Outside/In

A century ago, coastal dunes threatened to overwhelm the city of Florence, Oregon. The sand swallowed roads, highways, and houses. When “Dune” author Frank Herbert visited the area in 1957, he was stunned by the awesome power of the sand. Eventually, it inspired his fictional desert planet, Arrakis. But now, the dunes that inspired “Dune” are disappearing.  To solve the sand problem, the US Forest...

In the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, dozens of strangers gathered together in the woods for three straight days. Their mission? Teach people of color how to kill, gut, and butcher a deer for the first time. Producer Felix Poon was there as a first-time hunter. He wanted to know: what does it feel like to take an animal's life to sustain your own? Given the opportunity… would he pull the...

Editor's note: This episode was first published in July, 2022.Humans have had an impressive run thus far; we’ve explored most of the planet (the parts that aren’t underwater anyway), landed on the moon, created art and music, and made some pretty entertaining Tik Toks.  But we’ve survived on the planet for just a fraction of the time horseshoe crabs and alligators have. And we’re vastly outnumbere...

Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is massive, bigger than the state of Florida. If it collapses, it could reshape every coast on this planet during this century. That’s why it’s sometimes known as “the Doomsday Glacier.” And yet, until recently, we knew very little about it. Because Thwaites is extremely remote, reachable only by crossing the wildest ocean on the planet, scientists had never observed...

A lot of discussion about sustainability revolves around the trash and waste we leave behind.  But at some point, every human being will die and leave behind a body.  So what should we do with it? Casket? Cremation? Compost? And does our choice actually have a meaningful impact on the soils and skies around us? Today, we’ve got another edition of our segment, “This, That, or the Other Thing”, wher...

Once in a blue moon the Outside/In team opens up the mailbag and answers your questions about the natural world. This time, they all share a preoccupation with a particular hue: blue.  Come along as we learn about the differences between European and Aztec conceptions of the color blue, how construction workers build offshore turbine foundations under the deep blue sea, and why the most exciting p...

Support Outside/In before February 5th, and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar! Donate $8 per month, and we’ll send you a pair of NH-made Merino wool socks from Minus33.  For many, wild horses are a symbol of freedom, strength, and the American West. But to some they’re a symbol of colonialism and an ecological nuisance.  Host Nate Hegyi visits a rancher on the Blackfeet Reservation, wher...

Support Outside/In during our Jan/Feb fundraiser and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar! Plus, if you donate $10 per month we’ll send you a pair of NH-made Merino wool socks from Minus33.  Did you know that the humble pigeon is related to the dodo, makes milk (pigeon cheese, anyone?) and even played a role in the French Revolution? Surely this often-dismissed bird deserves some recognitio...

In 1994, the world’s first oat milk company was born in Sweden. Three decades later, Oatly is on a high-stakes mission to defeat the dairy industry by becoming the biggest plant-based brand the world has ever seen.  So…can a start-up from Malmö save us all through capitalism? And how much damage is our affection for dairy doing to the planet? This week, we’re featuring the first of a three-part se...

Even though you can explore its entirety from the comfort of a living room beanbag, the world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (commonly just referred to as 'Skyrim') is vast. The video game contains cities, villages, high waterfalls that cascade into deep pools, and packs of wolves that roam the edges of misty alpine forests. Skyrim is celebrated for the intricacy of its environment and is one of t...

It’s Outside/In’s annual winter “Surthrival” show, in which a panel of podcast and radio journalists serve up their personal tips for staying warm, cozy, and active all winter long. From ice-fishing to spicy novels, we’ve got suggestions that’ll get you outside when the adventurous spirit takes hold, and others for days when it’s too darn cold out.  This year, we’re joined by Berly McCoy, producer...

It’s tough to see your hometown portrayed in television and movies. New Englanders roll their eyes at overly quaint shots of church steeples and fall foliage. Minnesotans balk at the over-the-top accents in ‘Fargo.’ And now Montanans are struggling with the way the state is portrayed in the hit television series ‘Yellowstone.’ The show stars Kevin Costner as the gravelly-voiced patriarch of the Du...

Some people think artificial intelligence is the best thing since sliced bread. Others say it’s the beginning of a science-fiction apocalypse. At COP28 – the U.N. Climate Change Conference – tech companies are saying AI is key to unlocking a more efficient future.  But what if the truth is less sensational than all that?  In this episode, how AI tools are helping and hurting efforts to curb climat...

Most Americans can look down at their phone and see a prediction of the future. How is that even possible? Well, this episode from Civics 101 is all about the weather – from early predictive methods and almanacs to the National Weather Service's modern-day practices of collecting, analyzing, and sharing a staggering amount of data. Featuring Kris Harper and Felicia Bowser   SUPPORT Click here to b...

For humans, roads epitomize freedom. For wildlife, it’s a different story: a million animals are killed by cars every day in the US alone. How did our infrastructure turn so deadly? And what are people trying to do about it? In this episode, we look at how two very different species are impacted by roads. Along the way, we visit a turtle rescue clinic, hear about a celebrity cougar that was trappe...

It’s time again for our listener mail roundup, and this week, the theme is bugs, bugs, and more bugs. We discover what’s happening inside the chrysalis of a monarch butterfly, find out why fruit flies seem to spontaneously generate from over-ripe fruit, and ask if meat-eaters really are sweeter to mosquitoes. Plus, a cautionary tale about leaving the window screens open.  What happens inside a chr...

Forget about beer, or even water; it was hard apple cider that was THE drink of choice in colonial America. Even kids drank it! And since it’s made from apples – the “all-American” fruit – what could be more American than cider? But apples aren’t native to America. They’re originally from Kazakhstan. In this episode we look at the immigration story of Malus domestica, the domesticated apple, from...

According to our unscientific office poll, the annual changing of the clocks has all the popularity of a root canal. With few exceptions, people described the shift to and from Daylight Saving Time as disorienting, arbitrary, and unwelcome. On a more existential level, winding the clocks back and forth reminds us that no matter how concrete minutes and hours may feel, the way we perceive time is f...

Depending on who you ask bats are either a favorite mascot of spooky season, a dangerous nuisance and vector for rabies, or a charismatic group of nocturnal mammals in need of protection.  So when Outside/In host Nate Hegyi moved to the countryside of Montana and discovered a colony of bats living in the siding of his new house, he was forced to make a decision. Evict the bats that pest control pe...

During disasters, people flock to social media to share warnings, coordinate in real time, and share images of the destruction. But others use the chaos of breaking news events to spread false information.  On today’s episode, we’re exploring the rise of fake news in the environmental space, from #HawaiiNotUkraine, to a news site spreading climate disinformation in Wyoming. Plus, we speak to the p...

Become a sustaining member today. For $5 a month, we'll send you an Outside/In baseball cap. The first 250 people to donate during our fall fund drive will also receive a "ginkgo love" sticker.  Support Outside/In today! Flying is a mess. Underserved airports, a global pilot shortage, and incessant extra fees… not to mention, of course, the emissions.  But, in 2022, an aviation start-up debuted “t...

Become a sustaining member today. For $5 a month, we'll send you an Outside/In baseball cap. The first 250 people to donate during our fall fund drive will also receive a "ginkgo love" sticker.  Support Outside/In today! As of late, Endless Thread co-host Ben Brock Johnson has been obsessed with a rock in Wyoming, a lot like the protagonist of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  But you won't fin...

Become a sustaining member today. For $5 a month, we'll send you an Outside/In baseball cap. The first 250 people to donate during our fall fund drive will also receive a "ginkgo love" sticker.  Support Outside/In today! Earlier this year, our host Nate Hegyi picked a fight with Ryan Zinke.  Zinke is the former Interior Secretary under Trump – the guy who rode into office on horseback.  In the mid...

Help us celebrate our 250th episode by becoming a sustaining member today. For $5 a month, we'll send you an Outside/In baseball cap. The first 250 people to donate during our fall fund drive will also receive a "ginkgo love" sticker.  Support Outside/In today!   From Dante’s Peak and Twister, to the twin apocalypse movies Armageddon and Deep Impact, Outside/In senior producer Taylor Quimby was ra...

In the midst of a battle with cancer, Kathy Kral found herself facing another diagnosis: major depression. So, Kathy signed up for a clinical study to see if psilocybin – the psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms” – could help her confront her fears about cancer and death, as well as her deepest inner demons. Featuring Kathleen Kral, Manish Agrawal, and Norma Stevens.   SUPPORT Outside/In...