Maybe you’re eating an apple, or a piece of lettuce right now. Could be a broccoli stem or perhaps a lovely juicy tomato. If you are, are you wondering how intelligent that plant is? I’d guess not. But here’s a conversation that might make you think twice. Zoë Schlanger, a science writer for the Atlantic, has written an eye-opening book on the topi…

Melting ice is usually bad news, but this place in Alaska has turned from frozen to flourishing in just 200 years. Nestled in southeast Alaska, the stunning and famous Glacier Bay National Park is often called a “living laboratory.” Scientists from all over the world come here to study ecological succession: the step-by-step return of plants, insec…

We are taking a break over the holidays in order to finish up our series about national parks. We’ll be back in your feed on January 7 with a visit to Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska. We’ll learn how the trickles of chilly glacial meltwater are creating a flourishing ecosystem. But in the meantime, I wanted to share an episode from a …

It started as a glacier. Then, about 13,000 years ago, it was a trickle, then a stream, and eventually a rushing river meandering through the Olympic Peninsula. For thousands of years, life thrived off the ecosystem served by the Elwha River that fed into to the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Then it stopped. A century ago, a dam was built to harness the …

Nature writer Leigh Ann Henion has spent countless hours uncovering mysteries of the darkness that unfold while we’re asleep. She’s explored bats, moths, glow worms, spotted salamanders, and she’s written a new book about it called Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark. Today, Chris talks with Leigh An…

Once a year they come out, by the thousands. Fireflies. But these aren’t just any fireflies. These are Photinus Carolinas, also known as synchronous fireflies They blink on and off together. It’s an amazing site. On this episode, I head to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience the synchronous fireflies and learn how light from human dev…

Four times in the past decade Lake Abert has completely dried up, a barren lakebed encrusted with salt. Salt lakes are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. Lack of water could lead to many of these lakes permanently drying up in the American West. But there is one tiny bird that could change all that. The Wilson’s Phalarope depends on salt…

Chris remembers Bear 399, "The Queen" of Grand Teton National Park that was struck and killed by a vehicle near Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Tuesday, October 22. You can see the trailer of the PBS Nature documentary on Bear 399 here. Team 399 Facebook page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

In the Florida Everglades, the Burmese python is an invasive species that's close to triggering an ecological collapse. We'll head out with python hunters who track down these massive snakes for a bounty. Then we wade through the waste deep murky waters of the Everglades to see what researchers are learning about Burmese pythons in their waning hop…

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nestled between Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. It once was an industrial wasteland, filled with debris from the nearby auto factories. The Cuyahoga river was so polluted that it literally caught fire. That fire was a moment that sparked an environmental movement. But I'm headed upstream. I'm going to follow the river an…

We’re on a short break as we finish working on our stories for our series about America’s National Parks. I can’t wait to share with you what we’ve learned. Amazing stuff. We’ll be back with new episodes on October 15. But today, I’d like to play an episode of a podcast from our friends at Montana Public Radio and the Montana Media Lab. It’s called…

We’re taking a short break from releasing episodes so we can work on more new stories for our series on our National Parks. I hope you’re enjoying it! In the meantime, I wanted to share a special episode of a show I think you’ll really enjoy: Outside/In from our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio. Each week, the show explores topics around scien…

A decommissioned military base in northeast Oregon provides sanctuary for a recovering burrowing owl population. David Johnson is founder of the Global Owl Project to protect endangered owl species all over the world. And one lucky owl species that’s been David’s main focus for these past 12 years is the little burrowing owl. His rescue mission inv…