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Descubre un mundo infinito de historias

Escucha y lee

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

We’re cleaning out the proverbial fridge, but instead of old food, it’s fantastic and forgotten questions from the Outside/Inbox. Conversation topics include Taylor’s humiliatingly old headlamp, the olfactory experience of a dead whale and, of course, the answers to the following queries… 

 Why do dogs like to roll in dead stuff? 

 Do humans have a mating season? 

 Why do so many deer collisions happen in November? 

 When did headlamps start to have red light?

 I live next to a highway. What can I do about the noise pollution?

 In the final Lord of the Rings movie, there’s a crust that forms on top of the lava that the ring is thrown onto. Is that legit? 

Featuring Christopher Schell, Eric Nystrom, and Erica Walker.

Thanks to our listeners who called in: Dusty, Kyle, Claire, Amanda, Gretchen, Zach, and Sabrina. 

We’re looking for new submissions to the Outside/Inbox! Send us those questions by recording yourself on a voice memo, and emailing that to us at outsidein@nhpr.org. Or you can call our hotline: 1-844-GO-OTTER.

SUPPORT

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

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

LINKS

If you want to learn more about noise pollution listen to our episode “Shhhh! It’s the sound and silence episode.”

Check out for yourself what those clunky old mining headlamps used to look like. 

CREDITS 

Produced by Marina Henke, Felix Poon, and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like a Dirty Rotten Whale

Every December, tens of thousands of volunteers look to the skies for an international census of wild birds. 

But during migration season, a much smaller squad of New York City volunteers take on a more sobering experience: counting dead birds that have collided with glass buildings and fallen back to Earth. 

In this episode, we find out what kind of people volunteer for this grisly job, visit the New York City rehab center that takes in injured pigeons, and find out how to stop glass from killing an estimated one billion birds nationwide every year. 

This episode was first produced and published in the spring of 2024.

Featuring Melissa Breyer, Linda LaBella, Gitanjali Bhattacharjee, Katherine Chen, and Tristan Higginbotham. Produced by Taylor Quimby. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org. 

SUPPORT

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

Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).

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

LINKS

Want to see the migration forecast? Check out Birdcast. 

Want to be a citizen scientist and report dead birds? Check out dBird. 

Want to see volunteer Melissa Breyer’s photos of dead birds? Check out Sad Birding.More about Project Safe Flight.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dead Bird Rabbit Hole

With the ubiquity of plastic products, it’s maybe no surprise that a growing body of research shows tiny pieces of plastic are getting inside of us. 

But what is all this plastic doing to our bodies? And once it’s there… is there any way to get it out? 

Producer Haleema Shah looks at what the research says (and doesn’t say) about plastic and health, and explores a new trend in wellness: the microplastics cleanse. 

Featuring Charmaine Dahlenburg, Marcus Garcia, Yael Cohen, and Sarah Morath.

Produced by Haleema Shah. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Microplastics Cleanse

Zeyneb Magavi is a bona fide climate nerd; she drives an electric car, has solar panels on her roof, and worries about natural gas leaks because they’re a major source of planet-warming emissions.

Bill Akley is a lifelong natural gas guy; he grew up smelling heating oil in his kitchen, spent decades in the energy industry, and eventually became head of New England’s largest gas utility. 

So what brought this improbable duo together? The answer is under your feet. In this episode, how a geothermal pilot project in Massachusetts is bringing together unlikely alliances that might be key to our clean energy future.

Featuring Zeyneb Magavi, Bill Akley, and Kevin Kircher.

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

Learn more about the networked geothermal pilot in Framingham, MA, and how it works.Learn more about the “gas-to-geo transition” that HEET advocates for. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A climate activist and a gas executive walk into a bar

In 2009, the state of Maine ordered farmer Dan Brown to stop selling his raw milk. It kicked off a five-year legal battle that stoked the flames of Maine’s dairy wars. But, after Farmer Brown lost his case and hung up his milking hat, things quieted down. 

Twenty years later, raw milk has surged back into the zeitgeist. Influencers are saying it tastes like ice cream, RFK Jr. is taking shots of it at the White House, and Gwyneth Paltrow is putting it in her coffee.

All of which makes for a pretty obvious question… What’s the appeal? Is raw milk some kind of superfood? Or something to avoid at all costs? 

Featuring Dan Brown, Andy Bisson, Danny Bisson, Nicole Martin, Pamela Ruegg, and Mary McGonigle-Martin.

SUPPORT

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.

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

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

LINKS

For a comprehensive history of dairy check out Milk! A 10,000 Year History by Mark Kurlansky.

During the height of Dan Brown’s case he gave a speech to a rousing crowd in Blue Hill. You can watch that here. 

The debate over raw vs. pasteurized milk has been happening for a long time. The Milk Question by Milton Joseph Rosenau is a fascinating (we daresay, poetic) read. 

The Pasteurized Milk Ordinance is a nearly 500-page document that outlines the intricacies of milk regulation in the U.S. Here’s its most current version. 

The FDA fact-checks many different raw milk claims ⁠on this page⁠, including pasteurization's affect on vitamin content and potential probiotic benefit.

CREDITS 

Produced by Marina Henke. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Raw Milk Question

In 2023, dozens of strangers gathered together in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York for three straight days. Their mission? Teach people of color how to kill, gut, and butcher a deer for the first time.

Producer Felix Poon was there as a first-time hunter. He wanted to know: what does it feel like to take an animal's life to sustain your own? Given the opportunity… would he pull the trigger?

In this episode we follow Felix out of his depth and into the woods, to find out if one weekend can convert a longtime city-dweller into a dedicated deer hunter.

This episode was first published in early 2024, and was produced by Felix Poon. 

For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.com. Featuring Dorothy Ren, Brandon Dale, and Brant MacDuff.

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

Lydia Parker, executive director of Hunters of Color, discusses how to make the outdoors more equitable⁠. (The Nature Conservancy)⁠

Melissa Harris-Perry talks to Brandon Dale⁠, the New York ambassador for the Hunters of Color organization, on WNYC’s The Takeaway.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hunting Party

A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against an overbearing state. So who is Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael really – a folk hero, a crook, a righteous rebel, or a selfish conman?

This week we’re sharing the first episode from “Catching The Codfather,” the third season of GBH’s hit podcast The Big Dig. It’s a series about fishing regulations disguised as a true crime caper unlike any you’ve heard before. 

Produced by Ian Coss and Isabel Hibbard. To hear the rest of the series, subscribe to The Big Dig wherever you get your podcasts. 

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catching the Codfather

There’s few certainties in life. But the sun will always rise, the seasons will change, and the Outside/Inbox will forever remain answered. 

From lighthouse paint hues to polar bear lovers, this week the team takes up your questions on all things red. 

 What makes cardinals red? 

 Why do albino animals have red eyes? ⁠

 ⁠Why are so many lighthouses painted red? ⁠

 Do our dogs love us? 

 ⁠Do some animals have same-sex relationships?⁠

 ⁠How do environmental changes affect pair-bonding? ⁠

Featuring Alex Funk, Jeremy D'Entremont, Karyn Anderson, and Francesco Ventura. 

Thanks to Outside/In listeners Liz, Tyler, Monica and Lera for their questions.

We’re looking for new submissions to the Outside/Inbox! Give us your weirdest, nichest, most bizarre questions you can think of. Send us those questions by recording yourself on a voice memo, and emailing that to us at outsidein@nhpr.org. Or you can call our hotline: 1-844-GO-OTTER.

SUPPORT

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

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

LINKS

Here’s Karyn’s paper on how ⁠same-sex behavior⁠ in animals is far more common than previously thought. 

Olney, Illinois is known as “the home of the white squirrels.” Learn more about ⁠how they’re trying to protect these rare albino animals⁠ in this small Midwest town.

Here’s the ⁠Northeast District’s 2025 US Light List⁠, which lists an astounding 40,000 different lights, sound signals, and other visual aids to navigation.

Francesco Ventura’s paper analyzing divorce rates in albatrosses came out in 2021. ⁠You can find it here⁠. 

CREDITS

Produced by Marina Henke, Felix Poon and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Red is the warmest color

Hemp used to be a staple of life in America. King James I demanded that colonists produce it. Hemp rope and fabric were ubiquitous throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The USDA even produced a WWII newsreel called “Hemp for Victory.”

But other materials came to replace hemp – wood pulp for paper, and cotton and synthetics for fabric. Why?

For that matter, what is hemp? Is it different from weed? And does it actually have 25,000 uses as its proponents claim?

Featuring Hector “Freedom” Gerardo, David Suchoff, John Fike, and Danny Desjarlais.

Note: This episode originally aired in April, 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reefer madness and the future of hemp

A few weeks ago, Nate gathered a group of storytellers in front of a live audience in Portsmouth, N.H. to celebrate 10 years of Outside/In. From goats to ghosts and ill-fated coloring book pages, this motley crew of storytellers explored the theme of metamorphosis in a changing world. 

 If you’ve got a special moment or episode from Outside/In’s long history, we’d love to hear about it. Send us a note at outsidein@nhpr.org. 

Featuring Gretchen Legler, Kianny Antigua, Sara Lamagna, Jake Lewis, Aubrey Nelson, Dave Anderson 

Produced by Taylor Quimby and Zoë Mitchell. 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

Check out Gretchen Legler’s blog, where she writes about all sorts of nature and farm-inspired subjects, here. 

More on the work of Kianny Antigua can be found on her website. 

Listen to Sarah Lamagna’s interview for a previous episode of Outside/In, where she and Taylor talk about tricking kids into loving hiking. 

Interested in learning more about Aubrey Nelson's call for "more purposeful, real-world education?" You can contact her "Ecosystem of Educationeers" via this form. 

Listen to more musings from naturalist Dave Anderson on NHPR’s Something Wild. 

If you want to hear more of Nate’s music, check out “Snoweater on Bandcamp. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goats, Ghosts, and Roadkill [Live stories from Portsmouth]

We’re used to seeing dogs and cats play with toys or get the zoomies… but do animals like rats and bumblebees play too? What is animal play for? How do scientists even decide what counts as play?
Today, we’re taking a serious look at goofy behavior. We’ll discover the five-part checklist that many scientists use to recognize play in nature, and find out why taking turns is so important for healthy brain development. 
This episode is a collaboration between Outside/In and Tumble, the science podcast for kids. 
Featuring Junyi Chu and Jackson Ham
Produced by Lindsay Patterson, Marshall Escamilla, and Taylor Quimby. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to 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
Love this episode? Looking for family-friendly podcasts to listen to? There are over 150 episodes of Tumble to check out, including a few of our favorites: 
Do Trees Fart?
The Swift Quake
Why Are Sloths Slow
Are Cats Evil? 
The five-part play checklist mentioned in the episode was developed by play researcher Gordon M. Burghardt. His paper, “Play in fishes, frogs and reptiles,” answers some other really interesting questions about animal play. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do animals play?

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