Podcasts · Science

Outside/In

NHPR

300 episodes

Outside/In: Where curiosity and the natural world collide.

More about the show

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

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Why these food safety experts will eat rare steak, but not buffet fruit salad

    · 35 min

    Can you eat a tuna sandwich if it sits in your backpack all day? Is ceviche risky? And, after Hot Cyclospora Summer, are we allowed to eat lettuce yet? We brought your food safety questions to Don Schaffner and Ben…

  2. Introducing Heavyweight

    · 3:00

    Have you ever had something from your past that you just couldn't let go of? A friendship that suddenly ended, a question you never asked, or simply a moment where you've always wondered what really happened?…

  3. The secret origins of commercial coyote urine

    · 33 min

    Last spring, a curious listener called with an unusual question about coyote urine. Is it – as advertised by companies who sell it – an effective, all natural pest deterrent? And more importantly: “Who are the coyotes…

  4. The deer sharpshooters of Maui

    · 35 min

    Maui has a problem: too many deer, not enough hunters. So on a dark, humid night, Nate joined a group of elite hunters as they endeavor to turn an ecological nightmare into a source of profitable, high-protein venison.…

  5. Decoding nature's symphony

    · 33 min

    In 1985, electronic music pioneer Bernie Krause was asked to step in to help save a stranded humpback whale. Krause was known back then for being an evangelist of Moog synthesizers, not a whale whisperer. But from that…

  6. A dry river runs through it

    · 34 min

    Albuquerque and the Rio Grande go hand in hand. The river cuts right through town, which means if you leave your office at closing time, you could have your feet in the water before 6. But, not this past summer. This…

  7. Foiled! Napoleon's cutlery and the Aluminati

    · 31 min

    You might associate it with the foil that wraps leftover pizza and the shiny craft beer cans sold in breweries, but aluminum is literally everywhere. Scoop up a handful of soil or gravel anywhere on Earth and you’ll…

  8. Did #savethebees get it wrong?

    · 32 min

    Noah Wilson-Rich has made it his mission to save the bees — from colony collapse disorder, loss of habitat, and disease. He’s doing this not just as a scientist, but also as an entrepreneur. But is that a good thing?…

  9. Cosmic earthquake pizza

    · 32 min

    When an Outside/In listener asked the team to weigh in on a debate between him and his wife, perhaps we should have hesitated. But it was too good to resist. “We have eighteen-year old twin boys, and sometimes they…

  10. Scientists spoke up against a de-extinction company. Then the smears began.

    · 32 min

    When evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch heard the news that a $10 billion biotech company had brought the once extinct dire wolf back to life, he called foul. He took to the media to argue that these overhyped…

  11. City Summer, Country Summer

    · 32 min

    Growing up, Kiese Laymon thought of himself as a city kid. But he spent his childhood with a foot in two worlds: his mom’s house in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi and his grandma’s house in a rural country…

  12. If climate change were a choose-your-own-adventure story

    · 33 min

    Dean Russell had just wrapped several reporting projects on climate change, mental health, and COVID. “My world was just so serious,” he said. That’s when his boss approached Dean with an idea. What if they made a…

  13. The Willy Wonka factory of product testing

    · 32 min

    Producer Felix Poon goes on a field trip to the headquarters of Consumer Reports, where they test snow blowers on wet sawdust, drop bicycle helmets on anvils, and cover space heaters in towels to see how long it takes…

  14. Fiasco al fresco

    · 31 min

    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…

  15. Night Owls

    · 32 min

    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…

  16. The sunscreen episode

    · 33 min

    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.…

  17. How far would you go for a crow?

    · 35 min

    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…

  18. The problem with pickleball

    · 32 min

    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…

  19. You’ve got scorpion

    · 31 min

    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…

  20. Big porpoise energy

    · 31 min

    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…

  21. A tinned fish renaissance

    · 39 min

    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…

  22. Never add sodium to your pasta water

    · 32 min

    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…

  23. A cow named Speckles

    · 33 min

    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…

  24. In defense of darkness

    · 36 min

    Megan Eaves-Egenes grew up under the very starry skies of rural New Mexico. During those years, she developed a deep appreciation for astronomy. The fascination is, of course, not hers alone. But, a starry sky…

  25. Life and death and psilocybin

    · 33 min

    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…

  26. Silicon Planet

    · 33 min

    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…

  27. A Dry Hot American Summer

    · 31 min

    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…

  28. Like a Dirty Rotten Whale

    · 39 min

    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…

  29. The Dead Bird Rabbit Hole

    · 34 min

    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…

  30. The Microplastics Cleanse

    · 31 min

    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…

  31. A climate activist and a gas executive walk into a bar

    · 33 min

    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…

  32. The Raw Milk Question

    · 36 min

    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…

  33. Hunting Party

    · 39 min

    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.…

  34. Catching the Codfather

    · 1 h 00 min

    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…

  35. Red is the warmest color

    · 32 min

    There’s few certainties in life. But the sun will always rise, the seasons will change, and the Outside/Inbox will forever remain answered. From lighthouse paint hues to polar bear lovers, this week the team takes up…

  36. Reefer madness and the future of hemp

    · 30 min

    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…

  37. Goats, Ghosts, and Roadkill [Live stories from Portsmouth]

    · 55 min

    A few weeks ago, Nate gathered a group of storytellers in front of a live audience in Portsmouth, N.H. to celebrate 10 years of Outside/In. From goats to ghosts and ill-fated coloring book pages, this motley crew of…

  38. That's so raven

    · 33 min

    Ravens get a bad rap in western culture. They’re an ominous symbol of death, considered “unclean” by the bible, and star in Edgar Allen Poe’s haunting gothic poem, “The Raven.” A group of ravens is called an…

  39. The Emerald Forest

    · 32 min

    After the Irish fought for and won their independence from the British in 1921, they had a problem. Centuries of exploitation had left the island one of the least forested nations in Europe, with less than 2% tree…

  40. Safe to Drink, Episode 1: You don’t know about this?

    · 33 min

    A New Hampshire town finds out its water has been contaminated by a chemical. The most basic question — whether the water is safe to drink — doesn’t have a clear answer. Nobody seems to know much about this so-called…

  41. Remembering Christa

    · 31 min

    Last week, we talked about the ethics and regulations around sending private citizens to space, but one thing we didn’t linger on much was the lasting impact of Christa McAuliffe; the teacher slated to become the first…

  42. In Challenger's wake: The ethics of sending citizens to space

    · 31 min

    In 1985, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe was selected to become the first private citizen to travel to space. After the Challenger explosion that killed her and 6 other astronauts, NASA scrapped its Teacher in…

  43. Bill McKibben has changed (but not that much)

    · 31 min

    One of the very first books for the general public about climate change was written and published by Bill McKibben in 1989. In The End of Nature, Bill wrote that continuing to burn fossil fuels would “lead us, if not…

  44. nom nom nom

    · 30 min

    You might not think much about the sticky bottle of vanilla sitting in the back of your pantry. But that flavor – one of the most common in the world – has a fascinating history, involving a fickle orchid and a…

  45. Return of the Kiwi Apocalypse: 10 years of Outside/In

    · 35 min

    ** We’re celebrating our 10 year anniversary and want you to come! Join us in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a night of storytelling, featuring former Outside/In guests and hosted by our very own Nate Hegyi. Get your…

  46. How Broadway’s SFX designers make it rain (and snow) on stage

    · 31 min

    Over the past few decades, CGI has allowed directors to put virtually anything they can imagine onto the big screen. But in the world of theater, practical effects still rule supreme. So how do these special effects…

  47. The FernGully Effect

    · 35 min

    When Avatar came out in 2009, it shattered box-office records. And even though it was billed as a sci-fi epic featuring blue aliens on a far-away moon, the movie didn’t shy away from a pretty Earth-based message of…

  48. Time heals all wounds

    · 30 min

    Did you know that some species of worms can be cut into multiple pieces and each piece will make a new worm? Some can even make a whole new brain. Wild, right? While not all forms of healing are quite as miraculous as…

  49. Of Men and Mice

    · 42 min

    At any given time, millions of lab mice are being used in research facilities nationwide. And yet nearly all of them can be connected back to a single source: The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, where the…

  50. On the mend: 8 tips on how to repair your clothes

    · 31 min

    The garment industry has a giant carbon footprint, labor issues, and a massive waste problem. We have the power to change how and where we shop, but there’s another way to shift our consumption: the practice of…

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