The Wisdom of Trails
Any hiker has to wonder about the trails they walk on. Who made them? And why does the trail follow this particular route? Robert Moor has traveled around the world exploring animal and fossil trails,...
View ArticleA Father and Daughter Venture Into the Alaskan Wild
Aidan Campbell was 15 when she butchered a caribou at -35 degrees. Now she's 17 and she's already made three trips deep into the Alaskan wilderness with her dad, James. They describe some of their...
View ArticleTerry Tempest Williams on National Parks
Losing yourself in wilderness can also be a way of finding yourself, and one place you can do that is in our national parks. Renowned nature writer Terry Tempest Williams reflects on her love for these...
View ArticleDesert Mind
Where do you go if you want to see dinosaur footprints, ancient rock art and remote desert wilderness? There's no better place than the Grand Staircase-Escalanate National Monument in southern Utah....
View ArticleLand, Race, Memory
Nature is more than pristine meadows and eroded canyons. There's also a history of how people have shaped and sometimes fought over the land. Lauret Savoy uncovers this shadow history and the racism...
View ArticleFighting Wildland Fires
Mary Pauline Lowry has been obsessed with fire since she was a child. And she's pursued this obsession throughout her life -- by working as a member of a hotshot crew fighting wildland fires and...
View ArticleAdventures With a Bat Biologist
Biologist Merlin Tuttle has devoted his life to saving bats. As the founder of Bat Conservation International, he's gone everywhere to find rare species -- often encountering dangerous caves, crocodile...
View ArticleHelen Macdonald and "Birdle" the Parrot
Helen Macdonald's book "H is for Hawk" turned her goshawk Mabel into one of the most memorable literary characters of recent years. Mabel is no longer with her, but Helen tells Anne Strainchamps about...
View ArticleSearching for the Last Unicorn
Finding the horns of a saola - a large ox-like mammal on the Laos-Vietnam border - was one of the great biological discoveries of the 20th century. But no biologist has actually seen the saola in the...
View ArticleLiving Like A Beast
What's it like to be a badger? British naturalist Charles Foster wanted to know, so he dug a burrow and lived in the darkness, eating worms. Yup, it was kind of disgusting, but he says the experience...
View ArticleBest of 2016: Terry Tempest Williams on the Importance of National Parks
Steve here. 2016 marked the 100th anniversary of America’s beloved National Park system. I could think of no one better to reflect on the importance of national parks than one of my favorite writers,...
View ArticleDo Chimpanzees Have Spiritual Experiences?
African chimps store caches of big rocks to throw at certain trees. And some scientists wonder, are these sacred trees?
View ArticleAlex Honnold’s Most Dangerous Adventure
He may have already conquered El Capitan, but Alex Honnold can dream up far more daring and dangerous adventures.
View ArticleHanging Out On Top of Cliffs Is My Happy Place
Tommy Caldwell’s ascent of Yosemite’s Dawn Wall was the hardest rock climb in history. But it wasn’t his hardest ordeal.
View ArticleThe Audacity of the World's Most Daring Climber
Alex Honnold stunned the world by climbing El Capitan without a rope. So how did he do it? And why take such a chance?
View ArticleRediscovering Henry David Thoreau
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.” Those famous lines from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” have inspired generations of people,...
View ArticleHow Coyotes Won The War We've Waged On Them
Unlike their canine relatives, coyotes have thrived in the U.S. Despite having been hunted just as intensely as wolves, coyotes have survived. Somehow, coyotes just spread, everywhere. Dan Flores told...
View ArticleWhat If Your Best Friend Is A Wolf?
Legendary wolf biologist Rick McIntyre took a moment from his own wolf watching to explain the relationship between humans and wolves.
View ArticleHow Bad Can Climate Change Really Get?
There’s a lot of scientific debate about the future of climate change. But have you ever considered the worst case scenario? David Wallace-Wells gives us one terrifying glimpse into the future.
View ArticleLet’s Get Serious About the Anthropocene
Historian Iain McCalman’s Dangerous Idea? The Anthropocene — the idea that humans have fundamentally changed our global climate. It’s scary, but we’re also seeing people come together in unprecedented...
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