Tag: #profiles-interviews — 285 segments on Living on Earth

Tag occurrences over time

2026

May 29, 2026: Terry Tempest Williams on 'The Glorians'
The Utah desert with its raw beauty has long been a muse for writer Terry Tempest Williams. In her 2026 book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, she explores miraculous moments of grace that call for our attention, even in spaces that may at first seem unremarkable. Terry Tempest Williams joined Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering for an online Living on Earth Book Club event.
May 22, 2026: Indigenous Wisdom in Science
In accounts of scientific expeditions into the remotest parts of our world, indigenous people can often be depicted as mere backdrop—part of a quote “exotic” landscape, or at best, helpful sidekicks. But for Dr. Rosa Espinoza, a Peruvian chemical biologist and conservationist, the traditional knowledge and worldviews of indigenous people could be the key to unlocking some of nature’s greatest mysteries, if scientists are willing to listen—and collaborate. Host Aynsley O’Neill and Dr. Espinoza talk about her 2025 book, The Spirit of the Rainforest: How Indigenous Wisdom and Scientific Curiosity Reconnects Us to the Natural World.
May 15, 2026: Elephant Elder Wisdom
Elephants are social animals like us and pass down to their young knowledge and skills crucial to living a successful life. Researchers have found that elephant youths conduct themselves differently if they were raised without elders. Orphaned elephants have been seen struggling to integrate into broader social groups and inaccurately assessing threats from predators. Lucy Bates, a lecturer with the Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, speaks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about how this important role of elephant elders can help shape conservation priorities.
May 15, 2026: White House Accuses NCAR of "Climate Alarmism
The federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, in Boulder, Colorado has been a leading agency for decades assessing the risks and possible responses to the changing climate. But in November, the Trump administration declared it was dismantling NCAR, citing its contribution to what the administration calls “climate alarmism.” University of Colorado - Boulder Professor Waleed Abdalati talks with Host Steve Curwood about the role of NCAR and why its parent organization has filed a lawsuit alleging a “campaign of retaliation against the State of Colorado.”
May 08, 2026: AJR Rock Star Recruits for Climate Action
The indie-pop band AJR is known for its high-energy anthems and along with growing their fan base of mostly young adults, AJR is growing the climate movement. At sold-out concerts, they offer fans ways to plug in to climate advocacy. AJR bassist Adam Met also teaches sustainability as an adjunct at Columbia and is cofounder of the nonprofit Planet Reimagined, and he speaks with Host Jenni Doering about engaging fans to sign petitions, join local groups and, most importantly, vote.
May 08, 2026: Nostalgic Mothering: "Saturnine" Poem
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of the collection of poems Night Owl, joined us in April for poetry month. And in this poem, called “Saturnine,” Aimee recalls a moment when her then-seven-year-old son announced his plan to move to Saturn, reminding her that one day, she’d have to let her little boy fly from the nest. Aimee Nezhukumatathil speaks with Host Jenni Doering.
May 01, 2026: Snapping Turtle
Now that it’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere, before long snapping turtles will be laying their eggs. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender shares this encounter with one old mother turtle.
April 17, 2026: Artemis II Science and Awe
The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission that safely splashed down on April 10 were able to test out Orion spacecraft systems during their journey, a crucial step towards NASA’s ultimate goal of establishing a continuous human presence on the moon and embarking on future missions to Mars and beyond. They also made new scientific observations that are helping to expand our knowledge of the Moon, as well as the Earth itself. Artemis II Lunar Science Lead Kelsey Young talks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the scientific goals and accomplishments of the mission and the unforgettable moments the crew shared with people back on Earth.
April 03, 2026: Artemis II Launch Party
As the Artemis II launch counted down, folks of all ages gathered excitedly to watch the livestream at the McAuliffe–Shepard Discovery Center in New Hampshire, named for two prominent astronauts from the state. Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood was there and caught up with members of the University of New Hampshire Astronomy Club and others to get their reactions and hear their hopes for the mission and the future of space exploration.
April 03, 2026: Colonizing the Moon
The astronauts of the Artemis II mission are prospecting for a planned base on the moon, the first lunar expedition since 1972. The crew includes the first woman, the first person of color, and first Canadian to travel to the Moon. John Daniel "Danny" Olivas, an engineer and retired NASA astronaut, speaks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the mission objectives and challenges, why it faced delays and what sets the Artemis program apart from the Apollo visits to the moon of more than 50 years ago.
March 13, 2026: Pioneering Women in Science
Women have historically been underrepresented in science and engineering, but that didn’t stop Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, and Rachel Carson, and there are many more women in these fields who are not as famous. Artist and author Rachel Ignotofsky joins Host Steve Curwood to share the contributions of some of the remarkable female scientists she profiles in her book, Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World.
March 13, 2026: The Frozen Creek
Living on Earth’s Don Lyman has been finding reptiles and amphibians since boyhood. This long winter took him back to a childhood memory of finding a bull frog swimming under the ice in what he calls “The Frozen Creek.”
March 06, 2026: BirdNote®: The Cuban Tody, A Caribbean Jewel
A “must-see” bird for anyone traveling in the West Indies, the Cuban Tody is a tiny bird with a lot of personality. In this week’s BirdNote®, Michael Stein introduces us to these striking Cuban natives.
March 06, 2026: The Frozen Creek
Living on Earth’s Don Lyman has been finding reptiles and amphibians since boyhood. This long winter took him back to a childhood memory of finding a bull frog swimming under the ice in what he calls “The Frozen Creek.”
February 27, 2026: Bonaire Residents Fight for Climate Justice
The Dutch special municipality of Bonaire in the Caribbean is already experiencing dangerous heat and could see a fifth of its land disappear under rising seas by 2100. But the Netherlands is discriminating against these overseas citizens by failing to adequately reduce global warming emissions and develop adaptation plans to help them cope, according to a January 2026 Dutch court decision. Greenpeace Netherlands campaigner Eefje de Kroon worked with eight Bonaire residents to bring their case and joins Host Paloma Beltran.
February 27, 2026: Dancing Down the Slopes
Ski ballet -- kind of a mashup between ballet, figure skating and skiing -- got a little glory as a demonstration sport in the 1988 and 92 Olympic Games but never became a medal event, and some said it was just a fad. But a few winters ago, ski ballet was being kept alive on Pennsylvania slopes by a very enthusiastic, early-adopter. Andy Kubis produced this story for the Allegheny Front back in 2018.
February 27, 2026: The Possibility of Tenderness
Poet and author Jason Allen-Paisant left his native Jamaica to gain a graduate school education and prize-winning poetry career in England and France. He now looks back with wonder at the green of Jamaica where generations of his ancestors fed and healed his family. He shares this history in his book The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican Memoir of Plants and Dreams. Jason Allen-Paisant spoke with Living on Earth’s Andrew Skerritt.
February 20, 2026: Ice Skating on the Rideau Canal
The warmer winters of climate disruption are bringing shorter and shorter skating seasons on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We head into the Living on Earth archives for a taste of days gone by, when reporter Bob Carty hit the ice to meet locals enjoying the serenity of a skate along the canal.
February 20, 2026: Under Milkweed
One of the most heavenly scents on Earth is that of milkweed in bloom, says Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender. But fewer and fewer monarch butterflies are showing up to feed and lay their eggs on this vital plant that gives them a powerful toxic defense against predators.
February 13, 2026: Remembering Mike McElroy
Harvard atmospheric science Professor Michael B. McElroy, a long-time board member of the World Media Foundation (which produces Living on Earth), passed away in January 2026. Host Steve Curwood offers a brief tribute to Mike’s groundbreaking contributions to research and education.
January 30, 2026: Do Aliens Speak Physics?
Classic science fiction tends to assume that if aliens visit Earth, they will have done so thanks to using math and science that’s like our own. But physicist Daniel Whiteson and cartoonist Andy Warner aren’t so sure. They speak with Host Steve Curwood about their book Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions About Science and the Nature of Reality.
January 23, 2026: Ice Visions
As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skating, a passion which gave rise to some unusual art, now 20 years in the making.
January 16, 2026: Choosing Nonviolence: MLK and Nature
The nonviolent resistance preached by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was far from passive. It required peaceful confrontation and fierce courage to protect Black Americans from the constant threat of racist violence. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender sent us this essay about an encounter in Yellowstone National Park years back that reminded him of a story he heard from one of Dr. King’s defenders.
January 02, 2026: A City on Mars and the Perils of Settling Space (Cont'd)
A City on Mars authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith continue their conversation with Host Jenni Doering about the challenges of settling space. They discuss why the Moon has limited “primo” real estate, what it was like to write this book together as a married couple, and why they view humor as an essential piece of helping a general audience understand such complex issues as international space law.
January 02, 2026: A City on Mars and the Perils of Settling Space
As a new space race heats up, private companies and sovereign nations alike have their sights on setting up permanent human settlements in space – but huge technological, medical and legal challenges remain. Biologist Kelly Weinersmith and cartoonist Zach Weinersmith are a married couple who teamed up to write the 2023 book A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? They join Host Jenni Doering to chat about the comically hostile environments beyond our home planet.

2025

December 26, 2025: A Green Message for the Next Generation
Tem Blessed, an environmentally and socially-conscious hiphop artist, sat down with host Steve Curwood to discuss how contemporary music can communicate the importance of the environment and sustainability to young audiences. He illustrates this with two of his own pieces: “I am the bee” and “Now is the time.”
December 26, 2025: A Mainer's Family Traditions
Denny Breau, a singer/songwriter from Maine, joins host Steve Curwood during these cold winter months to discuss some of the moments that warm his heart. He shares stories about one of his favorite holiday meals, ice-fishing, his Acadian family origins, and traditions of song that span the generations.
December 26, 2025: Christmas Candles and Other Stories from Jay O'Callahan
Master storyteller Jay O’Callahan joins Host Steve Curwood to share some tales about his family during the holiday season. O’Callahan recalls his community’s tradition of Christmas caroling and how it brought hope to his mother in a time of darkness and for Christmases to come, and he shares stories of an imaginative young girl named Mary.
December 19, 2025: Ceyx and Alcyone, The Coming of the Days of Peace
Storyteller Diane Edgecomb performs the Greek myth “Ceyx and Alcyone” about the origin of Halcyon birds, also known as kingfishers. The ancients noticed these birds would appear during the “Halcyon Days” when the seas became calm, around the time of the winter Solstice. She also discusses with Host Steve Curwood how stories can help illuminate why we take part in old traditions at this time of year such as putting up lights, decorating evergreens, and hanging mistletoe.
December 19, 2025: The Haudenosaunee Story of The Seven Brothers
In many cultures, stories passed down through the generations explain how the world got to be the way it is. The Haudenosaunee people of Northeastern North America have a story about how the star cluster known as the Pleiades came to be, told by Perry Ground, Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee.
December 12, 2025: Bill McKibben on Abundant Solar and the Waning Power of Fossil Fuels
Climate activist Bill McKibben, who authored The End of Nature nearly 40 years ago, is back with Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization. He joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on the stunning growth of renewable energy from the sun and wind, led in part by China, even as the fossil fuel industry digs in.
December 12, 2025: Seasonal Celebration with Wassail
As a preview for next week’s Winter Solstice storytelling special, we feature a traditional “Wassail Song” with storyteller Diane Edgecomb.
December 05, 2025: Earth Prayer
Nulhegan Abenaki storyteller Joe Bruchac joins Host Steve Curwood to deliver his poem of gratitude for the gifts of the Earth, called “Earth Prayer.”
November 21, 2025: Thanksgiving Feast Favorites
To kick off this Living on Earth Thanksgiving special, members of our crew share a few laughs and our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, from pumpkin soup to chouriço stuffing to desserts made with leftover pie crust.
November 07, 2025: Hiking on Wheels
Physical disabilities can make getting outside more challenging, but adaptive devices and accessible trails can transform lives. Producer El Wilson, who has cerebral palsy, and producer Jenni Doering test an offroad wheelchair and meet a woman who has been able to reclaim the joy and freedom of hiking since becoming disabled.
November 07, 2025: Pope and King Share a Prayer for Creation
King Charles III, who leads the Anglican Church, and Pope Leo XIV, who leads the Roman Catholic Church, recently joined in a historic prayer in the Sistine Chapel. This act of unity by these two faith leaders who are also sovereign heads of state was embedded in their shared concern for the environment, or creation. Tony Juniper coauthored King Charles's book on the environment, Harmony and chairs Natural England, a government conservation agency. He speaks with Host Steve Curwood about how these leading Christians may make a difference for the planet.
November 07, 2025: The Green King
King Charles III, the former Prince of Wales, has acceded to the throne and brings with him a lifelong passion for nature and environmental causes. His longtime advisor and co-author Tony Juniper joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss His Majesty’s contributions on environment and climate, how that might influence him in his new role as King, and the passing of the activist torch to his son William, the new Prince of Wales.
October 31, 2025: Climate Monster in the Caribbean
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean in modern times, left a wake of destruction in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti that will take years to recover from. Jamaican climate physics professor Tannecia Stephenson describes the toll of this climate catastrophe, and meteorologist Ryan Truchelut of the consulting firm Weather Tiger joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how the storm grew so ferocious in the blink of a hurricane’s eye.
October 31, 2025: Serial Killers and Lead Exposure
The Pacific Northwest of the US harbored a serial killer hotspot of sorts in the 1970s, associated with the neurotoxin lead. Seattle-born author Caroline Fraser explores this link in her book Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers. She joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how dangerously high lead exposure from smelters and gasoline may have led to the increase of violence and murders in the region.
October 31, 2025: The Many Layers of Dia de los Muertos Altars
At the start of November, on the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos, families in Mexico and beyond gather around altars to celebrate and invite back the spirits of loved ones who have passed away. Living on Earth Producer Paloma Beltran explains the symbolic meaning of altar materials and how this yearly tradition took on a new dimension for her this year.
October 10, 2025: Jane Goodall On Conservation
The late conservationist Jane Goodall made it her mission to protect habitat worldwide by empowering local communities to develop sustainably. We reprise her 2023 conversation with Host Steve Curwood about this holistic approach to conservation and how it all started when she was just ten years old and dreamed of studying wild animals in Africa.
October 10, 2025: Remembering Jane Goodall
Members of the late conservationist Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots youth organization and the Living on Earth crew share memories of her and gratitude for her enduring gifts to the world.
October 10, 2025: Science Note: Clever Cockatoos use Drinking Fountains
After observing sulfur-crested cockatoos using a drinking fountain, Australian researchers reported that most of the local population of cockatoos attempted to use the fountains, and around half were successful. Living on Earth’s Don Lyman reports on the research findings and hypotheses for why these clever cockatoos have developed this habit.
October 03, 2025: Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Re-Enchantment
In lives full of screens and distraction, it can be hard to truly notice the natural world and the subtle ways that other creatures cross our paths. But author Brooke Williams believes these signs from nature can bring us important insights that are worth paying attention to. He sat down with Host Jenni Doering to chat about how he explores these ideas in his book, Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Re-Enchantment.
September 12, 2025: A Tale of Two Turtles
Living on Earth’s Don Lyman is back in classrooms teaching biology as a substitute and incorporating his passion for herpetology wherever he can. But one unusual classroom turtle presented an identification puzzle, and a teaching moment that he recounts in his essay “A Tale of Two Turtles.”
September 12, 2025: BirdNote®: The Auspicious Chime of the Bare-throated Bellbird
The exceptionally loud, metallic call of the Bare-throated Bellbird can be heard almost a mile away. BirdNote®’s Nick Bayard reports that the Bare-throated Bellbird is Paraguay’s national bird and has inspired Paraguayan harp music.
August 29, 2025: The "Little Sea" with a Big Champion
The Mar Menor or “little sea” lagoon on the coast of Spain faces impacts from mining, agriculture, and a booming tourist industry. Teresa Vicente is a professor of philosophy of law at the University of Murcia who helped pass a 2022 law granting the lagoon legal personhood to give it greater protection. She received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how she led a grassroots movement to protect this beloved lagoon.
August 22, 2025: Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. Eddie Herrera Jr. shares with Host Aynsley O’Neill what it was like to serve as an incarcerated firefighter, and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
August 22, 2025: Listening on Earth
Living on Earth Producer Sophia Pandelidis is living and working remotely from Greece and sent in the sounds of church bells and festive bouzouki music in a café on the island of Paros, which is in the Aegean Sea between Santorini and Mykonos.
August 15, 2025: Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
August 15, 2025: The Light Eaters
A scientist who rappels down cliffs to hand-pollinate endangered plants. A vine that mimics the leaves of nearby species. Rice that crowds out strangers but leaves room for the roots of relatives. All of these are subjects of the book The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger, who tackles big questions of plant intelligence, consciousness, and communication. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about what we might discover when we look closely at the green life around us.
August 08, 2025: Animal Self-Medication
A paper published in the journal Scientific Reports describes the case study of an orangutan who treated and healed his own wound. Zoologists have long seen behaviors of self-medicating in the animal kingdom, but until now it has rarely if ever been documented in scientific literature. Michael Huffman, an ecologist who reviewed the paper joined Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how some animals are known heal themselves.
August 08, 2025: Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer's Guide to the Universe
Astronomer Philip Plait wondered what it would be like to walk on Mars, fall into a black hole, or fly through a nebula, so he wrote a book, Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to reveal the strange colors of a sunset on Mars, what it’s like on a planet orbiting binary stars, the unique challenges of landing on an asteroid, and more.
August 01, 2025: Starborn: How the Stars Made Us
Stargazing has profoundly shaped who we are as human beings, and gave rise to science, religion, and origin stories from diverse traditions. Roberto Trotta, a cosmologist at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, explores this legacy in his book Starborn: How the Stars Made Us (And Who We Would Be Without Them). He joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how studying the night sky shaped science and more and why satellites now threaten our connection to the stars.
July 25, 2025: Censorship in US National Parks
President Trump has ordered the Department of the Interior to review historic monuments and memorials, and remove any content that might be perceived as negative or unpatriotic. Independent historian Donna Graves joined host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss some National Parks that show America’s complex history and how these federal actions can lead to censorship.
July 25, 2025: Former Park Leader Speaks Out
National Parks are undergoing increased layoffs and funding cuts under the second Trump administration. Former Crater Lake superintendent Kevin Keatley joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran to discuss how funding cuts are impacting NPS employees and why he quit just after 5 months.
July 18, 2025: Weakening Disaster Prep
Weather forecasting, climate research and climate resilience are being hit with major budget and staffing cuts by the Trump administration. Alice Hill is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who served on the National Security Council under President Obama, and she joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how recent federal cuts can impact emergency preparedness for floods such as the one that devastated the Texas hill country.
July 04, 2025: EPA Employees Speak Out
In a rare act of public criticism, hundreds of EPA employees published a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, calling out its alleged ignoring of scientific consensus to benefit polluters, undermining of public trust and more. David Cash led EPA’s Region One covering New England under the Biden Administration and shares his thoughts and opinions about the letter and the Trump EPA with Host Aynsley O’Neill.
July 04, 2025: Sight": Caribbean Reef Shark
Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender has photographed animals all over the world, including under the sea. He shared this observation from a dive in the Bahamas where he was photographing Caribbean reef sharks.
June 27, 2025: EPA Ignores Climate Dangers
This June the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating regulations that limit climate changing gases from power plants, about a quarter of US emissions. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, an environmental and constitutional law scholar and author of The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, speaks with Host Steve Curwood about the perils of the broader Trump administration effort to weaken federal environmental protections.
June 27, 2025: The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court
Against long odds, in 2007 the United States Supreme Court decided the case Massachusetts v. EPA in favor of the states and environmental groups that had sought regulation of climate disrupting emissions. The case had enormous implications for environmental law, and it laid the legal groundwork for the Obama administration’s climate change policies as well as the global Paris Climate Accord. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, the author of the new book “The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court,” discusses with Host Steve Curwood the gripping behind-the-scenes story of how Massachusetts v. EPA made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
June 20, 2025: Ecological Justice: "We Need Each Other
Rev. Mariama White-Hammond and Host Steve Curwood wrap up their conversation with a discussion about how faith informed her service as former Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces for the City of Boston, and how her faith continues to guide her work to bring about ecological justice.
June 20, 2025: Juneteenth and "Joy as an Act of Resistance
Just as the enslavement of people was driven by commercial interests, today the enslavement of nature for profit violates a morality that sees value in all living things, according to the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She joins Host Steve Curwood to reflect on how overcoming slavery, which is celebrated on Juneteenth, can inspire us to find ways to depend on each other so we can thrive in a world of ecological justice.
June 13, 2025: Saving a Sacred Mountain in Mongolia
Batmunkh Luvsandash, winner of the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia, was raised as a Mongolian herder and later became an engineer who worked on mining projects in the mineral-rich country. But when he learned that the Mongolian government was planning to mine the sacred Hutag mountain, which is also home to the endangered Asiatic ass, he sprang into action. Batmunkh joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran (speaking through a translator) to share why protecting the area is so important to him.
June 06, 2025: Listening on Earth
Living on Earth Producer Sophia Pandelidis is living and working remotely from Greece and sent in the sounds of church bells and festive bouzouki music in a café on the island of Paros, which is in the Aegean Sea between Santorini and Mykonos.
May 30, 2025: After the Storm
Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender is keenly aware of the risks of living right on the Connecticut coast as sea levels rise and hurricanes strengthen. But being that close to Nature, in all her ferociousness, sure does inspire.
May 30, 2025: Listening on Earth: California Coast and Crows
This week, sounds sent in by Living on Earth listeners include the crashing waves at Point Lobos near Monterey Bay on the California coast, and a crow in downtown San Francisco.
May 23, 2025: Listening on Earth: Cenzontle and Zocalo
This week’s “Listening on Earth” sounds come from listener Flynn Wendling, who shared the call of a mockingbird (or Cenzontle in Spanish) in Mexico that became his morning wake-up call; and from Living on Earth Producer Paloma Beltran, who visited Mexico City’s Zocalo and captured the sounds of a celebration of 700 years since the founding of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.
May 16, 2025: Birdnote®: Toucan - Tropical Icon
In the Peruvian Amazon not far from where Pope Leo XIV lived for many years, you can find a most distinctive bird with a comically huge bill. BirdNote’s Mary McCann reports on the toucan, a tropical icon.
May 16, 2025: Countermeasures"- Dunlin
On the placid saltpans of Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Massachusetts, the shorebirds known as dunlin are feeding. Then, just like that, they rise and fly in almost perfect unison to evade an intruder, Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender reports.
May 16, 2025: Pope Leo and Creation Care
The new Pope, Leo XIV, has worked with interfaith environmental networks and there’s hope around the world that he may follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Pope Francis and bring issues of the environment and climate change to the forefront of his agenda. Dr. Erin Lothes is a former professor of Catholic theology who now promotes global eco spirituality education and climate action with the Laudato Si’ Movement and she joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to shed light on Pope Leo XIV’s rhetoric on environment.
May 09, 2025: Climate Wayfinding with Katharine Wilkinson
A project called Climate Wayfinding aims to tend to the deepest needs of climate activists by providing a space for reflection, connection, and clarity amid the chaos. Climate Wayfinding has its roots in the All We Can Save project, co-founded by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, who joins Host Jenni Doering to share her own story of moving from feeling lost to gaining clarity about her role in the climate movement.
May 09, 2025: Faith in a Better Climate Future
The children of today and tomorrow are not to blame for the climate crisis and yet are likely to suffer it the most. In hopes of remedying this injustice the World Council of Churches has published “Hope for Children Through Climate Justice,” a handbook for communities of faith looking to hold financial actors accountable for their fossil fuel investments. Frederique Seidel is their senior program lead on children and climate and she spoke with Host Jenni Doering.
May 02, 2025: Listener Postcards
We asked you, our listeners, to submit snippets of the sounds around you. Here are a couple more of your submissions.
May 02, 2025: Parrot Brains and Our Own
Parakeets have astounding vocal abilities and are able to mimic as many as 1700 human words. And their brains may provide insight into how we humans talk. In a recent study, researchers found human-like neural activity during vocalization. Dr. Michael Long led the study and joins Host Paloma Beltran to share how this research may help shed light on communication disorders in humans such as autism.
April 25, 2025: Evening" Poem by Dorianne Laux
As Poetry Month ends, we turn to poet Dorianne Laux, whose latest collection is titled Life on Earth. Her poem “Evening” from a few years ago simultaneously expresses her grief at her recent loss of her mother and the waning of the whole biosphere in the face of climate disruption. Dorianne Laux joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to read her poem and talk about finding solace in nature.
April 25, 2025: Pope Francis and the Climate: Laudate Deum
In 2023 Pope Francis published an even bolder update to Laudato Si’, his climate change encyclical. Christiana Zenner of Fordham University joined Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how “Laudate Deum” takes on climate denial and urges the world to act swiftly to avert climate disaster.
April 25, 2025: Pope Francis and the Climate: Laudato Si'
As the world remembers the legacy of Pope Francis we return to his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.” It's a poetic, emotional call for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University, Christiana Zenner, discussed with Host Steve Curwood the Pope's powerful message.
April 18, 2025: Earth Day Celebration
Living on Earth is celebrating 55 years of Earth Day, kicking off with a conversation with Grammy nominated singer and Earth Day ambassador Antonique Smith. Her work uses the art of storytelling and music to promote environmental justice and climate action in communities of faith and color. Host Steve Curwood spoke to Antonique Smith about using culture and artistry to combat climate change.
April 11, 2025: Listening on Earth
At Living on Earth we encourage listeners to share glimpses of their world through audio recording. We feature a collage of different audio recordings from across the country.
April 04, 2025: Listening on Earth: Cardinal and Robin
Two of the most common birdsongs of the New England springtime are those of cardinals and robins. Host Jenni Doering shares a snippet of a recording from her neighborhood and invites listeners to send in their own audio postcards.
April 04, 2025: Note on Emerging Science: Orcas Wear Salmon as Hats
Orcas in the Pacific Northwest have again been observed carrying dead salmon on their heads. Living on Earth’s Kayla Bradley explains what scientists think this unique behavior may indicate about orcas’ diet, health, and culture.
April 04, 2025: Science and the US Government
The Trump administration is slashing personnel and research grants at two dozen federal agencies, including those conducting critical science. Science has long played a key role in the federal government, and Naomi Oreskes, a Professor of the History of Science at Harvard, joins Host Steve Curwood to put the recent changes into historical context.
April 04, 2025: What I Want to Believe About the Vireos
The songbirds called vireos have increased in number by more than 50 percent in recent decades, while birds overall are struggling. That was the inspiration for Poet Laureate of Mississippi Catherine Pierce’s poem, “What I Want to Believe About the Vireos.” She joins Host Jenni Doering to share and discuss.
March 28, 2025: A Quest for Quiet
The world can be an awfully noisy place. Ed Jahn of Oregon Public Broadcasting took a journey in search of silence and found what could be the quietest place in Oregon.
March 28, 2025: Deb Haaland: ‘Fierce for our Planet’
Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico is President-elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior. She’ll be the first Native American to lead the Department if confirmed, and would bring a strong conservation, climate action, and tribal rights perspective to the department. Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering reports on Deb Haaland’s experience and what’s shaped her into who she is today.
March 28, 2025: Deb Haaland on Our Public Lands
Deb Haaland became the first Native American cabinet member when President Biden appointed her as Secretary of the Interior and helped consult with tribes to designate new national monuments. Now she’s running for Governor of New Mexico, and Deb Haaland joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the current threats to public lands and her deep ancestral connections to the New Mexican landscape.
March 28, 2025: Madam Secretary Haaland
On March 15th the U.S. Senate voted 51-40 to confirm Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior. A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Secretary Haaland is the first Native American to serve as head of a cabinet agency. Her historic appointment places her in command of a department that manages US public lands and oversees the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and India Education. Host Bobby Bascomb discusses Ms. Haaland’s appointment and her priorities for the future of the department.
March 28, 2025: Meet Deb Haaland, Native American Congresswoman
New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District is sending to Capitol Hill one of the first two Native American women to ever go to Congress, both elected as Democrats in 2018. Deb Haaland campaigned on climate change and other environmental issues, and cites a lifelong care for the environment inspired by her father. Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood talks with Deb about her environmental priorities for the new Democratic-majority House of Representatives.
March 28, 2025: National Monuments Restored
President Biden has restored the Northeast Canyons and Sea Mounts, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Bears Ears National Monuments, reversing orders of former President Trump. The lapse in protection for the Bears Ears area had especially led to an increase in vandalism and looting. Executive Director of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Patrick Gonzales-Rogers explains to Host Bobby Bascomb how lands are more than just historical sites for native peoples, and how they are key to their cultures, their spirituality, and their being.
March 14, 2025: Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation
From abolitionist Harriet Tubman to novelist Louisa May Alcott, some of the country’s most important women trailblazers shared a connection with the natural world in their girlhood. According to author Tiya Miles in her book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, this time spent in the outdoors prepared these women to become pioneers in their fields. She joins Host Paloma Beltran for more.
March 07, 2025: US Ducks World Climate Meetings
The Trump Administration barred government scientists from attending a key UN climate science meeting in February 2025. What’s more, it seems the customary US task force including officials from the State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation departments has not attended any meetings for the underlying UN climate treaty since the beginning of the Trump Administration. Ben Stockton of the Center for Climate Reporting joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss what this could mean for global climate diplomacy.
February 28, 2025: Bringing Sea Otters Back
Sea otters were hunted out from Oregon and Northern California more than a century ago amid the fur trade, but the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and conservation partners are now working to bring them back. Robert Kentta, treasurer of the Siletz tribe, talks with Host Paloma Beltran about how reintroducing sea otters can help revive the kelp ecosystem and restore a vital cultural connection for Native people.
February 28, 2025: Mother and Son: Sea Otter Bonding
Mother sea otters spend a lot of time grooming their young pups. It’s a bonding experience as well as a matter of survival. Clean and well-groomed fur keeps these sea otters afloat on the coastal waters where they spend their entire lives. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender narrates a precious scene of an attentive otter mom and her young pup.
February 21, 2025: The Bog in Winter
Just under the ice at Pine Hole Bog north of Boston, diverse forms of life from dragonfly nymphs to turtles and frogs await the spring thaw. Living on Earth’s Don Lyman shares a reflection from a winter walk through this beloved place.
February 14, 2025: 'EXPLORE' Act and Outdoor Accessibility
A new bipartisan law aims to help people of all abilities explore the outdoors. Syren Nagakyrie founded the nonprofit Disabled Hikers and joins Host Jenni Doering to share insights about the challenges people with disabilities face visiting America’s public lands and how the new law could help.
February 14, 2025: No Help From America
The Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all foreign assistance and bid to lay off nearly all USAID staffers are bringing disastrous consequences for millions of acutely hungry people, including those in war-torn Sudan. Nisreen Elsaim is a Sudanese climate and environmental activist and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the desperate situation and send a warning to the US about the perils of isolationism.
February 14, 2025: The Silence"- Lava Tubes of Iceland
Escaping the noise of the world can be hard these days, but not impossible. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender has stumbled upon silent sanctuaries in Iceland and beyond.
February 07, 2025: BirdNote®: City Owls
Some owls, like Barred Owls and Great Horned Owls, are happy to call our cities home. There’s plenty of rats and squirrels to eat, and BirdNote’s Michael Stein offers some tips on how to spot these urban owls.
February 07, 2025: Searching for Old Growth Forest
Finding the last remaining old growth in the vast forests of Maine is like finding a needle in a haystack, but LiDAR technology is helping pinpoint these biodiversity hotspots so they can be protected. Ecologist John Hagan of Our Climate Common joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how it works and why it’s bringing the timber industry and conservationists together.
February 07, 2025: The Little Gods of the Forest
Poet Major Jackson joins Host Jenni Doering to read his poem, “The Body’s Uncontested Need to Devour, An Explanation” and reflect about forest bathing and immersing ourselves in nature as a vital life-giving experience.
February 07, 2025: Zeldin New EPA Head
The new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says there needs to be urgency in addressing climate change but also hints that the Trump EPA will not pursue greenhouse gas reductions. Marianne Lavelle is Washington bureau chief at Inside Climate News and joins Hosts Paloma Beltran and Jenni Doering to discuss how the Trump EPA seems to be looking to pull back on climate and other regulations.
January 31, 2025: Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. Eddie Herrera Jr. shares with Host Aynsley O’Neill what it was like to serve as an incarcerated firefighter, and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
January 24, 2025: Ice Visions
As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skating, a passion which gave rise to some unusual art, now 20 years in the making.
January 10, 2025: Jimmy Carter's Green Legacy
The Carter Presidency left a legacy of environmental action, ranging from major habitat protection to trying to address the then largely unrecognized threat of fossil fuels to climate stability. Gus Speth chaired the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Jimmy Carter and sat down with Host Steve Curwood to recall pivotal moments and ponder what might have been if the solar-panel-loving President had won a second term.
January 03, 2025: A Call to Cool the Earth
Earth is choked by too much carbon in the atmosphere and running a fever that is only bound to get worse if we fail to restore its balance. Biologist Dr. George Woodwell explains to Host Steve Curwood why soaking up some of that carbon with the help of trees and plants is vitally important to life on Earth as we know it.
January 03, 2025: George Woodwell Tribute
In 2024 the world lost a giant of climate science and eco activism, George Woodwell. Host Steve Curwood remembers this man who advised President Jimmy Carter on climate, helped start major environmental organizations and helped inspire the Living on Earth broadcasts. We return to moments from a conversation Steve Curwood and George Woodwell recorded for the program in 2016 and hear reflections from colleagues who knew him well.
January 03, 2025: Woodwell - A World to Live In
Ecologist George Woodwell has decades of research and environmental action under his belt, from documenting the dangers of DDT and climate change to founding the Woods Hole Research Center helping start other key organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute. His new book, “A World To Live In,” offers a reflection on the dangers of exceeding the planet’s biophysical limits. Speaking with Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood he shared some lessons he has learned about nature and environmental policy.

2024

December 27, 2024: Befriending An Octopus
Octopuses may have small brains, but scientists believe they are intelligent creatures with distinct personalities. Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood and environmental writer Sy Montgomery went behind the exhibits at the New England Aquarium and wrapped their arms around Octavia, a giant Pacific octopus.
December 27, 2024: Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in An Age of Extinction
Animals like the American Bison, bald eagle, and giant panda are just a few of the charismatic species that have come dangerously close to extinction. But thanks to some visionaries, species like these have been saved from that fate. In her 2021 book Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, science writer Michelle Nijhuis shares the stories of some conservation heroes, and she joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss.
December 27, 2024: FaceTime: Bumblebees
What’s going on inside the tiny, fuzzy head of a bumblebee? Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender, says there might be much more going on than you may think.
December 27, 2024: How To Be A Good Creature
From tarantulas in French Guinea to reclusive, aquarium-dwelling octopuses to the dogs and chickens in her own backyard, naturalist and author Sy Montgomery has connected with creatures all over the globe. They are her friends, her family, and especially her teachers. In her book, How To Be A Good Creature, she looks back on the valuable life lessons she’s learned from her friendships with feathered, furred and tentacled animals. Sy Montgomery joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss her treasured memories of these creatures.
December 27, 2024: Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind
The science of animal psychology is still developing and what exactly your family dogs, or wild rabbits are thinking is a fascinating topic for many, including committed animal observers, Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. These best-selling writers believe these and all creatures, wild or domesticated, deserve respect. Their new collaborative book of essays, Tamed and Untamed, dives into the curious mental and emotional space among creatures and humans, as they explained to host Steve Curwood, when he visited Sy Montgomery’s New Hampshire farmhouse.
December 20, 2024: Aine Minogue Celebrates Hope In Celtic Holiday Traditions
Irish harpist Aine Minogue launches the Living on Earth holiday special, with stories of mid-winter traditions. Aine and host Steve Curwood discuss the importancee of visiting friends, decorating with evergreens, and summoning longer days, and she plays traditional tunes of the season and sings about a creature from the Land Beneath the Sea.
December 20, 2024: Sparky and Rhonda Rucker Celebrate Hope in the Traditions of Slaves
Slaves in the American South sang and shared stories to keep their sense of hope alive. Husband and wife duo Sparky and Rhonda Rucker share stories of what slaves could expect at the holiday season, and a hog tale of the trickster High John the Conqueror, along with old-time spirituals.
December 20, 2024: Stories of Hope from Noa Baum
Israeli-American storyteller Noa Baum believes that sharing stories keeps hope alive, and she has two examples to demonstrate. First there’s a traditional, Eastern European tale about the importance of stories, and the true recollection of a Pakistani who discovers that his family tree includes people from all over the world and of all faiths.
December 13, 2024: The Wooden Sword / A Story of Peace
Storyteller Noa Baum collects traditional tales from all over the world and creates original stories. Rooted in Afghan-Jewish traditions, “The Wooden Sword” shows us how faith can help us find happiness, even when we are faced with adversity.
December 06, 2024: Giraffes in Trouble
Facing habitat loss, poaching and climate disruption, giraffes have declined more than 40 percent in the last thirty years. The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed listing three giraffe subspecies as endangered and two others as threatened. Danielle Kessler, US Director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Host Jenni Doering talk about the threats to giraffes and how their proposed addition to the Endangered Species List could aid recovery.
November 29, 2024: Event Promo -- Susan Casey on the Deep Sea
Living on Earth and the New England Aquarium will host a live author interview on December 5 online and in person in Boston. In a promo clip from a previous interview on the show, Susan Casey speaks about the mysteries of the deep ocean captured in her book The Underworld.
November 29, 2024: Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer's Guide to the Universe
Astronomer Philip Plait wondered what it would be like to walk on Mars, fall into a black hole, or fly through a nebula, so he wrote a book, Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to reveal the strange colors of a sunset on Mars, what it’s like on a planet orbiting binary stars, the unique challenges of landing on an asteroid, and more.
November 22, 2024: Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
November 01, 2024: Of Time and Turtles with Sy Montgomery
Author and animal whisperer Sy Montgomery’s latest book, Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell features miraculous stories of recovery at a hospital for gravely injured turtles. Sy joined Host Steve Curwood in the NHPR studios to share these stories and discuss how these long-lived, ancient beings help illuminate the nature of time itself.
November 01, 2024: Sy Montgomery on the Brains Behind the Cluck
Author and naturalist Sy Montgomery has trekked across the world to write about pink dolphins in the Amazon and tigers in Asia. But for her latest book, What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird, she stayed right in her own New Hampshire backyard. Sy sat down with Host Steve Curwood to talk about the social intelligence of chickens, how to handle a feisty rooster and much more.
November 01, 2024: The Hawk’s Way
Falconry, also known as the practice of hunting with birds, can be traced back perhaps as far as the Ice Age. Many modern aficionados, like author Sy Montgomery, consider the sport to be more about the interaction with these hawks, falcons, and owls, rather than about the hunting itself. Her book The Hawk’s Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty shares her exploration of the art of falconry. Sy joined Host Steve Curwood for a Living on Earth Book Club Event to discuss the wondrous world of these birds of prey.
October 18, 2024: BirdNote®: A Bird in the Hand
Pennsylvania is known for its unusual town names, which include Burnt Cabins, Intercourse, Pillow, Chinchilla, Hazard and Panic. In today’s BirdNote®, Michael Stein shares how one small community came to be called “Bird-in-Hand”, Pennsylvania.
October 18, 2024: Eagle!
Rise early in the morning and head out to a nearby national wildlife refuge, and you’ve got a good shot of being rewarded with the sights and sounds of all kinds of birds. And on this birdwatching trip, you might be watched back, Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender reports.
October 11, 2024: Conversations with Dogs
New research into word comprehension in dogs suggests that with training and special equipment, man’s best friend can in fact understand specific words and reply. Senior author Federico Rossano is a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego and joins Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood to explain why motivation appears to be one of the most important factors driving this ability for dogs to converse in human speech.
October 11, 2024: Hiking on Wheels
Physical disabilities can make getting outside more challenging, but adaptive devices and accessible trails can transform lives. Producer El Wilson, who has cerebral palsy, and producer Jenni Doering test an offroad wheelchair and meet a woman who has been able to reclaim the joy and freedom of hiking since becoming disabled.
October 04, 2024: Birdnote®: Here Come the Merlins
The Merlin is one of the world’s smallest falcons yet it’s something of a trailblazer. Rising global temperatures are forcing many species to head north, but as BirdNote®’s Mary McCann reports, these adaptive predators have begun to move south to occupy the abandoned homes of other avian migrants.
October 04, 2024: Jill Stein for the Greens
Physician Jill Stein, the 2024 Green Party nominee for US President, urges a much quicker phaseout of fossil fuels than either of her Republican or Democratic opponents appear willing to consider. Jill Stein joins Host Jenni Doering to lay out her vision for what she calls a “real” Green New Deal and to push back against claims by Democrats that voting for her in a swing state could hand victory to Donald Trump.
September 27, 2024: BirdNote®: The Crows' Night Roost
Crows are social creatures that can gather by the thousands in night roosts. BirdNote®’s Ashley Ahearn reports that these gatherings may provide benefits like warmth, protection from predators, and a chance to find a mate.
September 27, 2024: Risks for Transgender Field Scientists
For students and scientists who are transgender or gender nonconforming, field research can bring unique challenges and risks. Dr. Ezra Kottler, a conservation scientist and founder of the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Field Alliance, joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how institutions can help ensure field research settings are safer and more inclusive of trans people.
September 27, 2024: Three Mile Island to Power AI
To meet the energy needs of artificial intelligence Microsoft has inked a major power purchase deal with the owners of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. A nuclear power reactor there underwent a partial meltdown in 1979. Its unaffected twin reactor operated until 2019 and would provide a carbon-free source of power. Evan Halper reports on the energy transition at the Washington Post and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the hurdles of getting the shuttered nuclear power plant back online.
September 27, 2024: World's Smallest Vertebrate: Note on Emerging Science
The Brazilian flea toad is only about a quarter of an inch long, making it the smallest vertebrate known to Western science. Its feet are so small that they have just two toes as opposed to the usual five on larger frogs and toads, Living on Earth’s Don Lyman reports in this note on emerging science.
September 13, 2024: Debate Sidesteps Climate Crisis
Climate change got just one token question at the first and perhaps only debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Marianne Lavelle of Inside Climate News joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Aynsley O’Neill to offer other climate questions that should be asked about the Inflation Reduction Act, holding oil companies accountable and more.
September 06, 2024: Poems for a "New Nature" with Ada Limón
Poetry can be up to the seemingly impossible task of capturing ecological loss, wild joy, and empathy for other species on this embattled planet. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón joins Host Jenni Doering to share poems from her new anthology, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World and discuss why she believes we need a new kind of nature poetry for the new nature amid the climate crisis.
September 06, 2024: Tim Walz's Climate Record
Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, has signed climate legislation as Minnesota Governor and supported regenerative agriculture bills as a Congressman. Inside Climate News reporter Kristoffer Tigue joins Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering to discuss the praise Walz has received for his climate work as well as some criticism over his history of supporting the ethanol industry and oil pipelines.
August 30, 2024: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands in Alberta; Canada ranks as one of the world’s most destructive crude oil operations. People laboring in the Athabasca oil sands often live in austere work camps, with long 12-hour shifts and female workers imperiled by sexual harassment and violence. Kate Beaton captured that painful reality in her 2022 graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to talk about her experience.
August 23, 2024: Kamala Harris on Climate and the Environment
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris she has a long environmental history from her time as a former California attorney general who took on oil companies, her work on the Inflation Reduction Act as Vice President, to her engagement in international climate diplomacy. Marianne Lavelle from Inside Climate News joins hosts O’Neill and Steve Curwood to walk through Kamala Harris’ environmental record and what it could mean for her campaign.
August 23, 2024: Green Voter Energy
A recent poll of 2,600 voters climate concerned young voters in five battleground states conducted by The Environmental Voter Project and Beacon Research found they favored Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Nathaniel Stinnett the founder and executive of the Environmental Voter Project joined hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Steve Curwood to discuss the possible impact of Harris’ favorability amongst young green voters.
August 23, 2024: Young Conservative Climate Voters
Climate change has been a polarizing issue between Republicans and Democrats but there is a growing young conservative movement that's calling for action. American Conservation Coalition Action calls for increasing nuclear power, streamlining energy permitting processes, and prioritizing U.S. energy dominance. Chris Barnard, President of American Conservation Coalition Action, joined hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Steve Curwood to discuss ACC Action’s platform.
August 16, 2024: The Crochet Coral Reef
To raise awareness about the threats facing coral reefs, crafters everywhere are picking up their crochet hooks and contributing to a worldwide “Crochet Coral Reef.” Host Paloma Beltran spoke with Alyssa Velazquez, the curator of the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art about what it’s like to stand inside the exhibit and how it came together.
August 16, 2024: Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation
To kick off Women’s History Month, we take a look at the history of women outdoors in America. From abolitionist Harriet Tubman to novelist Louisa May Alcott, some of the country’s most important women trailblazers shared a connection with the natural world in their girlhood. According to author Tiya Miles in her book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, this time spent in the outdoors prepared these women to become pioneers in their fields. She joins Host Paloma Beltran for more.
August 09, 2024: A Mars Testing Ground
Since 2001 the Mars Society has run around 300 simulated missions at a remote site in the high desert of Utah, to study the effect of extra-vehicular activity or EVA on the human body and mimic field research people might run on Mars one day, such as looking for fossilized life. Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to describe the research station, what a day in the life of a participant looks like and says why he believes we should send humans to Mars.
August 09, 2024: Life on Europa?
Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of the most promising places to look for extraterrestrial life. Europa has a large liquid ocean beneath its icy crust, so NASA plans to launch the Clipper space probe later this year to investigate. As part of the mission NASA is sending a poem to space. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads aloud her poem, “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa.”
August 09, 2024: Night
The vastness of space can provoke fear but the perspective it brings can also bring inspiration and even comfort. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender recounts the impact on his consciousness of a star-studded sky, planets in full view, and shooting stars.
August 09, 2024: Orbital: An Earth-Centric Novel Set in Space
The handful of astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station float in a strange paradox, with the Earth constantly in view, but always out of reach. The 2023 novel called Orbital explores the splendor of planet Earth as seen from orbit through a day in the life of six astronauts up on the ISS, and author Samantha Harvey joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss her book.
August 02, 2024: Farewell to Peter Dykstra
Living on Earth host Steve Curwood announces the death of our beloved correspondent Peter Dykstra. We are preparing a tribute, and invite listeners to write in with your own fond memories.
August 02, 2024: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean
The oceans cover 70 percent of our “blue planet” yet remain largely unexplored because of the intense pressures at depth. But there are some intrepid few who have descended into this “underworld” and lived to tell of its marvels.
August 02, 2024: Ross Gay's Book of (More) Delights
Poet and essayist Ross Gay is back with a follow up to his 2019 Book of Delights, loaded with moments of good that sprout amid our troubles. He joins Host Steve Curwood to share readings from his new Book of (More) Delights celebrating simple joys such as clothes on a clothesline, garlic sprouting, and dandelion abundance.
August 02, 2024: The Book of Delights
For a year, poet Ross Gay took a moment almost every day to write about something that delighted him. He has compiled the essays into his most recent volume, The Book of Delights. Ross Gay joins Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the power of finding delight in unexpected ways.
August 02, 2024: Why Fish Don’t Exist
Fish scientist David Starr Jordan discovered thousands of new fish species around 1900, and kept going even as he faced repeated disasters that threatened to obliterate his life’s work. His stubborn optimism is the springboard for science journalist Lulu Miller’s new book, “Why Fish Don’t Exist”, and the search for order in a cold, chaotic world. Lulu Miller and Host Steve Curwood discuss what her journey into science and the past uncovered about the astonishing life of David Starr Jordan.
July 26, 2024: Kamala on Earth
Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered more than enough delegates for the Democratic nomination for President. Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering review her record on the environment, which has included prosecuting cases against polluting oil companies, supporting a Green New Deal, and representing the US at UN climate meetings.
July 26, 2024: Listener Comments
Letters are read from Living on Earth listeners concerned about an interview with Conservative Climate Caucus and Republican US Congress member Cliff Bentz of Oregon, with comments from Host Steve Curwood about First Amendment rights of free speech and free press, and the dangers of censorship.
July 26, 2024: The Light Eaters
A scientist who rappels down cliffs to hand-pollinate endangered plants. A vine that mimics the leaves of nearby species. Rice that crowds out strangers but leaves room for the roots of relatives. All of these are subjects of the book The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger, who tackles big questions of plant intelligence, consciousness, and communication. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about what we might discover when we look closely at the green life around us.
July 26, 2024: The Transformation of J. D. Vance
J. D.VANCE : Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator J. D. Vance, once held moderate Republican stances on climate and clean energy. But he now echoes Trump on the “Green New Scam” and unleashing domestic fossil fuels. Ohio-based Inside Climate News Reporter Dan Gearino joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to contrast the J. D. Vance of a few years ago with that of today.
July 26, 2024: Water! Falls!
Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender muses on what waterfalls and volcanoes have in common, in transforming their elements of water and rock into something new.
July 19, 2024: Climate Voter Power
Climate may not always top the list of voter concerns, but research suggests it can tip the scales in US presidential elections, including the 2020 election which came down to 44,000 votes. So the Environmental Voter Project is trying to mobilize nearly 5 million registered voters who rate environment or climate as a top concern but might not otherwise turn out this November. Nathaniel Stinnett is its founder and director and joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to explain why this latent voting bloc is worth tapping into.
July 19, 2024: GOP Rep. Bentz on Climate
Republican Cliff Bentz represents Oregon’s second district in Congress, where he chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and is part of the Conservative Climate Caucus. He sat down with Host Steve Curwood to share his views on conservative approaches to climate adaptation, carbon capture and storage, wildfire prevention, public lands stewardship and more.
July 12, 2024: From the History Books
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to celebrate the July 12, 1817, birth of nature writer Henry David Thoreau. They also mark the July 1850 invention of icemaking using compressed air.
July 05, 2024: From the History Books
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill celebrate the birthday of Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome and other engineering marvels aimed at improving energy efficiency. They also look back to President Nixon’s proposal to create two new federal agencies consolidating US work on environmental regulation as well as on oceans, atmosphere, and weather, giving rise to the EPA and NOAA.
July 05, 2024: SCOTUS Restricts Rulemaking
In a 6-3 decision the US Supreme Court struck down the longstanding Chevron deference doctrine, which allowed federal agencies to make rules relying on unclear statutes, provided their interpretation was reasonable. Law professor and former EPA Regional Counsel Pat Parenteau joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to parse the potentially disastrous consequences of this decision for environmental and other public protection regulations and what agencies and lawyers will need to do to have a fighting chance in court.
June 28, 2024: Listening on Earth: African Penguin Calls and Chicks
In this short segment we hear why African penguins are sometimes nicknamed “jackass” penguins. Also, four chicks that recently hatched at the New England Aquarium are giving some hope to this threatened species.
June 28, 2024: Presidential Debate and the Climate
At the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump gave vastly different responses to the single question on climate change. Inside Climate News Reporter Phil McKenna joins Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering to discuss the highlights, what was left out of the debate, and what the two presidents have done on climate and environment in their times in office.
June 21, 2024: Black Courage Upon the Sea: Robert Smalls' Heroic Escape From Slavery
One night in May of 1862, an intrepid Black man named Robert Smalls commandeered a Confederate ship called The Planter in Charleston, South Carolina and liberated himself and his family from enslavement. His great-great grandson Michael B. Moore and retired four-star Admiral Cecil Haney join Host Steve Curwood to share and reflect on the harrowing story of his escape and life of public service after gaining his freedom.
June 21, 2024: Robert Smalls' Legacy and Liberating Nature
Host Steve Curwood and guests Michael B. Moore and Admiral Cecil Haney continue their conversation about Robert Smalls and are joined by Joel Christian Gill, a cartoonist and historian who authored a graphic biography about Smalls. They discuss Robert Smalls’ legacy, the current enslavement of nature, and how his courage relates to the courageous action and leadership that is now urgently needed to deal with the climate emergency.
June 14, 2024: Queer Brown Vegan
Isaias Hernandez is an environmental activist and social media creative who uses the handle @QueerBrownVegan on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. His topics include environmental racism, mushroom foraging, and queer ecology. He joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran during Pride Month to talk about intersectionality, “rainbow-washing”, and more.
June 07, 2024: From the History Books
This week, Host Steve Curwood and Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra mark 100 years since the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act. Though a step towards equality Native Americans had to wait until 1957 to secure nationwide voting rights. Also, it’s 60 years since the commissioning of the pioneering submersible ALVIN, which went on to discover the unique ecosystems around hot deep-sea vents.
May 31, 2024: BIRDNOTE®: Encounter the Cassowary
BirdNote's Mary McCann describes an interaction with a Southern Cassowary, a huge, flightless, and almost-prehistoric looking bird. Found in the forests of Northern Australia, it has the lowest-pitched birdcall in the world.
May 31, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill look back to the 1990 outbreak of 65 tornadoes that tore through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan. They also note an anniversary for the listing of leatherback turtles as an endangered species.
May 17, 2024: Animal Self-Medication
A paper published in the journal Scientific Reports describes the case study of an orangutan who treated and healed his own wound. Zoologists have long seen behaviors of self-medicating in the animal kingdom, but until now it has rarely if ever been documented in scientific literature. Michael Huffman, an ecologist who reviewed the paper joined Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran to discuss how some animals are known heal themselves.
May 17, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill for a trip back in time to the creation of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, as well to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s signing of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.
May 17, 2024: Nature and the Beat
From the chirp of a Katydid to the screech of a parrot, the sounds of nature are all around us and now can be used to help humans make music. Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports on Beast Box, a website that allows users to create their own unique songs using catchy beats and animal calls as the instruments.
May 10, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill for a trip back in time to a massive dust storm that covered the United States’ eastern seaboard in the 1930s, as well as the start of the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador.
May 10, 2024: New Power Plant Rules
To replace the Clean Power plan the Obama Administration failed to get past the courts the EPA published new rules for existing coal plants and new gas power plants that tighten standards for mercury emissions, wastewater, and coal ash and also curb coal plant CO2 emissions over time. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran discusses with the rule with David Doniger, a former White House and EPA clean air official and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Fund.
May 10, 2024: Wake! Up!: Paper Wasp
Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender aids a paper wasp trying to get outdoors.
April 26, 2024: The "Green Flash
On rare occasions a green “flash” can appear on the horizon at sunrise or sunset. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender has been lucky enough to catch it more than once.
April 26, 2024: Uncle Sam Wants YOU for Climate Corps
On Earth Day President Biden announced the official launch of his new climate-focused jobs program, the American Climate Corps. Maggie Thomas is Special Assistant to the President on Climate and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the thousands of jobs the Corps offers in community outreach, biological surveys, invasive species removal and more.
April 19, 2024: A Living Earth Called “Gaia”
Next, Host Steve Curwood and the Living on Earth team explore Earth as a complex and self-sustaining organism called Gaia. Over billions of years life has interacted with the air, water and rocks of this planet to keep life in the sweet spots for temperature and resource supplies. With the help of scientists, deep ecologists, children, an astronaut and more, we explore our place on this living planet.
April 12, 2024: From the History Books
This week Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood look back to a couple of big milestones in protecting species from human impacts, starting with when Starkist announced a shift to dolphin-safe tuna after an intrepid activist sparked a boycott. They also look back to the day the last wild California condor was captured as part of an intense captive breeding program that has helped the huge birds bounce back to around 400 today.
April 05, 2024: From the History Books
In their look back in history Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood celebrate the birthday of Everglades protector Marjory Stoneman Douglas. They also mark the debut of prepared frozen meals marketed as TV dinners.
April 05, 2024: Migrations: A Powerful Novel About A World Losing Life
In the 2020 novel Migrations set in the future, polar bears are extinct. So are chimpanzees and wolves and big cats. For the novel’s protagonist, this mass extinction is personal. So, she does the first thing that comes to mind: she makes her way onto a fishing boat to follow what might be the very last migration of the Arctic Tern from pole to pole. Host Steve Curwood speaks with author Charlotte McConaghy about her masterful debut work of environmental fiction.
April 05, 2024: The Little Gods of the Forest
Poet Major Jackson joins Host Jenni Doering to read his poem, “The Body’s Uncontested Need to Devour, An Explanation” and reflect about forest bathing and immersing ourselves in nature as a vital life-giving experience.
March 29, 2024: BIRDNOTE®: The Birds of Yoga
Bird-inspired yoga poses, from eagle to crow to peacock pose, have deep roots in Hindu mythology and philosophy. BirdNote®’s Trisha Mukherjee explains.
March 29, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra shares a couple of notable items from this week in history with Host Aynsley O’Neill, including the 1971 startup of the first nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daiichi and the 1970 release of environmental classic “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell.
March 22, 2024: Orbital: An Earth-Centric Novel Set in Space
The handful of astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station float in a strange paradox, with the Earth constantly in view, but always out of reach. The 2023 novel called Orbital explores the splendor of planet Earth as seen from orbit through a day in the life of six astronauts up on the ISS, and author Samantha Harvey joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss her book.
March 15, 2024: A Mars Testing Ground
Since 2001 the Mars Society has run over 270 simulated missions at a remote site in the high desert of Utah, to study the effect of extra-vehicular activity or EVA on the human body and mimic field research people might run on Mars one day, such as looking for fossilized life. Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to describe the research station, what a day in the life of a participant looks like and says why he believes we should send humans to Mars.
March 15, 2024: Life on Europa?
Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of the most promising places to look for extraterrestrial life. Europa has a large liquid ocean beneath its icy crust, so NASA plans to launch the Clipper space probe later this year to investigate. As part of the mission NASA is sending a poem to space. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón reads aloud her poem, “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa.”
March 15, 2024: Night
The vastness of space can provoke fear but the perspective it brings can also bring inspiration and even comfort. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender recounts the impact on his consciousness of a star-studded sky, planets in full view, and shooting stars.
March 15, 2024: Solar Eclipse Magic
On April 8th millions across North America will have the opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse, when the moon briefly blocks out the sun. Cosmologist Roberto Trotta is the author of “Starborn: How the Stars Made Us (And Who We Would Be Without Them)" and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how our ancestors reacted to this strange, otherworldly phenomenon and how you too can safely witness it.
March 08, 2024: Ross Gay's Book of (More) Delights
Poet and essayist Ross Gay is back with a follow up to his 2019 Book of Delights, loaded with moments of good that sprout amid our troubles. He joins Host Steve Curwood to share readings from his new Book of (More) Delights celebrating simple joys such as clothes on a clothesline, garlic sprouting, and dandelion abundance.
March 08, 2024: The Book of Delights
For a year, poet Ross Gay took a moment almost every day to write about something that delighted him. He has compiled the essays into his most recent volume, The Book of Delights. Ross Gay joins Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the power of finding delight in unexpected ways.
March 01, 2024: Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation
To kick off Women’s History Month, we take a look at the history of women outdoors in America. From abolitionist Harriet Tubman to novelist Louisa May Alcott, some of the country’s most important women trailblazers shared a connection with the natural world in their girlhood. According to author Tiya Miles in her book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, this time spent in the outdoors prepared these women to become pioneers in their fields. She joins Host Paloma Beltran for more.
February 23, 2024: One Step Further: The Story of Katherine Johnson
The 2021 children’s book One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Lifelong Mission tells the story of Katherine Johnson, an African American woman who while living under Jim Crow in the south worked at NASA as a mathematician and helped put a man on the moon. Host Steve Curwood spoke with one of Katherine’s three daughters, Katherine Moore, who co-authored One Step Further to help share her mother's story.
February 16, 2024: Mann Bites Lapdogs (Beyond The Headlines)
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood catch up on climate scientist Michael Mann’s $1 million legal victory over bloggers who were found to have defamed him. Also, Puerto Rico is encouraging more solar development to help with grid reliability and reduce emissions, and in history they look back to when an ice jam left Niagara Falls high and dry.
February 16, 2024: Remembering Bob Edwards and Ross Gelbspan
Host Steve Curwood shares some recordings and memories of the late Bob Edwards and Ross Gelbspan, two giants of journalism who helped support Living on Earth from its earliest days getting on the air.
February 16, 2024: The Crochet Coral Reef
To raise awareness about the threats facing coral reefs, crafters everywhere are picking up their crochet hooks and contributing to a worldwide “Crochet Coral Reef.” Host Paloma Beltran spoke with Alyssa Velazquez, the curator of the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art about what it’s like to stand inside the exhibit and how it came together.
February 09, 2024: Ice Skating on the Rideau Canal
The warmer winters of climate disruption is bringing shorter and shorter skating seasons on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We head into the Living on Earth archives for a taste of days gone by, when reporter Bob Carty hit the ice to meet locals enjoying the serenity of a skate along the canal.
February 09, 2024: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean
The oceans cover 70 percent of our “blue planet” yet remain largely unexplored because of the intense pressures at depth. But there are some intrepid few who have descended into this “underworld” and lived to tell of its marvels, and journalist Susan Casey profiles them in her latest book. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean.
February 02, 2024: Journey to a Melting Glacier in Antarctica
Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica holds enough ice that its melting could raise sea levels worldwide by 2 feet, but it’s so remote that until recently no one had ever approached where it meets the sea. Elizabeth Rush was a writer-in-residence on board the first research icebreaker to visit Thwaites and she chronicles the journey in her new book The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth. She joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to share the experience of witnessing the glacier’s unraveling and the crucial data the scientists on board unearthed.
February 02, 2024: Rising: Dispatches From The New American Shore
As ocean levels rise, coastal communities contend with higher floods, stronger hurricanes, and saltwater intrusion. Some are even being forced to retreat to higher ground. From Louisiana to Staten Island to Pensacola, writer Elizabeth Rush set out to document the stories of people caught in these rising tides. Rush speaks with Host Steve Curwood about her new book, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.
January 26, 2024: Climate Deception
When scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet, they touched a nerve in the powerful fossil fuel industry. In this second installment of our series on climate change disinformation, historian of science Naomi Oreskes and Host Steve Curwood dive into how the fossil fuel industry infiltrated the political sphere and scientific community to block climate action.
January 26, 2024: Fossil Fuel Deception
The fossil fuel industry has known its products would cause dangerous warming for decades but chose to deceive the public to stall climate progress around the globe, says Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard. She joined Host Steve Curwood to describe the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long disinformation campaign and what can be done to turn the climate conversation back towards the truth.
January 26, 2024: Remembering An Afternoon WIth Pete Seeger
Iconic musician and activist Pete Seeger has died at the age of 94. Living on Earth spent an afternoon with the folk music legend in 1998. Seeger told host Steve Curwood that Rachel Carson's book “Silent Spring” inspired him to environmental activism. One of Seeger’s goals was to clean up New York’s Hudson River and he helped get the sloop “Clearwater” built to spread the message about pollution. Steve Curwood met Pete Seeger at the Sloop Club on the banks of the Hudson in Beacon, New York and has this profile.
January 26, 2024: SCOTUS Could Strip Agency Power
Two cases in front of the Supreme Court are looking to restrict federal agency power by overturning the longstanding Chevron Doctrine. Pat Parenteau, emeritus Professor at Vermont Law School, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how this could limit the ability of federal agencies to set strong environment and climate regulations.
January 12, 2024: Nikki Haley on Climate
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sends mixed signals on climate change, acknowledging that it’s real and human-caused while also touting her role in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna caught up with the Haley campaign in New Hampshire and joins Hosts Paloma Beltran and Jenni Doering to examine Nikki Haley’s climate record and rhetoric as well as share feedback from voters.
January 05, 2024: Environmental Figures We Lost in 2023
Household names like Jimmy Buffett, Harry Belafonte, and Senator Dianne Feinstein were among the environmental figures who passed away in 2023. Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill remember these and some other less recognized people who made contributions to environmental causes.
January 05, 2024: Our Fragile Moment
2023 is likely to go down in history as the hottest year ever seen by humans. But we still have a chance to rein in global warming before it runs too hot for our civilization, says UPenn Professor Michael Mann. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss his recent book Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis.

2023

December 29, 2023: Care for the Common Critter
As a wildlife rehabilitator, Julie Zickefoose has had some remarkable encounters with animals. She joins Bobby Bascomb to share some of her own stories and animal insights as well as tales of uncommon encounters others have had while helping common woodchucks and rabbits in need.
December 29, 2023: ‘It Could Be the Last One’: Stories of People Helping Rare Critters
As an endangered species advocate, Tierra Curry gets calls and emails from strangers across the country who think they might have found the very last plant or animal of a particular rare species. She shares some of the most humorous and heartwarming stories with Jenni Doering, as well as a story about her own breathtaking encounter with a wolf in an Alaskan snowstorm.
December 29, 2023: Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Blue Jay
Raising an injured baby blue jay named Jemima turned out to be one of the most challenging, and rewarding, experiences of wildlife rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose’s life. In her book Saving Jemima, which she also illustrated, Zickefoose gives a peek inside the mind of her young charge learning how to be a blue jay and shares the balance of emotions involved in raising a wild bird for release. Julie Zickefoose joins Host Bobby Bascomb to tell her story as part of the Living on Earth Good Reads on Earth series.
December 29, 2023: Wildly Magical: Animal Encounters in the Galapagos
Writer Jennifer Junghans had always dreamed of going to the Galapagos to swim with the marine iguanas. In 2017 she finally had her chance, and although the iguanas stayed high and dry, the experience brought her up close with blue-footed boobies and blacktip sharks, and face-to-face with a curious pufferfish. Jennifer shares her story of visiting “the remote wilderness of her dreams” with Aynsley O’Neill, who spent a memorable summer studying in the Galapagos.
December 22, 2023: Native American Tales
Wampanoag storyteller Medicine Story spins a tale about the shortest days of the year, and how the Wampanoag people persuaded Grandfather Sun to return. And Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross shares seasonal tales of the importance of the warmth and the promise of spring handed down in her family.
December 22, 2023: Stories of the Night Sky and an English Wassail
Writer, storyteller, and musician Joseph Bruchac offers Iroquois myths, first about the twinkling stars of the Pleiades in the winter sky and then about why life on earth continues through the long, dark nights of mid-winter. Then storyteller Diane Edgecomb shares an English tale in which barnyard animals get the last word. She closes with a Cherokee myth about the trees that stay green all winter long, the evergreens.
December 22, 2023: The Power Of Stories
Living on Earth’s winter holiday tradition featuring legends and seasonal stories continues. Storyteller Lee Ellen Marvin joins Host Steve Curwood to share stories about children and wolves, as well as some tips on becoming a good storyteller.
December 15, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill bringing news of a step towards phasing out natural gas in Massachusetts, and a lost-then-found tomato in space. In history, they mark an anniversary for the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act that’s helped conserve seals, whales, and more.
December 15, 2023: How To Be A Good Creature
From tarantulas in French guinea to reclusive, aquarium-dwelling octopuses to the dogs and chickens in her own backyard, Sy Montgomery has connected with creatures all over the globe. They are her friends, her family, and especially her teachers. In her latest book, How To Be A Good Creature, she looks back on the valuable life lessons she’s learned from her friendships with feathered, furred and tentacled animals. Sy Montgomery joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss her treasured memories of these creatures.
December 15, 2023: Of Time and Turtles with Sy Montgomery
Author and animal whisperer Sy Montgomery’s latest book, Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell features miraculous stories of recovery at a hospital for gravely injured turtles. Sy joined Host Steve Curwood in the NHPR studios to share these stories and discuss how these long-lived, ancient beings help illuminate the nature of time itself.
December 15, 2023: The Good Good Pig
Living on Earth’s commentator, Sy Montgomery’s famous pig, Christopher Hogwood, has passed on. But he left his owner with enough fond memories to write a book. And that’s just what she did. Sy Montgomery joins us to talk about her most recent book, The Good Good Pig.
December 15, 2023: The Hawk’s Way
Falconry, also known as the practice of hunting with birds, can be traced back perhaps as far as the Ice Age. Many modern aficionados, like author Sy Montgomery, consider the sport to be more about the interaction with these hawks, falcons, and owls, rather than about the hunting itself. Her book The Hawk’s Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty shares her exploration of the art of falconry. Sy joined Host Steve Curwood for a Living on Earth Book Club Event to discuss the wondrous world of these birds of prey.
December 08, 2023: A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World
1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming is already bringing dangerous climate impacts, and even if the world’s nations come together to keep temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees, we face a troubling and uncertain future. Writer David Gessner tries to grapple with this in his 2023 book, A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water, and he joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss a complicated relationship with hope amid a warming world.
December 08, 2023: Australia's Climate Visas for Tuvalu
The tiny island nation of Tuvalu faces inundation from rising seas, and a new treaty would allow a limited number of its citizens to study, work or live in Australia under a climate-related visa program. Abul Rizvi is the former Deputy Secretary of the Dept. of Immigration in Australia, and he joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the geopolitical implications of the deal.
December 08, 2023: Poetic Plea for The Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands’ thousands of residents are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner describes life on the island and the threat from rising seas and performs her poem “Tell Them.”
December 01, 2023: Bacon Bear
Smell is an ancient and powerful sense, and for Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender, it evokes potent memories and an encounter with a hungry polar bear.
November 24, 2023: Debunking Solar Energy Fears
As solar energy costs fall and installations of solar panels rise, some are raising concerns about the materials they’re made from and are promoting disinformation about the safety of recycling these modules. A team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory clarified this waste from solar panels and recently published an essay in the journal Nature Physics. Lead author Dr. Heather Mirletz joins Host Jenni Doering to put solar panel waste in perspective.
November 17, 2023: A Native Perspective of the First Thanksgiving
The story of the “first Thanksgiving” that persists in American culture often stereotypes Native peoples and sanitizes what happened to them as white settlers dispossessed them of their lands. A picture book written and illustrated by Indigenous authors offers a new story of the “first Thanksgiving” that centers the Three Sisters crops. Author Tony Perry joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the inspiration for Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun’s Thanksgiving Story and share ideas for creating a more inclusive holiday.
November 17, 2023: Thanksgiving Feast Favorites
To kick off this Living on Earth Thanksgiving special, members of our crew share a few laughs and our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, from pumpkin soup to chouriço stuffing to desserts made with leftover pie crust.
November 17, 2023: Three Sisters Stew for a Plant-Based Feast
The Three Sisters are a trio of staple crops that have played a fundamental role in numerous Native American tribes throughout history. The corn, beans, and squash all grow together in a symbiotic planting relationship. Chef Steven Looney talks with Host Steve Curwood about the history and significance of these crops and suggests some recipes from his Chickasaw heritage.
November 10, 2023: A New Dinosaur
A dinosaur fossil discovered in Egypt in the 70s gathered dust in museums for decades and now it finally has a name as a new species, Igai semkhu. Paleontologist Dr. Eric Gorscak spoke with Host Aynsley O’Neill about why fossils from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs about 75 million years ago are relatively rare in Africa and what this “titanosaur” specimen can reveal about the distant past.
November 10, 2023: Greenwashing an Oil CEO
The man leading the upcoming COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai heads the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company. Sultan Al Jaber is the climate envoy for the UAE and has led the state renewable energy company, but some critics question the substance of his green credentials. Journalist Ben Stockton of the Centre for Climate Reporting wrote about this for The Intercept and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the long-term public relations campaign to green Al Jaber’s image and install an oil CEO at the heart of the UN climate process.
November 10, 2023: Sea Level Risk From Antarctica
Antarctica’s ice shelves block glaciers from flowing into the sea but a recent study found that these ice shelves lost 8.3 trillion tons of ice in the last 25 years and are at risk releasing more glacier ice into the ocean. Richard Alley is a professor of Geosciences at Penn State University and joined Host Steve Curwood to shed light on what all this could mean for sea level rise and future ice loss in Antarctica.
October 27, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to divulge how decommissioned offshore oil rigs can become homes for sea life in what are dubbed “rigs to reefs.” Also, churches are putting solar panels on their roofs to engage in “creation care.” And in history they look back to the opening of the first New York City subway line, all the way back in 1904.
October 27, 2023: Greening Maine's Grid?
On November 7th voters in the state of Maine will be able to choose if they want to replace the state’s two existing for-profit electric utilities with a non-profit utility largely governed by an elected board. Freelance reporter Annie Ropeik discusses with Host Steve Curwood how the new utility could help the state decarbonize its electricity sector.
October 20, 2023: The Impala Imperative
Prey species have evolved many ways to confuse their predators, from a zebra’s stripes to an impala’s back side. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender explains.
October 13, 2023: New Climate Writings from Pope Francis
Pope Francis is back with an even bolder update to Laudato Si’, his climate change encyclical. Christiana Zenner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Fordham University and joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how “Laudate Deum” takes on climate denial and urges the world to act swiftly to avert climate disaster.
October 13, 2023: Pope Calls for Harmony With Nature To Save Humanity
Pope Francis's highly-anticipated Encyclical, “Laudato Si,” subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,”included a call for action on global warming, but the 184-page document offers much more than policy recommendations. It's a poetic, emotional call for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University, Christiana Peppard, discusses with host Steve Curwood the Pope's message to people to be moral stewards of the planet and rectify ecological and social injustices plaguing the world today.
September 29, 2023: Listening on Earth: Eno River in North Carolina
The Eno River gives life to great blue herons, Eastern box turtles, and yellow trout lilies as it flows through Durham, North Carolina. Living on Earth’s Fern Alling recorded this audio in Eno River State Park.
September 22, 2023: Tips for a Thriving Indoor Herb Garden
No matter how cold your winters get, with a bit of counterspace and some windows you can easily grow fresh herbs all year-round inside. Living on Earth’s gardening guru, Michael Weishan joins Host Jenni Doering to share some tips on how to keep up your green thumb indoors.
September 22, 2023: Wolf Song on the Rebound
For years, wolves were missing from Yellowstone National Park, leaving an eerie silence in the air. But now that the wolf population is recovering, the Park’s acoustic landscape is reviving. Reporter-in-Residence Jennifer Jerrett’s audio postcard brings us a harmonious chorus of howling wolves.
September 22, 2023: Wolves Bouncing Back
Hunted and trapped for centuries, wolves had all but disappeared from the contiguous US by 1960, but thanks to Endangered Species Act protections they’re bouncing back. A new pack with four pups was recently discovered further south in California in places where wolves hadn’t been seen for a century. Amaroq Weiss of the Center for Biological Diversity joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the vital role of this top predator in keeping ecosystems healthy.
September 15, 2023: Enduring Against Seemingly Impossible Odds
In remembrance of Roz Zander we present a story to highlight her work on possibility.In 1914, British explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set sail for Antarctica. Disaster struck when their ship the “Endurance” became trapped in pack ice and later broke up, yet the entire crew persevered. Rosamund Zander, the author of Pathways to Possibility: Transforming Our Relationship to Ourselves, Each Other, and the World, recently passed away and joined Host Steve Curwood in 2020 to talk about how we can harness the power of optimism to carry us through difficult times.
September 15, 2023: Protecting Mediterranean Sea Life
Overfishing, warming oceans, invasive species, and unsustainable tourism threaten the rich marine life in the Mediterranean. So Turkish civil engineer and diver Zafer Kizilkaya got together with local fishermen to pilot a community-run Marine Protected Area that led to expanded marine conservation in Turkey. Mr. Kizilkaya was awarded the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia for his work, and he joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb.
August 25, 2023: Recycling and Unhoused Californians
The California recycling system depends heavily on the informal labor of unhoused residents who collect recyclables and bring them to recycling centers. But many unhoused people say the state has rarely engaged with them and can even make it more difficult for them to do their work. Reporter Isabella Zavarise digs into the story.
August 25, 2023: The Hawk’s Way
Falconry, also known as the practice of hunting with birds, can be traced back perhaps as far as the Ice Age. Many modern aficionados, like author Sy Montgomery, consider the sport to be more about the interaction with these hawks, falcons, and owls, rather than about the hunting itself. Her book The Hawk’s Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty shares her exploration of the art of falconry. Sy joined Host Steve Curwood for a Living on Earth Book Club Event to discuss the wondrous world of these birds of prey.
August 11, 2023: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Every animal species experiences the world in a way that is totally unique to them. Mantis shrimp, for example, have many more photoreceptors than humans and can filter polarized light, and star-nosed moles can smell under water. At a Living on Earth Book Club event, author Ed Yong joined Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood to share the fascinating sensory abilities he learned about in researching his new book, “An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us”.
August 11, 2023: The Accidental Ecosystem
Many non-human animals call cities home or take advantage of their abundant resources. In his 2022 book The Accidental Ecosystem: People and Wildlife in American Cities, environmental historian Peter Alagona explores how other species have found ways to live among us. He joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how being more intentional about how we design and use our cities in the future can bring benefits for both humans and the wildlife we share these spaces with.
August 11, 2023: The Life of a Dead Whale Fall
When a whale dies, it eventually sinks to the ocean floor. And although that whale’s life is over, that’s when a whole new circle of life kicks off, with thousands of organisms including hagfish, zombie worms, and octopuses feeding off this “whale fall” for 50 or more years. Children’s author Melissa Stewart wrote about this ecosystem in her book, “Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem,” and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss.
August 04, 2023: “Don’t Look Up” and the Absurdity of Climate Inaction
Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s 2021 film, uses humor and the metaphor of an impending, Earth-obliterating comet to satirize the ideological denial of climate change that pervades much of our current public discourse. Michael Mann, at that time Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University, joined Host Steve Curwood to discuss how the film holds up a mirror to the political obstacles to climate action and false promises of future technological fixes.
August 04, 2023: Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature's Secrets to Longevity
In nature, some animals live far longer than humans, and some don’t appear to age at all. One species of jellyfish can continually revert back to a juvenile stage, making it essentially immortal. Author Nicklas Brendborg explores this and more in his book, “Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature’s Secrets to Longevity,” and he joins Host Paloma Beltran to share how humans can live longer.
August 04, 2023: Wishful Thinking: Leopards of the Olare Orok River
Young leopards may look like formidable hunters, but they still have a lot to learn. In the Maasai Mara savannah, on the banks of the Olare Orok River, Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender tracked one young leopard’s learning curve.
July 28, 2023: Slip-Sliding Away
River otters tend to avoid human contact, but Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender shares a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the elusive creatures.
July 21, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the threatened UPS driver strike and how extreme heat is making conditions inside UPS trucks unbearable. They also cover the “greenhushing” some companies are engaging in. And in history, they look back to when a patent was granted for center-pivot agriculture, making the desert bloom with huge green circles of crops.
July 14, 2023: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore covers a 35-mile-long stretch of Lake Michigan’s eastern coastline and features forests, beaches, dunes, and historic lighthouses. Living on Earth intern Sarah Mahaney recently visited the lakeshore and brought back an audio postcard.
June 23, 2023: BirdNote®: The Power Of Albatross Partnerships
Raising a chick is no small feat for Albatrosses and both parents play a vital role. BirdNote®’s Wenfei Tong describes the strong and unique bonds that help albatrosses raise their young.
June 16, 2023: Black Courage Upon the Sea: Robert Smalls' Heroic Escape From Slavery
One night in May of 1862, an intrepid Black man named Robert Smalls commandeered a Confederate ship called The Planter in Charleston, South Carolina and liberated himself and his family from enslavement. His great-great grandson Michael B. Moore and retired four-star Admiral Cecil Haney join Host Steve Curwood to share and reflect on the harrowing story of his escape and life of public service after gaining his freedom.
June 16, 2023: Robert Smalls' Legacy and Liberating Nature
Host Steve Curwood and guests Michael B. Moore and Admiral Cecil Haney continue their conversation about Robert Smalls and are joined by Joel Christian Gill, a cartoonist and historian who authored a graphic biography about Smalls. They discuss Robert Smalls’ legacy, the current enslavement of nature, and how his courage relates to the courageous action and leadership that is now urgently needed to deal with the climate emergency.
May 26, 2023: The Great Displacement
Climate change is already making some places across the country unlivable and seems likely to uproot millions of Americans in the coming decades. Journalist Jake Bittle collected the stories of people across the U.S. who have been driven out by fires, floods, droughts, and extreme heat. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss his new book, “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration.”
May 19, 2023: BirdNote®: Pigeons Love Cities - But We Loved Them First
Pigeons are everywhere in our cities, and even though some may seem them as winged rats, pigeons and people have a long-standing bond. Ashley Ahearn reports in this BirdNote®.
May 12, 2023: Amazing Animal Mothers
This Mother’s Day we’re celebrating the tenacity and tenderness of animal mothers, from crocodiles to leopards to whales. Aletris Neils is the executive director of Conservation CATalyst and joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to share why observing mother orangutans inspired her own journey to becoming a mother.
April 28, 2023: BIRDNOTE®: The World's Most Abundant Bird
The red-billed Quelea is a small finch-like African bird that migrates long distances in massive flocks. BirdNote®’s Michael Stein reports.
April 28, 2023: Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature's Secrets to Longevity
In nature, some animals live far longer than humans, and some don’t appear to age at all. One species of jellyfish can continually revert back to a juvenile stage, making it essentially immortal. Author Nicklas Brendborg explores this and more in his new book, “Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature’s Secrets to Longevity,” and he joins Host Paloma Beltran to share how humans can live longer.
April 21, 2023: Celebrating Earth Day with John Denver
Steve Curwood and Bobby Bascomb kick off this Earth Day special with a look back on the memorable 1990 Earth Day. For the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, John Denver took center stage for a massive rally on the National Mall and called for action to protect our fragile planet.
April 21, 2023: Connecting With Ancient Sharks
Though humans and sharks are separated by 420 million years of evolution, Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender was awestruck by just how similar we are on a recent shark encounter with no cage in the Caribbean.
April 21, 2023: Earth Chats With the Moon
Master storyteller Jay O’Callahan joins Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran to share a poetic story about a conversation between the Earth and its friend and companion, the Moon.
April 21, 2023: Earth Needs a Movement
Host Steve Curwood wraps up this Earth Day special with a reflection on the silence of so many who say they are concerned about the Earth amidst its destruction and the climate emergency.
April 21, 2023: “Earth Prayer”
Nulhegan Abenaki storyteller Joe Bruchac joins Host Steve Curwood to deliver his poem of gratitude, “Earth Prayer,” and play the flute.
April 21, 2023: “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual”
Poet Catherine Pierce joins Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to read her poem, “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual” and her thoughts about the meaning of “celebrating the Earth” by being present to the wonders around us.
April 21, 2023: Lament of the Earth
The orchestral and choral work called “Lament of the Earth” evokes the beauty and wonder of our planet as it speaks directly to the question, ‘where are all the people who care?’ Between excerpts from the 2022 World Premiere of the work, conducting Maestro David Cherwien and Composer Steve Heitzeg join Host Steve Curwood to shed light on its message and inspiration alongside a final reflection from the late lyricist Susan Cherwien.
April 21, 2023: Legends of the Forest
Writer Jennifer Junghans joins Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to share her essay, “Legends of the Forest” about a visit to a grove of giant sequoia trees and the stories they hold in their ancient, towering trunks.
April 21, 2023: The Little Gods of the Forest
Poet Major Jackson joins Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to read his poem, “The Body’s Uncontested Need to Devour, An Explanation” and reflect about forest bathing and immersing ourselves in nature as a vital life-giving experience.
April 07, 2023: The Next Event in the Living on Earth Book Club
In "Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden," poet and scholar Camille T. Dungy recounts the seven-year odyssey to diversify her garden in the predominately white community of Fort Collins, Colorado. The Living on Earth Book Club, Soul Fire Farm, Orion Magazine and UMass Boston School for the Environment proudly present this free, live, virtual conversation between author Camille Dungy and Host Steve Curwood, with a special introduction by Soul Fire Farm co-founder Leah Penniman.
March 31, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Bobby Bascomb to talk about Scotch whiskey going green. Also, armadillos are marching north into the Midwest thanks to climate change. And in history, they look back to likely the only time mafia boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano was held accountable for a killing, with the victim a pheasant.
March 31, 2023: Natl Audubon Keeps Enslaver’s Name
The namesake of the National Audubon Society was an enslaver, racist and white supremacist, so several local chapters are changing their names. But the leadership of the national group has rejected making a change. DC chapter President Tykee James joins Host Steve Curwood to say the decision is an obstacle to a more inclusive birding community.
March 17, 2023: Jane Goodall on Helping People to Help Nature
Jane Goodall is on a mission to protect habitat worldwide by empowering local communities to develop sustainably. She joins Host Steve Curwood for an in-depth conversation about this holistic approach to conservation and how it all started when she was just ten years old and dreamed of studying wild animals in Africa.
March 17, 2023: Saving the Second Lung of the Planet
The Congo Basin in Central Africa is a critical biodiversity hotspot and linchpin in the fight against climate disruption. Conservationist Irene Wabiwa joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the urgent need to turn the United Nations’ recent promises to protect biodiversity into reality in the Congo and around the world.
March 17, 2023: The Next Chapter of the Living on Earth Book Club
In the coming decades millions of Americans will be uprooted by wildfires, floods, and rising seas in the largest migration in our country’s history. And many are already on the move. "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration" by Jake Bittle compassionately tells their stories and uncovers how government and insurance policies are shaping who rebuilds and who retreats. Tune in on March 23rd for the next Living on Earth Book Club event – live with Jake Bittle.
February 24, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Bobby Bascomb this week to discuss the billions of dollars in damage to Ukraine’s environment since the Russian invasion. They also discuss the ongoing bird flu outbreak in which some 60 million chickens and turkeys have been slaughtered on hundreds of commercial farms in the U.S. For a history lesson, they dive into the 1799 Federal Timber Forestry Purchases Act, which was likely the first forest conservation measure in the U.S.
February 24, 2023: Dolphins and People: Fishing Buddies
In the coastal community of Laguna, Brazil, many net-casting artisanal fishers have an unexpected fishing partner in dolphins. Fishers who work with dolphins catch a lot more fish and now scientists have figured out what the dolphins are getting out of it. Mauricio Cantor is an Assistant Professor of biology and behavioral ecology at Oregon State University and the lead author of the study. He joins host Bobby Bascomb.
February 24, 2023: The Power of Black History
The burial of a nine-year-old enslaved girl on a plantation in Louisiana may halt construction of a new petrochemical plant on that land in the state’s “Cancer Alley.” Many descendants of enslaved people in the region already live with health problems from exposure to industry and are looking to their ancestors to stop further expansion. Lenora Gobert, a genealogist for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, joined Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood.
February 17, 2023: BirdNote®: Red-Crowned Cranes Dance on Hokkaido
In Japan cranes are said to be a totem of luck and longevity. BirdNote®’s Michael Stein describes their remarkable dance ritual.
February 10, 2023: Black History: George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was born into slavery but went on to become a famous agronomist and helped poor people in the South improve their lives and soils by planting peanuts and other legumes. This week, he comes back from the past in the form of actor and playwright Paxton Williams. As “George Washington Carver” Williams talks to host Steve Curwood about the future of modern-day agriculture and intersections between racial dynamics and agricultural development.
February 10, 2023: Environment & President Biden's State of the Union
Though it was not the central theme of his 2023 State of the Union speech, President Biden devoted more time to the environment than previous presidents have in this annual ritual. Commentator Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood discuss President Biden's mentions of climate investments across the United States and an initiative to replace lead pipes that drew bipartisan applause. For history they talk about Lyndon B. Johnson, the first US President to mention climate change in a written addendum to a State of the Union speech.
February 03, 2023: Ice Fishing on a Tidal River
Winter can be cold and dark, but the bright light reflected from frozen lakes, ponds, and streams can be cheery and warm. And that's the secret of ice fishing. Mark William Damsel explains the joys of ice fishing on a frozen river in this audio postcard from Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb.
January 20, 2023: Beyond The Headlines
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood this week to discuss a proposal to phase out gas cooking stoves linked to health risks. and They also consider the climate rhetoric of the new Republican Chair of the US House Science, Space and Technology Committee. And in history they look back to President Nixon’s 1970 State of the Union address with its soaring language about protecting the environment.
January 06, 2023: Auld Lang Syne
This week, journalist Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood take some time to reflect on some lives we lost in 2022. From Living on Earth's former producer Lucia Small to the infamous climate change skeptic Pat Michaels, the two discuss the passing of individuals who made their mark on the environmental sector, for better or for worse.

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