Outside/In

A few months ago, Outside/In host Nate Hegyi got a tip from the highest levels of the dog sledding community. It was about the first team from New Zealand to complete the Iditarod, a 1,000-mile race across some of Alaska’s harshest terrain; a pair of mushers that have transformed their success on the trail into a flourishing tourism business in their home country’s south island.  But behind the sc...

Once upon a time, potpourri was a popular way to freshen up a space. Now, for some, it feels a bit like the lava lamp of fragrance: an outdated fad from a bygone decade. So, why was potpourri so popular in the 1980’s, and what happened to it? Did the trend dry up… or just evolve? We explore the transformation of potpourri, from the fermented mush of the Victorian era to the perfumed and colorful b...

If you own land in the United States, do you also own the airspace above it? In other words, who owns the sky? The answer begins with a medieval Roman principle of property rights, which made it all the way to American courts: “Whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell."  We asked our friends Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy, cohosts of Civics 101, to join us to explore th...

When Nora Saks learned that a "toxic, self-cloning worm that poops out of its mouth was invading Maine", she started sounding the alarm about the impending eco-doom. Until, that is, state experts clued her into the "real threat"; a different creepy crawly wriggling towards The Pine Tree State's gardens and precious forests, and fast. In an attempt to find out more about this real threat, Ben Brock...

Despite being the only rodent with a holiday to its name, groundhogs are often considered pests. However, these natural-born diggers have unearthed rare artifacts, play a pivotal role in shaping ecosystems, and are tied to important breakthroughs in hepatitis B treatments. Plus they’re pretty cute.  So in this episode, a special Groundhog Day edition of our Holy Scat series, we’re digging up as ma...

What’s the slowest heartbeat on the planet? What’s it like to live with zero sunlight?  If you’ve ever picked up a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records, you know that people are drawn to extremes, be they geographical, philosophical, or biological.  So this week, we’re cracking open the Outside/Inbox to answer your questions about the outer limits of life on Earth. We’ll learn about how land...

In each essay in their debut collection, How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, science writer Sabrina Imbler shares the story of an undersea organism and a story of their own journey as someone who, as they put it, came out twice in adulthood.  In one essay, they reflect on how a shape-shifting cephalopod helped them navigate their own questions about gender. In another, they cel...

Some folks promote local food. Others swear by veganism. But what is the most environmentally-friendly diet? And does it really matter what we eat? Or are there bigger fish to fry when it comes to climate activism? Outside/In is trying out a new segment called This, That, Or The Other Thing. It’s all about the little decisions we make to try and build a more sustainable world—whether they have any...

On the first day of January, people all over the world dive into the water as a way to start the new year fresh. It’s often referred to as a “polar plunge”.  But cold water dipping is different. It’s not a breathless in-and-out plunge, but a slow submersion: lingering in the cold water for 5 or 10 minutes. No wetsuit.  This fall, Outside/In producer Justine Paradis got to know a community of dippe...

There’s an unfortunate paradox for environmental podcasts; data shows a lot of people skip segments about the climate. But also… it’s the CLIMATE! We can’t NOT talk about it, right?  So how do we break through the malaise and make climate news feel less overwhelming? More surprising? Less depressing? In this episode, we round-up a handful of stories that we hope break the mold and make climate a m...

At the beginning of the pandemic, we published an episode about “how to be a backyard birder.”  Everybody was understandably freaking out, and we wanted to put something sweet, calming, and hopeful into the world. In that episode, we heard from ornithologist Dr. J. Drew Lanham, who shared some great tips for beginners, like what to watch and listen for, and how to make binoculars from toilet paper...

It’s Outside/In’s annual winter show, in which the team gathers around the proverbial fire to share our best ideas towards becoming better friends with winter. The dream is to not just survive, but thrive – dare we say, to “surthrive” – and embrace the season, both the cold and the cozy. This year, we’re joined by the wonderful Mara Hoplamazian, climate and environment reporter at New Hampshire Pu...

It’s high time to shine a light on an under-appreciated nocturnal visitor to America’s backyards and garbage cans: the opossum. The opossum is the only marsupial in North America, and they’ve been snuffling around since before the dinosaurs died. It faints at the slightest threat, yet can be struck by a venomous snake and, unfazed, turn right around and eat it.  Also, they have two vaginas, and an...

The premise of History’s reality TV show Alone is about as straightforward as it gets. Ten people are dropped into the remote wilderness with nothing but a handful of tools, a supply of GoPro cameras, and instructions to document their entire experience.  As contestants put their wilderness skills to the test, they face some of reality television’s most intense physical and emotional stakes; strug...

It’s time to open our mailbag and answer your questions about fall – and not just the season. We’ve interpreted the theme to include everything from dreams about falling to fallout shelters and, um, tornadoes.  Plus, we reveal the long-anticipated winner of our poll on best alternatives for replacing the term “leaf-peeping.” Question 1: Why do so many have recurring dreams about falling? Question...

Jack Rodolico knows exactly what scares him. Sharks.  But here’s what he doesn’t get: if he’s so freaked out, why can’t he stop incessantly watching online videos of bloody shark attacks?  Why would he deliberately seek out the very thing that spooks him? To figure it out, Jack enlists the help of other scaredy-cats: our listeners, who shared their fears about nature with us. Together, Jack and th...

When it comes to protecting the biodiversity of Planet Earth, there is no greater failure than extinction.  Thankfully, only a few dozen species have been officially declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the half century since the passage of the Endangered Species Act.  But, hold on. Aren’t we in the middle of the sixth mass extinction? Shouldn’t the list of extinct species be… w...

If you've been having trouble getting in with a veterinarian, you're not imagining it. Across the country, pet care is increasingly hard to come by, and more vets are leaving the job. Alaska’s capital city, Juneau, has lost roughly half of its veterinarians since the pandemic began. Pet owners often have to wait several weeks for an appointment, surgery is scarce, and 24/7 emergency care doesn’t e...

Planting a tree often becomes almost a shorthand for doing a good deed. But such an act is not always neutral. In some places, certain trees can become windows into history, tools of erasure, or symbols of resistance. This episode originally aired in October of 2020.  Featuring: Liat Berdugo, Irus Braverman, Jonathan Kuttab, Noga Kadman, Iyad Hadad, Raja Shehadeh, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Miri Maoz-O...

It’s that time again when we open our mailbag to answer your (oh-so-delightful) questions. This time, we deliberate over what seagulls are doing so far from the sea, the reason that staring at fire is so compelling, why dogs kick up dirt after they poo, and other timeless inquiries. Submit your own question (the weirder the better) on Instagram, via email at outsidein@nhpr.org, or by calling our O...

Ever have an unexpected animal encounter that leaves you filled with adrenaline? Or awed by the natural world? Or filled with fear?  On this episode, we hand over the reins to the folks at Every Little Thing, a Spotify-exclusive podcast hosted by Flora Lichtman. They asked their listeners for stories about extreme animal run-ins, and boy did folks deliver…. From a tangled antlers conundrum, to a l...

Some people see something special happening at the Berkeley Community Garden in Boston’s South End: a multicultural garden community built from the rubble of a demolished city block; a green oasis of Chinese plants like bitter melon, cultivated here for over half a century. But others… well, all they see is a trash pile. In the final installment of Yardwork, the story of how a predominantly immigr...

Welcome to Yardwork, a summer yard and garden miniseries from Outside/In. We’re sharing three stories about our relationships with the land around us: the front yard, the backyard, and down the block. This is part two. Sometimes, when Maureen McMurray is digging in her backyard garden, she encounters something she didn’t expect: a lump of coal. She’s planted vegetables in the same soil for a few y...

Welcome to Yardwork, a summer yard and garden miniseries from Outside/In. We’re sharing three stories about our relationships with the land around us: the front yard, the backyard, and down the block. This is part one. Americans love a lawn. Green grass grows everywhere: on baseball fields, in backyards, in front of strip malls. Collectively, we spend billions of dollars every year keeping them fe...

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 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 outnumbered by many species of bacteria and insects.  So what is the most suc...