When officials commissioned a set of updated hazard maps for Juneau, Alaska, they thought the information would help save lives and spur new development. Instead, the new maps drew public outcry from people who woke up to discover their homes were at risk of being wiped out by landslides.

What’s followed has been a multiyear project – not to address the challenges posed by climate-fueled landslides – but to alter, ignore, or otherwise shelve the maps that outline the threat in the first place.

Host Nate Hegyi visits Juneau to see one example of why, across the country, even the most progressive Americans are rejecting tough truths about climate change when it comes knocking at their own back door.

Featuring: Tom Mattice, Christine Woll, Eve Soutiere, and Lloyd Dixon. 

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LINKS

You can check out Juneau’s new hazard maps, along with many of its neighborhood meetings, on their website. 

Dive into why the insurance industry 1.html">stopped providing landslide coverage to Southeast Alaska.

KTOO had a wonderful story on how a 1936 landslide that killed 15 people in Juneau became a faded memory.

Zach Provant, a researcher at the University of Oregon, spent months investigating the rollout of Juneau’s hazard maps. 

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi

Edited by Taylor Quimby and Katie Colaneri

Editing help from Felix Poon and Justine Paradis

Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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).

When it comes to protecting the biodiversity of Planet Earth, there is no greater failure than extinction. Thankfully, only a few dozen species have been officially declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the half-century since the passage of the Endangered Species Act. 

But, hold on. Aren’t we in the middle of the sixth mass extinction? Shouldn’t the list of extinct species be… way longer? Well, yeah. Maybe.

Producer Taylor Quimby sets out to understand why it’s so difficult to officially declare an animal extinct. Along the way, he compares rare animals to missing socks, finds a way to invoke Lizzo during an investigation of an endangered species of crabgrass, and learns about the disturbing concept of “dark extinctions.” 

Editor's Note: This episode was first published in October 2022. Since then, the US Fish and Wildlife Service officially delisted 21 of 23 proposed species due to extinction. The ivory-billed woodpecker billed-woodpecker-not-listed-210836713.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMxOYYKJGH2UoS55iyqxGX9o03eG-a2k29SjQeq0B5PKuUui5EZYHvQHe8CVVAoNHsPChK-HX853hlzDQMgJ3AMYO_ryYIMY2o6BVs6k8YPhOigSiKxGANtABBsTv_wI1a5g-sK2j7AWNMW8f7xMzcUwGOR4h5LcAmE5TneVGaRT">was not one of them. 

Featuring Sharon Marino, Arne Mooers, Sean O’Brien, Bill Nichols, and Wes Knapp.

Shirtless influencers on TikTok and Instagram have acquired millions of followers promoting the carnivore diet. They say studies linking meat consumption and heart disease are flawed — and plant foods are making people sick. "Western medicine is lying to you," says content-creator Dr. Paul Saladino, who co-owns a company selling desiccated cattle organs.

The online popularity of the carnivore diet is undeniable. Yet, no controlled studies have been published confirming its advertised benefits. 

Our friends at WBUR’s podcast Endless Thread look at how social media cooked up the anti-establishment wellness trend.

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LINKS

• "Red Shift" (The New Yorker)
• "The 'You’re doing it wrong'-ification of TikTok" (Vox)
• "The Evolution of Diet" (National Geographic)
• "change-food-eating-habits.html">Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered" (New York Times)
• "Against Meatposting" (Heated)
• Endless Thread's unedited interview with Dr. Paul Saladino (WBUR)
•  

CREDITS

Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi

Outside/In Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio

This episode of Endless Thread was written and produced by Dean Russell and Ben Brock Johnson. 

Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Endless Thread is a production of WBUR in Boston. 

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).

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.

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

Learn more about how the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation has worked with hempcrete, and how they hope it’ll transform their economy (Grist).

The 2018 Farm Bill inadvertently led to a multibillion-dollar market of hemp-derived THC products. Twenty-two AGs are now calling on congress to fix the legal loophole that has “[forced] cannabis-equivalent products into our economies regardless of states’ intentions to legalize cannabis use.” (The Hill)

Cannabis sativa in the US only came to be called “marijuana” in the early 1900s, when the anti-cannabis movement wanted to link it to its “Mexican-ness.” But, as The Mysterious History Of 'Marijuana' (NPR Code Switch) explains, the etymological origins of “marijuana” are still debated: does it come from the Chinese word ma ren hua? Or the Bantu word for cannabis: ma-kaña? Or something else?

Hemp for Victory! (YouTube)

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, mixed, and produced by Felix Poon.

Editing by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie

Our staff includes Justine Paradis.

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.

Special thanks to Fitsum Tariku, Director of the Building Science Centre of Excellence.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Mike Franklyn, Jules Gaia, Dusty Decks, and Rocket Jr.

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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).

It’s that special time again! Scientists everywhere hold their breath as the team opens the Outside/Inbox and answers listener questions about the natural world. In this episode, we consider Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl, an impulsive goat purchase, and a big night for salamanders. Plus, we’re graced with Nate’s rendition of a Tom Waits song. 

Questions:

1. What would NYC look like in 50 years if humans disappeared?
2. What if the earth had no moon?
3. Could humans survive a worst-case climate scenario?
4. Do birds have regional accents?
5. How do we keep wildlife safe when crossing the road?

Featuring Stephon Alexander, Luke Kemp, Chris Sturdy, and Sandi Houghton.

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Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.

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LINKS

Check out these gorgeous virtual-tour-virus.html">visualizations created by the Mannahatta Project, which has since been renamed the Welikia Project.

Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl died after crashing into a building earlier this month. His autopsy revealed his body to be riddled with rodenticide and pigeon herpes, cementing his status as “a real New Yorker” for some observers. Still, building collisions, rat poison, and disease are all major risks for birds of prey in urban environments.

CREDITS

Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Felix Poon, Taylor Quimby, and Justine Paradis 

Mixed by Justine Paradis

Edited by Taylor Quimby and Rebecca Lavoie

NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie

Music by blacksona, Katori Walker, Bisou, Young Community, Diamond Ortiz, Brightarm Orchestra, Kevin MacLeod, Tellsonic, Walt Adams, and ProleteR. 

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.

To save for retirement, common knowledge says to “diversify your portfolio.” Give your cash to a company so they can invest it into hundreds of other companies on the stock market. But unless you’ve gone out of your way to change it, your portfolio probably has little to do with your values. 

For example, there are climate activists invested in fossil fuel companies. Staunch vegans putting some of their hard-earned income into Tyson Foods. On the flip side, there are climate deniers with money in Tesla!

So is there a way to save for retirement that’s both good for your pocketbook… and good for the planet?

Featuring: Timothy Yee, Clara Vondrich, Kelly Shue

SUPPORT

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LINKS

Divestment helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the coal industry, according to this white paper from the Harvard Business School. However, divestment can also backfire, according to this study from Yale. 

Got a lot of time to kill? You can watch the recent SEC commissioner meeting where they voted to pass a weakened version of the climate disclosure rule. 

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi

Mixed by Nate Hegyi and Taylor Quimby

Editing by Taylor Quimby

Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon 

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Editor's Note: This episode first aired in July, 2023

With 'Oppenheimer,' director Christopher Nolan turned the Manhattan Project into an Academy-Award-winning blockbuster. The film is set in Los Alamos, where the first atomic bomb was tested. But few people know the history of Carrizozo, a rural farming area downwind of the test.

Radioactive fallout from the bomb settled on everything: the soil, gardens, and drinking water. Cow’s milk became radioactive. Later, hundreds of people developed radiogenic cancers. 

The people of Carrizozo were among the first people in the world exposed to a nuclear blast. More than 75 years later, their families are still fighting for medical compensation from the federal government.

Host Nate Hegyi traveled to New Mexico to visit the Trinity Site, and to hear the stories of so-called ‘downwinders.'

Featuring: Paul Pino, Tina Cordova, Ben Ray Lujan

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!).

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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

Read more about RECA (the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act) which passed in the U.S. Senate this March.  (Idaho Capital Sun)

The federal government has produced a few studies on the fallout from Trinity. This one from Los Alamos found that there was still contamination in the area in 1985. 

Another, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, produced one of the most in-depth histories of the fallout from Trinity and the government’s reaction.

The National Cancer Institute found that hundreds of people likely developed cancer because of the fallout. 

The history of Trinity is full of strange little details, like the desert toads that were croaking all night. 

You can find affidavits and first-hand accounts of the fallout from Trinity at the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium website. 

This review by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists explains why it’s so hard to determine a definitive death toll for the USI bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. 

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Editing help from Rebecca Lavoie, Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Jeongyoon Han

Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

If you grew up with family members who pushed (or dragged) you onto the trail, chances are you have strong memories associated with hiking. Epic vistas… swarms of black flies… and your dad’s terrible homemade gorp. 

Whether you grow up to see them as personal triumphs or family fiascos, those early adventures can shape your perception of the outdoors for life.Can parents shape kids into hardcore hikers? And what happens when your best-laid plans go off the map?

Featuring Sarah Lamagna, Nick Capodice, Daisy Curtin, Niles Lashway, Sarah Raiche, Tiffany Raiche, and Phineas Quimby

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

If you liked Sarah Lamagna’s tips on how to hike with children, you’ll find more in her recently published guidebook. 

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby

Edited by Rebecca Lavoie

Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon.

Executive producer: Taylor Quimby

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio

Music by Blue Dot Sessions, The New Fools, and SINY. 

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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).

A century ago, coastal dunes threatened to overwhelm the city of Florence, Oregon. The sand swallowed roads, highways, and houses. When “Dune” author Frank Herbert visited the area in 1957, he was stunned by the awesome power of the sand. Eventually, it inspired his fictional desert planet, Arrakis.

But now, the dunes that inspired “Dune” are disappearing. 

To solve the sand problem, the US Forest Service planted dunes with non-native beachgrass, hoping its strong roots would keep the dunes in place. The strategy worked… too well. The grass spread, out-competing native species and transforming the dunes. At one popular spot, roughly 60% of what was once open sand is now gone.

Producer Justine Paradis traveled to the Oregon Coast to see the mountains of sand which inspired a sci-fi classic, and meet the people working to save them.

Featuring Dina Pavlis, Patty Whereat Phillips, and Jesse Beers.

SUPPORT

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

Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.

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LINKS

These aerial photos demonstrate the dramatic changes in the Oregon dunes since 1941.

Dina Pavlis’ Secrets of the Oregon Dunes Facebook page

The Oregon dunes are the setting of an episode of “Lassie” (1964), in which a little girl gets lost in a sand storm. New hires at the Forest Service in Florence are shown this film during orientation.

The Siuslaw Public Library in Florence is home to the eclectic Frank Herbert collection, as reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. These are books donated by Herbert’s daughter which he was reading at the time he wrote ‘Dune,’ and are available to the public. Fans make the pilgrimage to browse the collection, which includes titles on the desert, politics in the Middle East, computation, Scottish folk singing, rug hooking, and much more.

Frank Herbert originally visited Florence to research a proposed magazine article on the Forest Service’s dune, as reported on the Siuslaw News. His (unsuccessful) proposal, “They Stopped the Moving Sands,” can be read in “The Road to Dune.”

An episode of Endless Thread about the time a six-year-old boy fell into a tree hole (he’s fine now) in Michigan City, Indiana.

CREDITS

Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis 

Edited by Taylor Quimby and Katie Colaneri

Our team also includes Felix Poon. 

NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie

Special thanks to Meg Spencer, Kegen Benson, Armand Rebischke, and Kevin Mittge. 

Music by Sarah the Illstrumentalist, Elm Lake, Chris Zabriskie, and Blue Dot Sessions.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.

In the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, dozens of strangers gathered together in the woods 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.

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. 

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

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.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon

Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Rebecca Lavoie.

Our staff also includes Justine Paradis

Taylor Quimby is our Executive Producer

Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio.

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Hanna Lindgren, and Walt Adams.

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

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).