Animals Sometimes Don’t Follow The Rules

Photo of a group of African safari animals composited together in a scene of the grasslands of Kenya.

Animals Sometimes Don’t Follow The Rules

September 24, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Mary Roach joins us talk about when humans and wildlife are in conflict – from errant elephants to rule-breaking moose and life-threatening trees.

What Deep Space Can Teach Us About Earth

September 23, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Michael Greshko of National Geographic joins us to talk about asteroids, comets, dwarf planets and other space objects that researchers are studying to better understand how life as we know it started. His article is headlined “Mysteries of the Solar System.”

Meet The Creatures Living Above And Below Us

September 17, 2021 Culture, Education, Environment, Science and Technology

Two pioneering female scientists speak with us: one who describes life in the tops of trees as an eighth continent, and an oceanographer who studies bioluminescent marine animals that light up the ocean floor.

Why People Obsess Over Pakistani Mangoes

September 16, 2021 Culture, Environment

Food writer Ahmed Ali Akbar joins us to discuss the backchannels of importing fruit, the lengths people will go to, and the customs bureaucracy that keeps foods from reaching American shores.

The Magic Of Mushrooms

September 7, 2021 Environment, Health, Science and Technology

Aliya Whiteley joins us to talk about the world of fungi, from spores to mushrooms to their psychedelic properties and magical lore.

Hurricane Harvey 2017, flooding in Spring Texas, a couple miles north of Houston. Speed limit sign almost completely submerged.

Natural Disasters Shouldn’t Catch Us Off Guard

September 2, 2021 Culture, Current Events, Environment, Science and Technology

Samantha Montano is an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and she joins us to talk about the science of emergency management, and why we’re not doing enough to keep the public safe.

Photo of coral reef bioluminescent plant in the ocean.

She Found Light At The Bottom Of The Ocean

August 31, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Marine biologist Edith Widder is senior scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, and she joins us to discuss bioluminescence, which illuminates the ocean hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface.

A photo of Tortuguero National Park, a rainforest in Costa Rica.

There’s A Whole Other World Above Your Head

August 23, 2021 Culture, Environment, Science and Technology

Meg Lowman is a biologist, educator and executive director of the TREE Foundation. She joins us to talk about the diversity of creatures that call tree canopies home.

What If Sugar Had All The Sweetness Without The Calories?

August 17, 2021 Economics, Environment, Science and Technology

Journalist Nicola Twilley joins us to talk about the food science that focused not on sugar replacements but instead on actually making sugar better.

Did Texas Learn Anything From The Power Grid Failure?

August 12, 2021 Culture, Current Events, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology

Mose Buchele, a reporter and host at Austin public radio station KUT, joins us to discuss the worst blackout in the state’s history and how our drive to operate on a grid separate from the rest of the country contributed to the problem.

Photo of Fog over Phu Thok Mountain at Chiang Khan ,Loei Province in Thailand. B

Nature Is Our Nurturer

August 5, 2021 Environment, Health, Mental Health

Lucy Jones joins us to talk about her story of overcoming addiction by forming a deep connection with the beauty of nature, and the biological reasons humans need to be outside.

Photo of a colorful peacock in a greyish forest.

Nature’s Most Elusive Color Might Surprise You

July 9, 2021 Environment, Science and Technology

Kai Kupferschmidt, contributing correspondent for Science magazine, joins us to discuss why we so often overlook the rarity of the color blue and his trek around the globe to better understand it.