The Natural Curiosity Project

The Singing Planet is a film by my friend Liz McKenzie, with naturalist, sound recordist, and anthropologist Richard (Nels) Nelson, and Hank Lentfer, Nels’ close friend and a gifted wildlife sound recordist in his own right. The Singing Planet celebrates the voices of the natural world, focusing on the extraordinary richness of the wildlife in Alaska. You can rent or buy The Singing Planet on Vime...

I like people who draw from many different interests and skills to create the career that they ultimately pursue. Nathan Wolek is equal parts musician, programmer, researcher, wildlife sound recordist, and professor at Stetson University in north-central Florida. When he’s not creating music, or writing computer programs, or working with students, he’s in the field, recording everything from NASA...

Time for a new EPA--the Digital Environment Protection Act. We already regulate banking, pharmaceuticals, air travel, smoking, motor vehicle safety, alcohol, aviation, and a host of other things—including environmental noise. Now, we need a law to regulate digital noise. Any arguments?

When Pacific Bell accepted the gift of two mated pairs of swans to live in the lakes around their new headquarters building in San Ramon, California, in the early 80s, little did they know that the birds would develop a taste for human flesh. Have a listen.

60 years ago, Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring," was released. It created a firestorm of controversy that ultimately led to the formation of the modern environmental movement, and helped push Richard Nixon--yes, THAT Richard Nixon--to create the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Water Act, and the Noise Abatement Act. It's time to revisit Ms. Carson's work. Happy 60th anniversary, Sil...

Rob Prince teaches documentary filmmaking at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. But he’s also the host of the wildly popular Podcast, “Dark Winter Nights: True Stories from Alaska.” In this episode, Rob and host Steve Shepard talk about documentary filmmaking, the power of the free press, the role of curiosity, the importance of relying on diverse news sources, and of course, his amazing Podcast.

Luke Pearson is a composer, musician, naturalist, educator, and wildlife sound recordist. He works as a nature educator, where his combined skills and background, including recording and listening trips in South Africa, help him open kids’ eyes to the wonders of the natural world.

Why is an excellent customer experience so difficult to deliver? It isn't--if you know what to do. In this entertaining episode, Steve tells the story of a tiny hotel in Los Angeles that has cracked the code and delivers what is perhaps the best customer experience in the country. Have a listen--and take notes.

Just about a year ago, I released my 97th book and second novel, The Nation We Knew. It quickly became the number one best-selling title in political fiction on Amazon, worldwide. The theme? What could the world look like, if we were to set aside out political differences and focus on the future—on creating the kind of place we want to leave for our children and grandchildren. In this retrospectiv...

Will Gillespie first appeared in episode 129 with his family, talking about their efforts to balance their cattle ranch against the needs of the natural world. They not only raise cattle, but they also support and maintain the Prairie Ridge Wildlife Refuge next door—both of which are prospering and flourishing. But there’s more to Will than that. He’s also an engineer, a coal mine inspector, and t...

Brian Ashley is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who sat down with me recently to talk about his world. Have you ever wondered about the difference between psychiatry and psychology? Or how mental health professionals think about the world they inhabit? or about the extraordinary process of helping people deal with some of the most difficult things thy'll ever face in their lives? This is one of t...

Okay, this is a fun episode about something that we've all heard about but have rarely seen. Have you ever noticed in movie credits that there's somebody called the Foley Artist? Well this episode is about those people. Almost 100% of the sounds that are recorded on a movie set during production are actually replaced by Foley artists, in some amazing, remarkable, wacky ways. Enjoy. This is one to...

The Internet of Things, IoT, is not well understood, so here's a quick description, by popular request, with some very interesting examples.

Worried that technology might take your job? Here's a better question to ask: If I could hand off some of my work to technology, what might I be able to accomplish? In this episode, Steve Shepard paints two scenarios, both real, both very similar, yet captured two decades apart. Enjoy.

Here's a dirty little secret for you: All generations want the same things in work and life. They want a good job, in some cases a career; they want some kind of education; they want to raise a family; they want to be comfortable, eat well, go on vacation, and make money. They want to be recognized and rewarded for a job well done, and they want to feel like they’re growing personally and professi...

In March 2021 I published my novel, “The Nation We Knew.” It’s built around a simple question: What would happen if a new president came into power, a president with a commitment to the people, not the party, a president consumed with the idea of building progress on a platform of common sense. How might this president reinvent healthcare, infrastructure, education, corrections, foreign policy, tr...

Jim Winninger and I have known each other for a long time. We share interests in teaching, music, photography ... and the power of passion. Jim thinks about it all the time, and has a lot to share about the subject. And folks, if any of you are parents, you might want to listen to this one with your teenage kids. It applies to them as much as it does to you.

Human-generated noise is every bit a pollutant as noxious chemicals in the water and soil and air. But rarely is it considered to be a problem. In this episode, on Earth Day, 2022, I talk a bit about the things we can do to help--and about how I got into recording wildlife sound in the first place. Thanks for listening!

What kinds of leaders are most effective at compelling others to help them achieve their goals? The warm-blooded kind. There's an interesting corollary here between leadership and biology. Have a listen.

Every once in a while, I have the honor to interview someone who’s not only an expert in their field—and it is invariably a VERY interesting field—but who is also a great speaker, a great person, and someone who truly knows how to tell a story, which, anyone who knows me knows that I place a very high value on that. Such is the case with Mike Isham. Mike is a farmer, and while he does a lot of tra...

Not too long ago, Gary Kessler and I sat down to chat about the idea that when knowledge is shared widely and broadly within an organization, the organization is better prepared to respond to unexpected events. One of those unexpected events, of course, is a cyberattack. As networks and computing resources became more pervasive, and as they went from being technical curiosities to strongholds of i...

Take a walk through Mud Pond, a nature refuge near my home in Vermont, and listen to the voices of the forest.

Over the course of the last year or so, I've worked with a range of diverse organizations to develop a sense of what the future of work looks like, given that there are as many opinions about the topic as there are people thinking about it. In this episode, I consolidate much of the research I’ve done and present it in a series of scenarios that lay out where the world of work is going. My thought...

Chris Helzer is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. He spends a lot of his time focused on prairie management and conservation, sharing what he learns with public and private landowners. But as Chris observes during the program, prairies are seen by many as a place to “drive through on the road to someplace interesting.” In fact, that’s profoundly wrong. Not only are pr...

I think we’ve all had the experience of running across a childhood toy, or a photograph, or having a conversation with a childhood friend who makes you think of ANOTHER childhood friend who hasn’t popped into your head in a long time. That happened to me recently, and after a bit of sleuthing, I found him, and we reconnected after 55 years. Ed Cotham is a really interesting guy for a lot of reason...