A government bureaucrat builds a website that saves a billion gallons in gas. The minuscule Irish invention that enables the industrial revolution. An innovation for doctor’s gloves kicks off women’s liberation. An ill wind leads to America being stuck with the gallon forever. On this episode, we present a series of small “nudges” (but not actual nudges ) that have had profound impacts for the environment… or maybe not the environment, maybe just generally. Head to our website and vote on your f...
Jan 23, 2020•34 min
Depending on who you ask, astrology is a science, an art, a form of therapy… or, a pseudo-science, fortune-telling, a scam. But astrology is way more than a horoscope. Check us out online , as well as on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram ....
Jan 10, 2020•38 min
From the ancient charcoal animals of France's Chauvet Cave, to 17th century Dutch windmill paintings, art history can tell us a lot about our evolving view of the natural world. In this episode, producer Taylor Quimby (a self-described art-world neophyte) searches for individual works and genres through history that reveal something interesting about human society and the outdoors. This episode has visual aids - so click this link or find us on Instagram to follow along with the show! Outside/In...
Dec 20, 2019•40 min
As extreme weather wreaks havoc around the globe NPR's Throughline looks at a natural disaster more than 200 hundred years ago that had far-reaching effects. This week, how the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki awed, terrified and disrupted millions around the world and changed the course of history. Outside/In needs your help. Click here to find out how you can support the show. There's lots of great swag to choose from (so check out the thank-you gifts!) but for $100 a month, Sam will per...
Dec 05, 2019•32 min
Before Hurricane Maria hit in September of 2017, Puerto Rico's rickety electric grid was a notorious headache. After the storm, it was a crisis. This is the story of how a pair of star-crossed lovers came to see nuclear as the unlikely solution to Puerto Rico's energy woes, and how their vision for the island might be changing the way we approach power... even if their plan never comes to pass. Outside/In needs your help. Click here to find out how you can support the show. There's lots of great...
Nov 21, 2019•35 min
People love fishing for trout. They love it so much that we are willing to go to insane lengths to catch them. But what should we make of the fact that much of that experience of fishing for trout is just a facsimile of what it once was… and may actually be bad for the very same fish, that we so love to catch? Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Nov 12, 2019•38 min
When most of us heard about the "insect apocalypse" we were worried. When producer Jimmy Gutierrez heard it, he thought "this is great." Today he takes a journey in which he tries to learn to appreciate our many-legged companions. Want to read a transcript or support the podcast? Check out our website .
Oct 24, 2019•30 min
Sam answers questions about rethinking the toilet, line-dry laundry, rhubarb, and sleeping mosquitoes. Find more Outside/In.
Oct 10, 2019•32 min
Last year, two people were attacked by sharks on Cape Cod, and one died. The result has been a media frenzy that really you have to see to believe. Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Sep 25, 2019•41 min
When it feels like doctors have closed the door to establishment medicine, another set of doors open. These doors lead to dubious providers, and untested treatments. Click here to donate $20 and get ad-free episodes of Patient Zero a week early and bonus content.
Sep 12, 2019•46 min
A perfect carrier of disease. A race underneath your skin. The part we know, before we get to the parts we don't. Click here to donate $20 and get ad-free episodes of Patient Zero a week early and bonus content.
Aug 29, 2019•27 min
When you're fighting off a cold or flu, it's easy to imagine the battle is being waged solely inside the confines of your body. But in order to spread, pathogens rely on nearly every aspect of our shared societies. Food and drink, social customs, our proximity to animals, urban design, income inequality: The science of epidemiology connects them all. Patient Zero investigates the spaces where people and pathogens collide. It is a story about Lyme disease, but it is also a story about uncertainty...
Aug 15, 2019•46 min
A first look at Patient Zero, a series we'll be putting out next month! Hosted by Outside/In's Taylor Quimby. Sweet new theme by Ty Gibbons. First episode drops mid-August! Find more at patientzeropodcast.com .
Jul 23, 2019•4 min
With Disney's reboot of The Lion King hitting theaters, does the original still hold up all these years later? In this episode, the team revisits an epic tale of class, land rights, and destiny... and critiques the landscapes, animals, and themes that so many 90's kids grew up watching. And once again, Jimmy defends the reputation of hyenas. Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitter and Instagram...
Jul 04, 2019•41 min
Ever since the threat of climate change was first made public, scientists have offered the possibility of a get-out-of-jail-free card: geoengineering. While reducing emissions is hard and complicated, why not just engineer the Earth's atmosphere in the meantime? Decades later, the science of geoengineering is still in its infancy, but a growing number of researchers are trying to change that. Should they? Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitter and Instagram...
Jun 20, 2019•33 min
Swimming is something that is more or less a part of human experience, depending on who you are, where you are, when you are alive in history. More than half of Americans can't perform all of the basic swimming skills. On this episode, two stories that explore our relationship with the water, and why people do or don’t learn to swim. Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitter and Instagram...
Jun 06, 2019•37 min
Traveling to Antarctica to hang with penguins on the company dime likely seems like the dream assignment for a journalist... or anyone. Ron Naveen has been living that dream, counting penguins by hand for decades. And today you're going to hear about that work from our friends at the PBS Newshour's podcast "The Last Continent." Find more Outside/In....
May 23, 2019•20 min
Today on the podcast, a story that seemed like a perfect fit Outside/In that wound up going places that we didn’t expect to go. When workers at the American embassy Cuba claimed to have been attacked by a mysterious weapon that left no trace, it led to a major shift in American diplomacy towards the Caribbean socialist state. But the story has also led to a split in journalism, stemming from the sources different kinds of journalists rely on. This story forces us to ask: how do we decide what we...
May 10, 2019•50 min
Ask Sam: that special segment when scientists cringe as Sam and the team speculate wildly on answers to a diverse range of questions from listeners before calling in the real experts. This time we tackle paper towels, cow poop, body temperature, and weighing whales. Find more Outside/In
Apr 25, 2019•28 min
Textiles are all around us. We live in them, sleep on them, sit on them, walk on them, live in houses filled with them. It’s one of the biggest industries in the world. But it’s also one with a big problem and, at least for consumers in the United States, a largely invisible one - textile waste. Today, we’re tearing the very shirt off your back to explore the old is new approach to textiles that could eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Find more Outside/In...
Apr 18, 2019•31 min
This month, Outside/In is asking for your support. Your donations will keep the show kicking butt, and help us make our next big series! Plus, we’ve got special (limited-edition, super-twee) swag, handcrafted with an actual branding iron. Donate here . You hike, you fish, you camp… and you’re single. When you’re looking for love, what is the importance of being “outdoorsy”? And how do you communicate your identity — and expectations for potential matches — on an online dating profile? The fish p...
Apr 12, 2019•32 min
In Australia, conventional conservation wisdom has stated that in order to save the small indigenous mammals, it's necessary to kill invasive predators. But is it? Today on the show, we follow environmental writer Emma Marris as she explores the concept, and possible limits, of compassionate conservationism. Also, are you noticing that we're in your feed a little early? That's because this month, we're asking for you to pitch in and support the podcast with a donation, and because we know that's...
Apr 04, 2019•26 min
The Sununus are one of New Hampshire's grandest families. John H. Sununu was governor and White House Chief of Staff. One of his sons, John E. Sununu, was a U.S. congressman and senator, and another, Chris Sununu, is governor today. In their roles of political power, all of these men have faced a different landscape with regard to climate change, and what it means to be a Republican. Today, we track that party's evolution on the subject, through the frame of this one family. For full versions of...
Mar 28, 2019•59 min
For a long time, the elusive night parrot of the Australian outback was believed to be extinct. Then, an experienced birder with a reputation for dubious finds offered up foolproof evidence that the bird is still alive: photographs, feathers, and birdsong that he promises is the real deal. This week on the show, we're featuring our Australian podcast pal Ann Jones, host of ABC's Off-Track , as she heads out into the bush to try and capture sound from a bird few have ever heard. Sign up for our n...
Mar 14, 2019•33 min
In our 10X10 series, we examine places that might not seem all that interesting... places like your typical frozen pond. Sure, on the surface it's a wind-swept desert of crunchy snow and frigid temperatures, but drill a few inches down though, and you'll discover a world turned upside-down. In this episode, we give the down low on bizarre properties of water, fish that thrive in a capped-off environment, and long beards of algae clinging to the underside of a secret ecosystem few have ever explo...
Feb 28, 2019•23 min
Outdoorsy types are the among the biggest ambassadors of Leave No Trace , a set of principles and best practices for sharing and conserving wilderness areas. But while most people agree on the broad strokes - DON'T SCREW UP NATURE! - sorting out the details can be an emotional and argumentative affair... especially when it comes to rocks. Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org...
Feb 14, 2019•37 min
The 40-hour workweek is as American as apple pie, and it’s been around almost as long. So, is it finally time to re-think our Monday-through-Friday lifestyle? With modern mechanization and automation, should we all have more leisure time? And what would that mean for the environment? Producer Jimmy Gutierrez looks into the history of work culture, where it’s being challenged, and makes the argument that we ALL should be working less, you know, to save the planet. Sign up for our newsletter Find ...
Jan 31, 2019•29 min
Here's a humdinger of a thought experiment: How fast could people go before the combustion engine and other technologies drastically increased the speed of the human race? And how did they pull it off? Skis? Sled-dogs? Catapults? From ancient horseriders and viking ships to primitive luges and "Russian Mountains", the Outside/In team researches all sorts of old-fashioned methods of locomotion and presents biggest the speed trial of the millennium. If you've got your own ideas about how humans hi...
Jan 17, 2019•44 min
Pirate trails are everywhere: the pioneers of mountain biking built them on private land, public land and everything in between. They were built by riders just looking for a place to take their new bikes, and in the process they simply appropriated land that they wanted for their trails. But what happens when the evolution of a sport threatens the very thing that made it so attractive in the first place? Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org...
Jan 03, 2019•32 min
Everyone's heard of Vikings - their daring North Atlantic voyages, their mysterious runes. But there's another ancient culture in Arctic Scandinavia that's much older, and just as fascinating - the Sámi. While the Vikings have been celebrated, Sámi music, language and traditions were forced underground. Why? Check out Threshold at thresholdpodcast.org And find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org...
Dec 20, 2018•34 min
