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
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Like a typecast actor who can’t escape the blockbuster franchise they’re known for, the element of silicon is inescapably associated with Silicon Valley. But that association undersells just how important, how foundational silicon is for human civilization.
It’s another edition of “The Element of Surprise,” our occasional series about the hidden stories behind the periodic table’s most unassuming atoms, isotopes, and molecules. And this time, it’s all about silicon.
From humankind’s early tools, to the quartz crystal hidden in your digital watch, we’ll cover how this underrated element has a lot more to offer than one California valley might suggest.
Featuring Vince Beiser, Megan Brewster, and Rachel Maines.
Produced by Taylor Quimby. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.
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LINKS
Still confused about the difference between silicon, silica, and silicone? We think this explanation is helpful.
See the inside of a silicon wafer fab. It’s wild.
Or watch this old video on how silicon wafers are made. Also wild.
If you are very into watches, you might enjoy this detailed history of how the “Quartz Crisis” upended the Swiss watch industry.
Want to learn more about the environmental impacts of sand mining? Check out this 2019 UNEP report.
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A Dry Hot American Summer
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 • Duration 31:22
In the spring of 1936, the producer of King Kong hauled a film crew to the desert of Arizona to shoot a sweeping romantic epic. But the heat was so punishing that it melted film stock, caused the lead actress to pass out, and killed the production’s mascot – a baby camel.
It was the beginning of a heat wave that parked itself over America for months, quickly becoming one of the deadliest natural disasters in our country’s history. It blew up sidewalks, cooked onions in the ground, claimed at least 12,000 lives, and turned the United States into a literal frying pan.
Host Nate Hegyi talks with Geoff Williams, author of the forthcoming book The Summer of Death, about a ‘heat horror show’ that transformed American life 90 years ago, and what lessons it gives us on how to survive a hotter world today.
Featuring Geoff Williams
Produced by Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.
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LINKS
You can check out Geoff’s book, The Summer of Death, here.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech about the impacts of the drought and heat wave in the fall of 1936.
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Reefer madness and the future of hemp
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 • Duration 30:15
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.
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Ed Yong and The Spoonbill Club
Thursday, June 20, 2024 • Duration 24:53
Ed Yong’s writing about the pandemic in Atlantic Magazine was read by millions of Americans. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for his coverage.
But behind the scenes, he was struggling with burnout, anxiety and depression.
Host Nate Hegyi sits down with Ed for a conversation about how he decided to step back from pandemic reporting, the benefits (and possible drawbacks) of birdwatching for mental health, and the unexpected club that’s bringing two halves of his life together.
Featuring Ed Yong.
SUPPORT
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LINKS
Ed wrote an eerily predictive story about how America was not prepared for a pandemic in 2018.
You can find a link to all of Ed’s reporting for Atlantic Magazine here.
A description of “spoon theory” in Psychology Today.
For more information about the Spoonbill Club, check out Ed’s newsletter.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi
Mixed by Taylor Quimby, with help from our intern, Catherine Hurley
Editing by Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradise 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
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Winter Rangers
Thursday, June 13, 2024 • Duration 40:09
During their twelve seasons as winter rangers in Yosemite National Park, Rob and Laura Pilewski have learned a thing or two about what it means to love a place – and a person.
This episode comes to us from the wonderful folks at The Dirtbag Diaries, another podcast that features stories about conservation, epic adventures, and more.
Featuring Rob and Laura Pilewski
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.
CREDITS
Host of The Dirtbag Diaries: Fitz Cahall
This episode was reported, produced and edited by Lauren DeLaunay Miller
Mixing by Evan Phillips
The Dirtbag Diaries Executive Producer: Becca Cahall
Music from Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto, Brian Bombadil, Joya, Roma 49, Garland, and Brendan O’Connell
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Our staff includes Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon. Catherine Hurley is our intern.
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wolves, water, and global weirding
Thursday, June 6, 2024 • Duration 24:45
What do wolves, waste-water treatment plants, and the Gulf Stream have in common? This episode, that’s what! It’s that wonderful time when we comb through all your wonderful questions and call up some scientists to help us answer them. Some of the more unlikely things that get brought up include dinosaur pee, abandoned shopping carts, and wolves preying on cheese curds.
Here’s what’s on the docket:
Why is dog saliva slimier than human saliva?
Why do wolves get relocated in the middle of winter?
What if the Gulf Stream “shut down?”
How do wastewater treatment plants work?
Featuring Eric Odell, Alice Ren, and Sri Vedachalam.
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.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby, Justine Paradis, and Felix Poon
Editing by Taylor Quimby.
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Baegul, Hatamitsunami, and King Sis.
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dead bird rabbit hole
Thursday, May 30, 2024 • Duration 34:06
Every December, during the Christmas Bird Count, 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.
Featuring Melissa Breyer, Linda LaBella, Gitanjali Bhattacharjee, Katherine Chen, and Tristan Higginbotham
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.
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Taylor Quimby
Editing by Rebecca Lavoie and Nate Hegyi.
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.
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Department of Living Animals
Thursday, May 23, 2024 • Duration 31:07
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC is sometimes called “the people’s zoo.” That’s because it’s the only zoo in the country to be created by an act of US Congress, and admission is free.
But why did our federal government create a national zoo in the first place?
Producer Felix Poon has the scoop – from its surprising origins in the near-extinction of bison, to a look at its modern-day mission of conservation, we’re going on a field trip to learn all about the National Zoo.
Featuring Kara Ingraham, Daniel Frank, and Ellie Tahmaseb.
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
William Hornaday founded the National Zoo, but his legacy is complicated, to say the least. Environmental journalist Michelle Nijhuis contemplates whether he’s a “villainous hero or heroic villain” (PBS).
“A Chinese cigarette tin launched D.C.’s 50-year love affair with pandas” tells the origin story of pandas at the National Zoo (The Washington Post).
The story of Ota Benga, the man who was caged by William Hornaday in the Bronx Zoo (The Guardian).
Environmental writer Emma Marris imagines a world without zoos in her opinion essay, “Modern Zoos Are Not Worth the Moral Cost” (NYTimes).
We looked at the court case of Happy the elephant in our 2022 Outside/In episode, “Et Tu, Brute? The Case for Human Rights for Animals.”
CREDITS
Host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Felix Poon
Editing by Taylor Quimby.
Our staff includes Justine Paradis
Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
Thanks to Nick Capodice for performing William Hornaday voiceovers.
Music by Bluedot Sessions and Jules Gaia
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The papyrus and the volcano
Thursday, May 16, 2024 • Duration 36:40
While digging a well in 1750, a group of workers accidentally discovered an ancient Roman villa containing over a thousand papyrus scrolls. This was a stunning discovery: the only library from antiquity ever found in situ. But the scrolls were blackened and fragile, turned almost to ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Over the centuries, scholars’ many attempts to unroll the fragile scrolls have mostly been catastrophic. But now, scientists are trying again, this time with the help of Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology we’ve got: particle accelerators, CT scanners, and AI.
After two thousand years, will we finally be able to read the scrolls?
Featuring Federica Nicolardi, Brent Seales, Youssef Nader, Arefeh Sherafati, and Julian Schilliger.
SUPPORT
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Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
LINKS
The Vesuvius Challenge is not over. Find out more here.
Check out more pictures of the scrolls and the process of “virtual unwrapping” at the Digital Restoration Initiative website, or watch Brent Seales lecture about his technique.
A 60 Minutes story (2018) focusing on the conflict between Seales and scholars Vito Mocella and Graziano Ranocchia.
A replica of the marble floor discovered by Italian farmworkers in 1750.
A video illustrating the process of “virtual unwrapping” with a jelly roll.
Contestant Casey Handmer’s blog post detailing his identification of the “crackle signal” to the ink.
CREDITS
Outside/In host: Nate Hegyi
Reported, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis
Edited by Taylor Quimby
Our team also includes Felix Poon.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie
Music in this episode came from Silver Maple, Xavy Rusan, bomull, Young Community, Bio Unit, Konrad OldMoney, Chris Zabriski, and Blue Dot Sessions.
Volcano recordings came from daveincamas on Freesound.org, License Attribution 4.0 and felix.blume on freesound.org, Creative Commons 0.
Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Kings and Queens of "the Water Prom"
Thursday, May 9, 2024 • Duration 45:18
The Colorado River – and the people that rely on it – are in a state of crisis. Climate change and overuse are taking a significant toll. Seven states must compromise and reach a solution to prevent the river from collapsing.
In late 2023, tensions were running high between the major players in the water world as they convened at the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas. LAist Correspondent Emily Guerin was there, seeking to learn as much as she can about the people with the most power on the river, including a sharply-dressed 28-year-old from California.
This episode comes to us from the podcast Imperfect Paradise, which is releasing a whole series on the Colorado River water crisis.
SUPPORT
Donate $10 per month and get our new “I axolotl questions” mug!
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
Agriculture uses a lot of the Colorado River - what if we replaced that farmland with solar panels?
Speaking of farms, most of the crops raised with Colorado River water don’t go to people. They go to cows.
CREDITS
This episode was written and reported by Emily Guerin
Imperfect Paradise host: Antonia Cereijido
Fact-checking by Gabriel Dunatov.
Mixing and Imperfect Paradise theme music by E. Scott Kelly with additional music by Andrew Eapen.
Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi
Outside/In Executive producer: Taylor Quimby
Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon
Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio
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).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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