My newest novel, "Russet," has just been released. It's a 600-page saga about mounting a mission to Mars, an unimaginably complex undertaking. Sending astronauts to the Moon took four days; Mars is a one-way journey of at least five months. How could we possibly build a ship large enough and safe enough to accommodate their needs, for a round-trip journey of at least 18 months? In my story, NASA has the answer—an extraordinary plan to put 30 people on the Red Planet—unless those who oppose the m...
Aug 29, 2024•10 min
The year was 1977. The top selling cars were the Ford LTD and the Chevy Impala. The top movies were Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever. Gas was 65 cents a gallon. Stephen King published The Shining, and Farrah Fawcett published the poster. Meanwhile, over at NASA, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were carried aloft for a five-year mission. Yet here we are, 47 years later, and they’re still going strong. Voyager I is 15.2 billion miles from Earth; Voyager II is 12.7 billion miles away, and both are travel...
Aug 28, 2024•11 min
I read a lot. It fuels my writing, gives me a better view of the world, and is a great way to travel through time and space. Every once in a while, I run across a book that really hits me as a must-read. Episode two was about Sam Kean’s book, The Disappearing Spoon; Episode eleven was about The Age of Wonder, by Richard Holmes; and Episode 255 was about William Least Heat-Moon’s Blue Highways. In this program, I’m going to talk about Lynda Rutledge’s novel, West with Giraffes, which I finished l...
Aug 23, 2024•19 min
I know, tilting at windmills again, but as we enter this next political cycle, I have to once again take a shot at the corrosive power of labels and how we should avoid them--not just during election season, but in our lives in general. this is short, but hopefully will give you something to think about.
Aug 05, 2024•6 min
This Podcast is all about Curiosity and why it’s important. I was looking through one of the local paper a few months back, and saw a photo of an interesting looking guy who was practically lying on the ground at the shore of Lake Champlain with a microphone extended over the water, and a beast of a recorder next to him. He’s Wren Kitz, and as you probably already know, he’s a curious guy. I got in touch, we chatted, and he agreed to do an interview. Wren is a musician, field recordist, filmmake...
Aug 05, 2024•28 min
One evening in 1982, Sabine handed me a book that had come out two weeks before, saying, “Read this. It has you written all over it.” The book was called, “Blue Highways: A Journey into America,” by previously unknown (and quirkily named) author William Least Heat-Moon. If you haven’t read the book, stop whatever you’re doing right now and go buy a copy. I’ve read it 19 times, and I’ll read it a few more times, I’m sure. Today, 42 years after its release, it’s one of the most important American ...
Jul 30, 2024•10 min
There’s been a lot of chatter in the press lately about advances in interspecies communication and our soon-to-arrive ability to translate what our non-human neighbors are saying. That’s quite a breakthrough, considering how much trouble I often have understanding what other HUMANS are saying. But there’s another factor: even though AI, machine learning and large language models give us extraordinarily powerful abilities to analyze unimaginably large volumes of data, and to perhaps decode non-hu...
Jul 30, 2024•11 min
One of my favorite quotes comes from Anthropologist Loren Eiseley. He said, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” In this episode I’m going to prove it. A lot of you probably know that the first stage of my professional career was as a SCUBA instructor and commercial diver. I spent thousands of hours under the surface of the Pacific Ocean, enthralled by what my hero Jacques Cousteau called The Silent World. We divers used to laugh good-naturedly at that, because the ocean...
Jun 28, 2024•22 min
Not long ago I got a request from a young student to do an episode on the Podcast about roly polies, which happened to be this student’s favorite animal in the universe—his words. So, I did. And that kicked off a flurry of other requests, which I dutifully fulfilled. This episode is the result of a request from a junior high student who wanted to know about the field of geology. So, I started to do some research on the topic, and after about 30 minutes of digging, I had an epiphany, which caused...
Jun 28, 2024•10 min
Tim Brookes is many things: accomplished author with many prestigious publishing credits to his name; woodworker; college professor and program director; and the founder of the Endangered Alphabets Project. We've all heard about languages disappearing, especially those that have no written form. Well, alphabets are also disappearing--and Tim is on a mission to save them.
Jun 28, 2024•35 min
It's hard to believe that over the course of 70 months--from September 2018 to this episode in June 2024--I have published 250 episode in tis crazy journey of discovery. thanks for being along for the ride--there's lots more to come!
Jun 28, 2024•6 min
My guest in this episode is Tom Biegalski. Tom’s a photographer and videographer, but to say that is like saying that 'Ansel Adams took snapshots.' He specializes in photographing things that can’t be seen with the naked eye, using techniques that fall into Arthur C. Clarke’s well-known quote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. His Web site, TTBPhoto.com, is filled with examples of his work. Please take a few minutes to visit the galleries there, and be sur...
Jun 15, 2024•21 min
Remember the show, Big Bang Theory? Of course you do. Best—television show—ever. Do you remember when Sheldon Cooper and his girlfriend Amy Farrah Fowler produced their Web TV show, "Fun with Flags? “I’m Dr. Sheldon Cooper, and this is Fun with Flags.” Well, in keeping with that, I have a similarly geeky fascination with geography. So, I’m Dr. Steven Shepard, and this is Fun with Geography. I am constantly running across fascinating little factoids about the world. Most of ‘em fall into the ‘rea...
Jun 04, 2024•12 min
The amazing and mystifying life cycle of ants--and why they do the things they do. This is an amazing story!
May 28, 2024•7 min
A brief audio essay on the importance of wonder in all of our lives.
May 23, 2024•18 min
Have you ever dreamed about going on an expedition? And I don’t mean a walk in the deep woods—I mean, going to places most of us couldn’t find on a map, and living under some pretty rugged conditions.Well, my guest on this program has done that. In fact, he’s been on more than one expedition, to some of the roughest places on the planet. Meet Tony Baylis. Tony is an Australia-based wildlife sound recordist who sometimes bills himself as a ‘bird vocabularist’—meaning, someone who specializes in t...
May 17, 2024•33 min
Sometimes there are no words. In this case, I editorialize about theme I believe deserves attention: the corrosive power of disinformation and lies, and those who wield them.
Apr 20, 2024•8 min
Amazing what happens when art and science collide.
Apr 20, 2024•6 min
Episode 242 - Interview With Musician And Field Recordist Madeline Reilly by Dr. Steven Shepard
Apr 18, 2024•26 min
As you know, the tag line of this program is that this is the place for stories that matter. Well, this story matters more than most. Not only is it about experiencing the wonders of the African bush, it's about a young woman, sightless from birth, who taught others how to see.
Apr 01, 2024•34 min
What's the largest thing on earth--the blue whale? Nope, not even close. Here's a hint: it weights 233 times what a blue whale weighs.
Mar 17, 2024•4 min
A message from an 8th grader asked me to look into antlions. So, I did, and with lots of memories of these little critters from my own childhood, here you go!
Mar 04, 2024•4 min
This is an important audio essay (at least, I think it is). It’s a bit longer than my usual diet, but it will be worth your time to listen and, as Winnie-the-Pooh would say, think a little think about it. Thanks, in advance.
Mar 04, 2024•33 min
Described as the most resilient creatures on earth, tardigrades are funny little critters that can withstand just about any threat we toss at them--and shake it off as if nothing happened. They can be frozen, boiled, left in the vacuum of space, exposed to radiation--and nothing seems to affect them. In this episode we talk about these little critters. Enjoy!
Feb 28, 2024•7 min
Dudley Edmondson is a gifted nature photographer with a passion for telling nature's story through his books and images. He's also a Black Man in America, and wrestles with all that that means as someone who often feels more comfortable in the wild than he does standing in his own front yard. Listen to his story--and think about what it means.
Feb 28, 2024•25 min
Another track that’s mostly for the kids, this one thanks to a student request about the lowly dung beetle—a much smarter little critter than we give it credit for. Enjoy!
Feb 16, 2024•7 min
Imagine walking into the library because you’re interested in finding a book that will help you better understand a particular topic. You walk up to the circulation desk, tell the librarian what you’re interested in learning more about, and they say, “I’ve got just the book for you. Wait here.” So, the librarian walks into the back and returns with the book. Only in this library, the books—are people. Because this is the human library. You’re not going to hear from me a lot in this episode, beca...
Feb 13, 2024•25 min
In response to a query from a young student, I decided to talk about roly polies. Hey, it’s Friday—celebrate with something fun!
Feb 02, 2024•5 min
I love it when I discover a language all its own—typically related to a craft, or activity. Have a listen—and learn all about the jargon of the three-masted sailing ships. After doing this research, I’m astonished at the complexity of these gigantic works of art. I LOVE this stuff, and I’m not a sailor!
Jan 29, 2024•12 min
When I was a kid I spent a lot of time in New Mexico, where my grandparents lived (Roswell, specifically). As we drove around, I became fascinated with town names--like Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Huh? Well, I did some research, and I came up with a list of what I think are the funniest, or most intriguing, town names for every state. Enjoy!
Jan 20, 2024•11 min
