Episode 6: A New Conservation

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Why humans might have to alter nature, in order to save it

What should conservation look like, in a world where people have affected every inch of the planet?

“The places that we think of as wilderness are highly managed, and the places that we think of as trash are really wild.”
— Emma Marris

Environmental writer Emma Marris, author of Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, joins us to discuss a new approach to caring for the earth.

She argues that we shouldn't just focus on preserving "pristine" environments -- shouldn't try to freeze every landscape in time. Instead, she says, we need to expand our definition of wildness, and celebrate change.

Copyright Harley Soltes

Copyright Harley Soltes

Episode 5: Life In The Antarctic

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A scientist recounts the harrowing quest for life beneath the ice

 

Antarctica is dotted with a series of lakes buried deep beneath the ice. Several years ago, scientists set out to discover whether those subglacial lakes contain life. Team member Trista Vick-Majors joins us to offer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at what it’s like to work in one of the most extreme places on the planet – a place so remote and unforgiving that failure seems imminent every step of the way. 

To find out more about the discoveries Trista's team made at Subglacial Lake Whillans, check out the paper they published in the journal Nature.

Episode 4: Racing Marathons in a Wheelchair

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How a woman with a disability became a world-class athlete

Cheri Blauwet has been a wheelchair user since earliest childhood. But that hasn't kept her away from outdoor sports. She's won some of the country’s most competitive marathons and come home with several medals, including a gold, in the Paralympics. In this episode, we discuss what it was like becoming a world class racer, when you have a disability like hers – a disability that would stop many of us from pursuing any kind of significant outdoor activities.

 

Cheri Blauwet was featured in one of the 2008 Olympic/Paralympic Go World Campaign spots. Video courtesy Cheri Blauwet.

Episode 3: Pedaling and Paddling

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What happens when the person you love doesn't love what you do?

This is a story about love. Love between two people who bonded over their passion for the outdoors, but who eventually realized that the thing they had in common was also one of their biggest differences. Their story will take us to the mountains of Wyoming, and the rivers of Arizona. And it’ll show us how hard it can be to share the thing you love most, with the person you love most.

photo courtesy dewey gallegos

photo courtesy dewey gallegos

photo courtesy jessica flock

photo courtesy jessica flock

Photo courtesy dewey Gallegos

Photo courtesy dewey Gallegos

Episode 2: Over The Hill

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How one woman became an Olympic athlete at 'retirement age'

Biathlete Sarah Konrad skies in Kontiolahti, Finland. (photo courtesy sarah konrad)

Biathlete Sarah Konrad skies in Kontiolahti, Finland. (photo courtesy sarah konrad)

Sarah Konrad is an Olympian who's competed in both cross-country skiing and biathlon, a sport that combines skiing and rifle shooting. Unlike most Olympic-level athletes, she did not grow up doing these sports. In fact, she didn’t start competing seriously until the age that many athletes are already retiring.

 

Episode 1: Living With The Deer

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Wyoming naturalist joins game herd, 'becomes' a mule deer

Joe Hutto has spent the past eight years living with a herd of deer. He's a wildlife researcher, and he felt that the best way to understand the animals he was studying, was to essentially become one of them. This is the story of how he did that. It’s a story of love, of curiosity, and ultimately of sadness. And it’s a story about what happens when the line between fact and feeling becomes blurred. 

Joe Hutto stands with members of his herd of mule deer near Lander, Wyoming. (photo courtesy joe hutto)

Joe Hutto stands with members of his herd of mule deer near Lander, Wyoming. (photo courtesy joe hutto)