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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

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

At the height of summer, when so many of us are grabbing picnic blankets, hitting the beach, and embracing an al fresco lifestyle, a tale of two outdoor events gone spectacularly wrong. 

Featuring Anika Krause, Samuel Edward-Cook, Eloise Barker, Simon Vargas, and Stephen Deng.

Produced by Marina Henke. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org 

SUPPORT 

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast. 

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

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS 

You can watch the 2014 production of Titus Andronicus on the Globe’s website. As discussed, it’s incredibly bloody. 
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Fiasco al fresco

For over ten years, biologist Mark Higley has been stalking the forests of the Hoopa Valley Reservation with a shotgun. His mission? To save the endangered northern spotted owl. How? By shooting the more aggressive barred owl, which has spread from eastern forests into the Pacific Northwest.

In 2024, the federal government made a plan to scale these efforts by killing hundreds of thousands of barred owls across multiple states. Today, despite lawsuits and opposition, that plan is just beginning to ramp up. 

But can it really save the northern spotted owl? And is the barred owl really “invasive”… or just expanding its range? In this episode, Nate Hegyi dons a headlamp and heads into the forest with Mark Higley to catch a glimpse of these two rivals, and find out what it takes to kill these charismatic raptors, night after night, in the name of conservation.

This episode was first published in 2024. 

Featuring Mark Higley, Tom Wheeler, and Wayne Pacelle. 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast. 

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

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS 

The federal government’s barred owl management plan is very long but they have a helpful list of frequently asked questions.

Check out some beautiful photos of Mark Higley’s work in this Audubon magazine story from a few years ago. 

Curious about the timber wars? Oregon Public Broadcasting has an excellent podcast miniseries you should listen to. 

Animal rights groups have sued to stop the plan from moving forward; in the meantime, People Magazine has reported that culling of barred owls is ramping up in the Yakama Indian Reservation.
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Night Owls

As consumers, we’re looking for a lot in our sunscreen. Not only do we want it to protect us from sunburns and skin cancer, we also want it to be invisible, lightweight, waterproof, nontoxic, shelf-stable, and cheap. 

Can we have it all in one product? Sometimes, the answer might be no. 

It’s high time for the Outside/In team to take a closer look at this surprisingly high-tech lotion that we apply every day (in theory). We review the definition of SPF, the choice between mineral and chemical filters, and if sunscreen is safe for our bodies and the environment. 

Featuring Anna Wang, David Whiteman, Ade Adamson, and Alexa Friedman.

Produced by Justine Paradis. For full transcript and credits, visit outsideinradio.org.

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast. 

Follow Outside/In on Instagram, TikTok, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sunscreen episode

To the American birder, spotting the Tamaulipas Crow is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime event. The crow's range is mostly in Mexico and extends ever so slightly into Texas, specifically in and around a dump called the Brownsville Landfill. Spotting the Tamaulipas — north of the border — means being able to check it off your American Bird Association Checklist.

So just how far will die-hard birders go to see this bird?

In this episode producer (and first-time birder) Michaela Elias sets out to the southern border with a group of experienced birder friends to find out. Together with her "wingmen" Michaela braves the Texas heat, crawls through brush and over slippery rocks, and risks getting attacked by dogs — to find out whether collecting bird sightings as if they're Pokémon is a meaningful way to engage with the natural world.

Featuring Jake Glassman, Joe Hack, and Joel Glassman. 

Produced by Michaela Elias. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast. 

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

LINKS

Check out the eBird app, a crowdsourced database of bird observations that lets you log all the birds you’ve seen and where you’ve seen them.
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How far would you go for a crow?

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It may also be the most hated. Tennis and basketball players are complaining about losing court space because of an “invasion” of pickleballers. Residents are losing sleep because of the incessant noise. Fights over pickleball have led to a slew of petitions, calls to the police, and even lawsuits.

So why do pickleball players love this sport so much? Just how annoying is it to everyone else? And what will it take for everyone to just get along? 

Producer Felix Poon visits one of the most popular courts in Boston to see how the drama is unfolding there.

This episode was originally reported in 2025.

Featuring Kemardo Henry, Martha Merson, Soren Whited, and Zariyah Cherise.

For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org. 
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The problem with pickleball

A listener recently asked, “Has the entire surface of earth at some point or another been covered in poop?” Turns out, there are some questions that even we can’t answer. 

In this installment of our regular mailbag segment, the Outside/Inbox, we do our best to take on your zany inquiries, or find experts who can. Here are this week’s questions:

 
Why was there a sudden spike in “dangerous carbon monoxide levels” during a snowstorm in New Hampshire?

 
Is there any official recognition for hiking the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail?

 
Why are live scorpions allowed in the mail?

 
Why do kids (and adults) chant “Do it! Do it! Do it!” and other chants?

 
Do all predators have forward-facing eyes?

Featuring Kathleen Simmons, Carlos Santibanez-Lopez, and Barb Lake.

Produced by Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.
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You’ve got scorpion

Whales have Free Willy. Dolphins have Flipper. But what about the humble porpoise? 

The porpoise doesn’t star in any Hollywood blockbusters. These shy, elusive “deer of the sea” are often overshadowed by their more charismatic cousins – but don’t let their social anxiety fool you. In fact, porpoises are speed-fiends with an insane metabolism and an outrageous sex drive.

Host Nate Hegyi and producer Marina Henke explore the Olympic sprinters of the sea and wonder if the fate of the endangered vaquita might hinge on being oh-so-very-cute. 

Featuring Michelle Dutro, Barb Lake and Ruxandra Guidi.

Produced by Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

Ripped logo credit: Jeremy Keith / Flickr

SUPPORT

We launched a Patreon! Become an Outside/Insider for just $5 a month, and you can get AD-FREE episodes of the podcast, plus access to behind-the-scenes blog posts and more. 

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

LINKS

The second season of Rux Guidi’s podcast, The Catch, covered the plight of the vaquita. 

In 1999, the Department of Defense studied the speed and hydrodynamics of dolphins, whales and porpoises to build better underwater drones. 

Here’s a picture of a porpoise penis, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. 
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Big porpoise energy

We launched a Patreon! Become an Outside/Insider for just $5 per month, and you can get AD-FREE episodes of the podcast, plus access to behind-the-scenes blog posts and more. 

Sardines are in vogue. Literally. They are in Vogue magazine. They’re delicious (subjectively), good for you, and sustainable… right? 

Recently, a listener called into the show asking about just that.

“I've always had this sense that they're a more environmentally friendly fish, perhaps because of being low on the food chain. But I'm realizing I really have no sense of what it looks like to actually fish for sardines,” Jeannie told us.

The Outside/In team got together to look beyond the sunny illustrations on the fish tins. Is there bycatch? What about emissions? Are sardines overfished? If we care about the health of the ocean, can we keep eating sardines?

This episode was originally published in 2025. 

Featuring Jeannie Bartlett, Malin Pinsky, and Zach Koehn.

Rip logo photo: Canned seafood by Jack Kennard (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 

Produced by Justine Paradis. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. 

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

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

A tinned fish renaissance

Put salt (aka sodium chloride) in your pasta water and you’ll end up with delicious spaghetti. Put pure sodium in it instead… and it will explode.

It’s the latest edition of “The Element of Surprise,” our occasional series about the hidden stories behind the periodic table’s most unassuming atoms, isotopes, and molecules. This time we’re talking all about sodium.

It’s the periodic table’s saltiest element. It powers your body like a battery and you need it to survive. So why is too much of it bad for you? Plus, how did salt help the North win the Civil War?

Featuring Raychelle Burks, Trisha Pasricha, Ashley Dumas.

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

Watch a 1947 newsreel of the US Army disposing thousands of pounds of pure sodium into a lake in Washington State, causing massive explosions.

See images of the Slanic Salt Mine in Romania and the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, now major tourist sites.

Check out Theodore Gray’s “Sodium Party” YouTube video series where he drops sodium chunks of various sizes into water to observe how they explode. Here’s the first video in the series.Want to learn more about the role of salt throughout human history? Read Mark Kurlansky’s Salt: A World History.
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Never add sodium to your pasta water

When 10-year-old Doug Crandell joined the 4-H program, he was supposed to learn about raising, feeding, and selling a cow. What he wound up learning was something else entirely.

“I wanted to be a hog man, like my father,” he said. “But I knew pretty early on that you couldn’t have these animals forever.”

From producer Shaina Shealy, this is the story of a boy and his cow, Speckles. 

Featuring Doug Crandell.

Produced by Shaina Shealy. 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.

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

The sunscreen episode

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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