cannabis-equivalent products into our economies regardless of states’ intentions to legalize cannabis use.” (The Hill)
Cannabis sativa in the US only came to be called “marijuana” in the early 1900s, when the anti-cannabis movement wanted to link it to its “Mexican-ness.” But, as The Mysterious History Of 'Marijuana' (NPR Code Switch) explains, the etymological origins of “marijuana” are still debated: does it come from the Chinese word ma ren hua? Or the Bantu word for cannabis: ma-kaña? Or something else?
Hemp for Victory! (YouTube)CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, mixed, and produced by Felix Poon.
Editing by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie
Our staff includes Justine Paradis.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.
Special thanks to Fitsum Tariku, Director of the Building Science Centre of Excellence.… -
Songbird accents, eating rats, and why we need the moon
28 maart 2024 · 36 min
It’s that special time again! Scientists everywhere hold their breath as the team opens the Outside/Inbox and answers listener questions about the natural world. In this episode, we consider Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl, an impulsive goat purchase, and a big night for salamanders. Plus, we’re graced with Nate’s rendition of a Tom Waits song.
Questions: Lees meerWhat would NYC look like in 50 years if humans disappeared?
What if the earth had no moon?
Could humans survive a worst-case climate scenario?
Do birds have regional accents?
How do we keep wildlife safe when crossing the road?
Featuring Stephon Alexander, Luke Kemp, Chris Sturdy, and Sandi Houghton.
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Check out these gorgeous visualizations created by the Mannahatta Project, which has since been renamed the Welikia Project.
Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl died after crashing into a building earlier this month. His autopsy revealed his body to be riddled with rodenticide and pigeon herpes, cementing his status as “a real New Yorker” for some observers. Still, building collisions, rat poison, and disease are all major risks for birds of prey in urban environments.CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Felix Poon, Taylor Quimby, and Justine Paradis
Mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby and Rebecca Lavoie
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Music by blacksona, Katori Walker, Bisou, Young Community, Diamond Ortiz, Brightarm Orchestra, Kevin MacLeod, Tellsonic, Walt Adams, and ProleteR.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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In search of an ethical 401k
21 maart 2024 · 28 min
To save for retirement, common knowledge says to “diversify your portfolio.” Give your cash to a company so they can invest it into hundreds of other companies on the stock market. But unless you’ve gone out of your way to change it, your portfolio probably has little to do with your values.
For example, there are climate activists invested in fossil fuel companies. Staunch vegans putting some of their hard-earned income into Tyson Foods. On the flip side, there are climate deniers with money in Tesla!
So is there a way to save for retirement that’s both good for your pocketbook… and good for the planet?
Featuring: Timothy Yee, Clara Vondrich, Kelly Shue Lees meerSUPPORT
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Divestment helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the coal industry, according to this white paper from the Harvard Business School. However, divestment can also backfire, according to this study from Yale.
Got a lot of time to kill? You can watch the recent SEC commissioner meeting where they voted to pass a weakened version of the climate disclosure rule.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Mixed by Nate Hegyi and Taylor Quimby
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public RadioLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The story you won’t hear in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”
14 maart 2024 · 38 min
Editor's Note: This episode first aired in July, 2023
With 'Oppenheimer,' director Christopher Nolan turned the Manhattan Project into an Academy-Award-winning blockbuster. The film is set in Los Alamos, where the first atomic bomb was tested. But few people know the history of Carrizozo, a rural farming area downwind of the test.
Radioactive fallout from the bomb settled on everything: the soil, gardens, and drinking water. Cow’s milk became radioactive. Later, hundreds of people developed radiogenic cancers.
The people of Carrizozo were among the first people in the world exposed to a nuclear blast. More than 75 years later, their families are still fighting for medical compensation from the federal government.
Host Nate Hegyi traveled to New Mexico to visit the Trinity Site, and to hear the stories of so-called ‘downwinders.'
Featuring: Paul Pino, Tina Cordova, Ben Ray Lujan Lees meerSUPPORT
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Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).LINKS
Read more about RECA (the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act) which passed in the U.S. Senate this March. (Idaho Capital Sun)
The federal government has produced a few studies on the fallout from Trinity. This one from Los Alamos found that there was still contamination in the area in 1985.
Another, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, produced one of the most in-depth histories of the fallout from Trinity and the government’s reaction.
The National Cancer Institute found that hundreds of people likely developed cancer because of the fallout.
The history of Trinity is full of strange li… -
You can make kids hike, but you can’t make them hikers
7 maart 2024 · 39 min
If you grew up with family members who pushed (or dragged) you onto the trail, chances are you have strong memories associated with hiking. Epic vistas… swarms of black flies… and your dad’s terrible homemade gorp.
Whether you grow up to see them as personal triumphs or family fiascos, those early adventures can shape your perception of the outdoors for life.Can parents shape kids into hardcore hikers? And what happens when your best-laid plans go off the map?
Featuring Sarah Lamagna, Nick Capodice, Daisy Curtin, Niles Lashway, Sarah Raiche, Tiffany Raiche, and Phineas Quimby
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If you liked Sarah Lamagna’s tips on how to hike with children, you’ll find more in her recently published guidebook.CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby
Edited by Rebecca Lavoie
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, The New Fools, and SINY.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The disappearing dunes of 'Dune'
29 februari 2024 · 37 min
A century ago, coastal dunes threatened to overwhelm the city of Florence, Oregon. The sand swallowed roads, highways, and houses. When “Dune” author Frank Herbert visited the area in 1957, he was stunned by the awesome power of the sand. Eventually, it inspired his fictional desert planet, Arrakis.
But now, the dunes that inspired “Dune” are disappearing.
To solve the sand problem, the US Forest Service planted dunes with non-native beachgrass, hoping its strong roots would keep the dunes in place. The strategy worked… too well. The grass spread, out-competing native species and transforming the dunes. At one popular spot, roughly 60% of what was once open sand is now gone.
Producer Justine Paradis traveled to the Oregon Coast to see the mountains of sand which inspired a sci-fi classic, and meet the people working to save them.
Featuring Dina Pavlis, Patty Whereat Phillips, and Jesse Beers. Lees meerSUPPORT
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These aerial photos demonstrate the dramatic changes in the Oregon dunes since 1941.
Dina Pavlis’ Secrets of the Oregon Dunes Facebook page
The Oregon dunes are the setting of an episode of “Lassie” (1964), in which a little girl gets lost in a sand storm. New hires at the Forest Service in Florence are shown this film during orientation.
The Siuslaw Public Library in Florence is home to the eclectic Frank Herbert collection, as reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. These are books donated by Herbert’s daughter which he was reading at the time he wrote ‘Dune,’ and are available to the public. Fans make the pilgrimage to browse the collection, which includes titles on the desert, politics in the Middle East, computation, Scottish folk singing, rug hooking, and much more.
Frank Herbert originally visited Florence to research a proposed magazin… -
Hunters do cry
22 februari 2024 · 40 min
In the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, dozens of strangers gathered together in the woods for three straight days. Their mission? Teach people of color how to kill, gut, and butcher a deer for the first time.
Producer Felix Poon was there as a first-time hunter. He wanted to know: what does it feel like to take an animal's life to sustain your own? Given the opportunity… would he pull the trigger?
In this episode we follow Felix out of his depth and into the woods, to find out if one weekend can convert a longtime city-dweller into a dedicated deer hunter.
Featuring Dorothy Ren, Brandon Dale, and Brant MacDuff. Lees meerSUPPORT
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Lydia Parker, executive director of Hunters of Color, discusses how to make the outdoors more equitable. (The Nature Conservancy)
Melissa Harris-Perry talks to Brandon Dale, the New York ambassador for the Hunters of Color organization, on WNYC’s The Takeaway.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon
Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie.
Our staff also includes Justine Paradis
Taylor Quimby is our Executive Producer
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.
Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Hanna Lindgren, and Walt Adams.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What's the most successful species on Earth?
15 februari 2024 · 35 min
Editor's note: This episode was first published in July, 2022.Humans have had an impressive run thus far; we’ve explored most of the planet (the parts that aren’t underwater anyway), landed on the moon, created art and music, and made some pretty entertaining Tik Toks.
But we’ve survived on the planet for just a fraction of the time horseshoe crabs and alligators have. And we’re vastly outnumbered by many species of bacteria and insects.
So what is the most successful species on Earth? And how do you measure that, anyway?
From longevity and happiness, to sheer numbers, we put a handful of different organisms under the microscope in hopes of better understanding what exactly it means to succeed at life on a collective and individual scale.
Featuring: Stephen Giovannoni, Rashidah Farid, and Steward Pickett
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Check out Stephen Giovannoni’s paper: “SAR11 Bacteria: The Most Abundant Plankton in the Oceans”
An interesting treatise on adaptability: “Why crocodiles still look the same as they did 200 million years ago”
From the NSF: “The most common organism in the oceans harbors a virus in its DNA”
More food for thought: “The non-human living inside you" Lees meerCREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by: Taylor Quimby
Editing by: Nate Hegyi, Rebecca Lavoie
Additional editing help from Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Jessica Hunt.
Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer
Special thanks to everybody who answered our question at the top of the show: Josemar Ochoa, m Carey Grant, Butter Wilson, Tim Blagden, Robert Baker, Sheila Rydel, and Bob Beaulac.
Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, and Jules Gaia
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public RadioLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The edge of the ice
8 februari 2024 · 31 min
Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is massive, bigger than the state of Florida. If it collapses, it could reshape every coast on this planet during this century. That’s why it’s sometimes known as “the Doomsday Glacier.”
And yet, until recently, we knew very little about it. Because Thwaites is extremely remote, reachable only by crossing the wildest ocean on the planet, scientists had never observed its calving edge firsthand.
In 2019, a ground-breaking international mission set out to change that, and writer Elizabeth Rush was on board to document the voyage. We caught up with her to learn about life on an Antarctic icebreaker, how she grappled with classic Antarctic narratives about exploration (and domination), and how she summons hope even after coming face-to-face with Thwaites.
Featuring Elizabeth Rush. Lees meerSUPPORT
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Our 2022 episode featuring Elizabeth Rush about community responses to sea level rise in Staten Island and Louisiana. If you’re interested in reading more about the journey to Thwaites, check out Elizabeth’s book, “The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth”.
A paper published in Nature with some of the findings from this voyage, showing that Thwaites has historically retreated two to three times faster than we’ve ever observed. Here’s the one detailing findings about Thwaites’ past extent, extrapolated from their study of ancient penguin bones, and another sharing observations about water currents beneath its ice shelf.
We also recommend “Encounters at the End of the World,” Werner Herzog’s (2007) documentary about science and community in Antarctica.CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon.
NHPR’s Direct… -
The plot thickens
1 februari 2024 · 35 min
A lot of discussion about sustainability revolves around the trash and waste we leave behind. But at some point, every human being will die and leave behind a body.
So what should we do with it? Casket? Cremation? Compost? And does our choice actually have a meaningful impact on the soils and skies around us?
Today, we’ve got another edition of our segment, “This, That, or the Other Thing”, where Outside/In’s unofficial decomposition correspondent Felix Poon investigates how we can more sustainably rest in peace. Featuring Regina Harrison, Katrina Spade, and Matt Scott Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).LINKS
Find how you can help with climate solutions by drawing your Climate Action Venn Diagram.
Learn more about Project Drawdown’s Drawdown Solutions Library.
Tag along on a visit to the Recompose human composting facility (Youtube).CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Felix Poon
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team includes Justine Paradis.
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.
Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Blue is the loneliest color
25 januari 2024 · 29 min
Once in a blue moon the Outside/In team opens up the mailbag and answers your questions about the natural world. This time, they all share a preoccupation with a particular hue: blue.
Come along as we learn about the differences between European and Aztec conceptions of the color blue, how construction workers build offshore turbine foundations under the deep blue sea, and why the most exciting picture astronauts took during Apollo 8 wasn’t of the lunar surface.
Questions: Lees meerI’ve heard the color blue is rare in nature. Is that true?
Are blue eyes disappearing?
How do we build things underwater?
Why is the sky blue?
What is the etymology of the color blue?
Featuring Kai Kupferschmidt and Justin Alves.
SUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
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Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).LINKS
Check out science journalist Kai Kupferscmidt’s book, “Blue: In Search of Nature’s Rarest Color”CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Taylor Quimby, Felix Poon, and Nate Hegyi
Mixed by Taylor Quimby and Felix Poon
Our team also includes Justine Paradis
Editing by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Outside/In is a production of NHPRLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Not everyone is wild about wild horses
18 januari 2024 · 31 min
Support Outside/In before February 5th, and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar! Donate $8 per month, and we’ll send you a pair of NH-made Merino wool socks from Minus33.
For many, wild horses are a symbol of freedom, strength, and the American West. But to some they’re a symbol of colonialism and an ecological nuisance.
Host Nate Hegyi visits a rancher on the Blackfeet Reservation, where free-ranging horses have become more plentiful than deer. They’re outcompeting cattle for forage and putting livelihoods at risk. One potential solution? Slaughter.
In this episode, we dive deep into the history of eating horses – or not eating horses – and find out why this symbol of the American West is more divisive than you probably realized.
Featuring: Craig Iron Pipe, Tolani Francisco, Susanna Forrest
LINKS
Susanna Forrest has written all about the relationship between humans and horses – from riding them to eating them.
The Virginia Range wild horse herd has seen a substantial drop in population because of a fertility control campaign financed by a wild horse advocacy group.
There’s some great research from the University of New Mexico that shows how the domesticated horse made its way north from tribe to tribe in the 1500s.
You can learn all about how folks can adopt wild horses from the federal government here. Lees meerSUPPORT
Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.
Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).
Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Nate Hegyi
Edited by Taylor Quimby
The Outside/In team includes Felix Poon and Justine Paradise.
Rebecca Lavoie is o…