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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

President Trump recently signed an executive order to make certain psychedelic drugs more available to treat mental health conditions like depression and PTSD. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joe Rogan were in the oval office, and President Trump even joked during the signing ceremony, “can I have some, please?” 

Maybe this executive order wasn’t on your 2026 political bingo card… but interest in these substances for mental health isn’t new. In this episode, we’re revisiting the story of Kathy Kral. In the midst of her battle with cancer, Kathy found herself facing a diagnosis of major depression.

So, she signed up for a clinical study to see if psilocybin – the psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms” – could help her confront her fears about cancer and death, as well as her deepest inner demons.

This episode was first published in 2023. Featuring Kathleen Kral, Manish Agrawal, and Norma Stevens.

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

Trump’s order is a milestone for proponents of using psychedelics as medicine. (NPR)

Listen to the Sunstone Psilocybin Spotify Playlist that patients listen to during their psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life and death and psilocybin

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.

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

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

Silicon Planet

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.

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

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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A Dry Hot American Summer

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

A Dry Hot American Summer

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