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Descubre un mundo infinito de historias

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NHPR

Outside/In: Where curiosity and the natural world collide.

Look around, and you’ll find everything is connected to the natural world. At Outside/In, we explore that idea with boundless curiosity. We report from disaster zones, pickleball courts, and dog sled kennels, and talk about policy, pop culture, science, and everything in between. From the backcountry to your backyard, we tell stories that expand the boundaries of environmental journalism. 

Outside/In is a production of NHPR. Learn more at outsideinradio.org

Outside/In

Did you know that some species of worms can be cut into multiple pieces and each piece will make a new worm? Some can even make a whole new brain. Wild, right?

While not all forms of healing are quite as miraculous as this, the body’s ability to repair itself is pretty darned cool. So today, we’re answering your questions about healing. Like…

Why do we pick at scabs?Why do animals lick their wounds?How does breath work affect the nervous system?What's the best outdoor activity to help heal from heartbreak?
For our next Outside/Inbox roundup, we’re looking for questions all about love! From what happens in our bodies when we fall in and out of love, to whether animals fall in love. Send us your questions by recording yourself on a voice memo, and emailing that to us at outsidein@nhpr.org. Or you can call our hotline: 844-GO-OTTER.

Featuring Mansi Srivastava, Mona Gohara, Susan Taylor, Henk Brand, Jane Sykes, Aditi Garg, Carolina Estêvão, and Sandra Langeslag.

For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook

 
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Time heals all wounds

At any given time, millions of lab mice are being used in research facilities nationwide. And yet nearly all of them can be connected back to a single source: The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, where the modern lab mouse was invented.

What started as a research project aimed at understanding heredity is now a global business. Research on lab mice has led to more than two dozen Nobel prizes, helped save countless human lives, and has pushed science and medicine to new heights. But behind it all is a cost that’s rarely discussed outside of the ethics boards that determine how lab mice are used. 

In this episode, we hear the story of how a leading eugenicist turned the humble mouse from a household pest into science’s number one guinea pig. Plus, we get a rare peek inside the Jackson Laboratory - where over 10,000 strains of lab mice DNA are kept cryogenically frozen. 

Featuring Bethany Brookshire, Kristin Blanchette, Lon Cardon, Rachael Pelletier, Karen Rader, Nadia Rosenthal and Mark Wanner. Produced by Jeongyoon Han. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org. 

Note: This episode originally aired in April, 2023. 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837).

LINKS

Karen Rader’s book, Making Mice: Standardizing Animals for American Biomedical Research, 1900-1955, is a definitive source on the birth of the lab mouse…

Curious to learn more about pests? Take a look at Bethany Brookshire’s book, Pests: How Humans Create Villains.

This piece from the New Yorker questions the assumptions and ethical choices scientists have made by using lab mice in sterilized lab environments.

In this New York Times essay, Brandon Keim explores how some ethicists want to reduce harm to animals used for research through a new model: repaying them. 

 
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Of Men and Mice

The garment industry has a giant carbon footprint, labor issues, and a massive waste problem. We have the power to change how and where we shop, but there’s another way to shift our consumption: the practice of repairing our clothes. After all, the most sustainable garment is always the one already hanging in your closet. 

But mending is more than a household chore: it can also infuse new joy in our habits, skills, perspective, and community.

Outside/In producer Justine Paradis talked to a few repair pros and came up with 8 tips on embracing a repair mindset, lengthening the life of our clothes, and getting the practice of mending into the rhythm of our lives. 

Featuring Emilia Petrarca, Dante Zagros Gonzalez, Steve Foss, Arounna Khounnoraj, Sonali Diddi, Vrylena Olney, Ely Spencer, and Ali Mann.

This episode was produced by Justine Paradis. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. 

LINKS

A few extraordinary examples of mending: Celia Pym’s Norwegian Sweater, a Japanese fisherman’s jacket constructed with sashiko, wool coats repaired with lavish embroidery, and a plain white t-shirt mended by Maya Skylark.

Look for mending classes at your local library, thrift stores, knitting shops, or other community gathering places. Remote classes are also offered at places like Tatter. You can also find a repair cafe near you, explore starting your own, or try throwing a repair party with friends.

“Why Do Clothes Suck Now” – a great primer on Culture Study

A striking visual demonstrating the decline in sweater quality since the ‘90s. 

How to buy a sweater that doesn’t suck (Defector)

“Repair Month” on Emilia Petrarca’s newsletter Shop Rat, including laundry tips and her crowd-sourced Google spreadsheet of repair specialists in NYC and beyond.

 
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On the mend: 8 tips on how to repair your clothes

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

Episode 3: A Duck’s a Duck

Two sets of potential crimes, investigated by more than five sets of law enforcement agencies. Why most of them never took a shot at accountability.

News audio clip credit: WMUR. For a full list of credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. 

 

SUPPORT

Operation Night Cat is made possible with listener support. Click here to support independent, investigative journalism. 

To hear more of Document's investigative journalism, including their three-part series on New Hampshire's YDC scandal, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

 
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Operation Night Cat, Episode 3: A Duck’s a Duck

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

Episode 2: Behind the Brick Wall

The poaching investigation takes a surprising turn when it reveals another set of potential crimes – this time, behind the brick walls of New Hampshire’s State Prison for Men.

This episode contains strong language that may not be suitable for all listeners. For a full list of credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

SUPPORT

Operation Night Cat is made possible with listener support. Click here to support independent, investigative journalism. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

 
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Operation Night Cat, Episode 2: Behind the Brick Wall

“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road? 

A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows a tip to a man’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship with digital trophy rooms.

This episode contains strong language. For a full list of credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

 

SUPPORT

Operation Night Cat is made possible with listener support. Click here to support independent, investigative journalism. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

 
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Operation Night Cat, Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road?

Introducing a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In: Operation Night Cat. 

A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows a tip to a man’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship, digital trophy rooms, and one of the biggest poaching cases in recent state history. Then, the hunting investigation takes a surprising turn when it reveals another set of potential crimes – this time, behind the brick walls of New Hampshire’s State Prison for Men. 

Host Nate Hegyi has spent the past year digging into what happened next. Catch the first episode right here, on November 5th. 

 
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Introducing: Operation Night Cat

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 fluid. Time flies when you’re having fun. A watched pot never boils. 

So to celebrate (or perhaps protest) another year setting back the clocks, the Outside/In team has uncovered four mini-stories that will poke at, stretch, or even obliterate your perception of time. From “time expansion experiences”, to time-space synaesthesia, to the slow-motion life of a fly, prepare for a totally different type of time warp.

Featuring Steve Taylor, Rhitu Chatterjee, Kevin Healy, Katherine Akey, and Patricia Lynne Duffy.

This episode was produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

LINKS

“To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on ‘toddler time’,” by Rhitu Chatterjee, is part of NPR’s special series “Finding Time.”

“Can you see time?” (BBC News), by Victoria Gill, includes a drawing depicting an example of what a year might look like to a synesthete.

Research reveals which animals perceive time the fastest (ScienceDirect)

“When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness,” by Steve Taylor (ResearchGate)

 
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Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Every so often, oak trees go into overdrive. During these so-called mast years, the gentle patter of falling acorns grows into a mighty downpour and ripples across and over ecosystems like a flood. 

What happens when a small thing goes from scarce to plentiful? When a player usually hidden behind the scenes vaults onto the main stage? 

From swimming squirrels and bug-infested weddings, to an explosion in babies named Oaklee, we investigate the myriad ways a sudden surge in abundance can trigger unexpected consequences. 

This episode is part of a playful exercise in community podcasting, with 6 different shows each producing their own stories about or inspired by the mystery of masting, and releasing them at (approximately) the same time. 

For other masting stories, check out:

Future EcologiesGolden State NaturalistJumpstart NatureLearning from Nature: The Biomimicry PodcastNature's Archive
We’ll populate this Spotify Playlist with all our stories as they come out!

Featuring Jim Salge, Dave Kelly, Lorén Spears, DeAnna Beasley, Claire Adas, David Wilson, Amelia Pruiett, and Cleveland Evans.

This episode was produced by Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Justine Paradis. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to "the Church of Latter-day Saints." Their correct title is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

 

LINKS

Check out the “Who remembers The Great Squirrel Apocalypse of 2018?” Reddit thread.

You can watch the home video from David and Claire’s wedding.

The US Forest Service keeps a helpful map of active cicada broods in North America, and their expected emergences.

Nameberry’s 2024 list of the “Reddest and Bluest Baby Names”

NPR’s coverage of the “Oakley, Oakley, Oakleigh” trend

.

 
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Critical Mast

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 its calving edge firsthand. 

In 2019, a ground-breaking international mission set out to change that, and writer Elizabeth Rush was on board to document the voyage. We caught up with her to learn about life on an Antarctic icebreaker, how she grappled with classic Antarctic narratives about exploration (and domination), and how she summons hope even after coming face-to-face with Thwaites. 

This episode was first published in early 2024. Featuring Elizabeth Rush.

 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

 

LINKS

If you’re interested in reading more about the journey to Thwaites, check out Elizabeth’s book, “The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth”.

A paper published in Nature with some of the findings from Elizabeth's voyage, showing that Thwaites has historically retreated two to three times faster than we’ve ever observed. Here’s the one detailing findings about Thwaites’ past extent, extrapolated from their study of ancient penguin bones, and another sharing observations about water currents beneath its ice shelf.

The Trump administration has pulled funding for the US’s only Antarctic icebreaker dedicated to scientific research. Read about the fate of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer in Scientific American. 

 
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Operation Night Cat, Episode 3: A Duck’s a Duck

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