Outside/In
122 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 752 ratingsOur connection to the outdoors runs deep in our DNA, but our relationship to the natural world can be complicated. From the unintended human costs of clean energy, to the murky ethics of high-risk rescue missions, to our seemingly eternal conflict with invasive species, we dive head first into those complexities with stories, in-depth reporting, and a touch of nerdiness. You don’t have to be a conservation biologist, a whitewater kayaker, or an obsessive composter to love Outside/In. It’s a show for anyone who has ever been outdoors. In short, it’s a show for *almost* everyone. Hosted by Sam Evans-Brown, Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
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Episodes
Nature Has Done Her Part
February 06, 2020 21:35 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn New England, the Waterman name is like mountain royalty. But beyond a tight circle of outdoors-people, they're not a household name. Today, we tell the story of one of the most influential voices in American wilderness philosophy, Laura Waterman, and how she has changed following the death of her husband.
A Battle of Tiny Proportions
January 23, 2020 21:07 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBA government bureaucrat builds a website that saves a billion gallons in gas. The minuscule Irish invention that enables the industrial revolution. An innovation for doctor’s gloves kicks off women’s liberation. An ill wind leads to America being stuck with the gallon forever. On this episode, we present a series of small “nudges” (but not actual nudges) that have had profound impacts for the environment… or maybe not the environment, maybe just generally. Head to our website and...
Leo Rising
January 10, 2020 01:36 - 37 minutes - 53 MBDepending on who you ask, astrology is a science, an art, a form of therapy… or, a pseudo-science, fortune-telling, a scam. But astrology is way more than a horoscope. Check us out online, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Chasing The Light
December 20, 2019 04:03 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBFrom the ancient charcoal animals of France's Chauvet Cave, to 17th century Dutch windmill paintings, art history can tell us a lot about our evolving view of the natural world. In this episode, producer Taylor Quimby (a self-described art-world neophyte) searches for individual works and genres through history that reveal something interesting about human society and the outdoors. This episode has visual aids - so click this link or find us on Instagram to follow along with the sho...
A Year of Wonders
December 05, 2019 20:57 - 31 minutes - 43.5 MBAs extreme weather wreaks havoc around the globe NPR's Throughline looks at a natural disaster more than 200 hundred years ago that had far-reaching effects. This week, how the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki awed, terrified and disrupted millions around the world and changed the course of history. Outside/In needs your help. Click here to find out how you can support the show. There's lots of great swag to choose from (so check out the thank-you gifts!) but for $100 a mont...
Jesabel Y Eddie
November 21, 2019 22:03 - 34 minutes - 47.7 MBBefore Hurricane Maria hit in September of 2017, Puerto Rico's rickety electric grid was a notorious headache. After the storm, it was a crisis. This is the story of how a pair of star-crossed lovers came to see nuclear as the unlikely solution to Puerto Rico's energy woes, and how their vision for the island might be changing the way we approach power... even if their plan never comes to pass. Outside/In needs your help. Click here to find out how you can support the show. There...
The Particular Sadness of Trout Fishing in America
November 12, 2019 13:54 - 37 minutes - 52.2 MBPeople love fishing for trout. They love it so much that we are willing to go to insane lengths to catch them. But what should we make of the fact that much of that experience of fishing for trout is just a facsimile of what it once was… and may actually be bad for the very same fish, that we so love to catch? Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bug
October 24, 2019 19:09 - 30 minutes - 41.6 MBWhen most of us heard about the "insect apocalypse" we were worried. When producer Jimmy Gutierrez heard it, he thought "this is great." Today he takes a journey in which he tries to learn to appreciate our many-legged companions. Want to read a transcript or support the podcast? Check out our website.
Ask Sam: Grandpa's Rhubarb
October 10, 2019 21:18 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MBSam answers questions about rethinking the toilet, line-dry laundry, rhubarb, and sleeping mosquitoes. Find moreOutside/In.
Cold, Dark, and Sharky
September 25, 2019 19:30 - 41 minutes - 56.4 MBLast year, two people were attacked by sharks on Cape Cod, and one died. The result has been a media frenzy that really you have to see to believe. Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Patient Zero: The Laser
September 12, 2019 17:23 - 45 minutes - 63 MBWhen it feels like doctors have closed the door to establishment medicine, another set of doors open. These doors lead to dubious providers, and untested treatments. Click hereto donate $20 and get ad-free episodes of Patient Zero a week early and bonus content.
Patient Zero: The Vector
August 29, 2019 18:15 - 27 minutes - 37.2 MBA perfect carrier of disease. A race underneath your skin. The part we know, before we get to the parts we don't. Click hereto donate $20 and get ad-free episodes of Patient Zero a week early and bonus content.
Patient Zero: The Triangle
August 15, 2019 10:00 - 45 minutes - 63 MBWhen you're fighting off a cold or flu, it's easy to imagine the battle is being waged solely inside the confines of your body. But in order to spread, pathogens rely on nearly every aspect of our shared societies. Food and drink, social customs, our proximity to animals, urban design, income inequality: The science of epidemiology connects them all. Patient Zero investigates the spaces where people and pathogens collide. It is a story about Lyme disease, but it is also a story ...
Introducing Patient Zero
July 23, 2019 13:39 - 4 minutes - 4.16 MBA first look at Patient Zero, a series we'll be putting out next month! Hosted by Outside/In's Taylor Quimby. Sweet new theme by Ty Gibbons. First episode drops mid-August! Find more at patientzeropodcast.com.
Can You Feel the Lies Tonight
July 04, 2019 20:12 - 41 minutes - 56.9 MBWith Disney's reboot of The Lion King hitting theaters, does the original still hold up all these years later? In this episode, the team revisits an epic tale of class, land rights, and destiny... and critiques the landscapes, animals, and themes that so many 90's kids grew up watching. And once again, Jimmy defends the reputation of hyenas. Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitterand Instagram
Plan B
June 20, 2019 20:00 - 32 minutes - 45.2 MBEver since the threat of climate change was first made public, scientists have offered the possibility of a get-out-of-jail-free card: geoengineering. While reducing emissions is hard and complicated, why not just engineer the Earth's atmosphere in the meantime? Decades later, the science of geoengineering is still in its infancy, but a growing number of researchers are trying to change that. Should they? Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitterand Ins...
Swimming Lessons
June 06, 2019 19:35 - 37 minutes - 52 MBSwimming is something that is more or less a part of human experience, depending on who you are, where you are, when you are alive in history. More than half of Americans can't perform all of the basic swimming skills. On this episode, two stories that explore our relationship with the water, and why people do or don’t learn to swim. Check out our website, outsideinradio.org And follow us on Twitterand Instagram
I'm a Penguin Counter for God's Sake!
May 23, 2019 20:00 - 19 minutes - 27 MBTraveling to Antarctica to hang with penguins on the company dime likely seems like the dream assignment for a journalist... or anyone. Ron Naveen has been living that dream, counting penguins by hand for decades. And today you're going to hear about that work from our friends at the PBS Newshour's podcast "The Last Continent." Find moreOutside/In.
Operation Confirmation Bias
May 10, 2019 00:22 - 50 minutes - 68.9 MBToday on the podcast, a story that seemed like a perfect fit Outside/In that wound up going places that we didn’t expect to go. When workers at the American embassy Cuba claimed to have been attacked by a mysterious weapon that left no trace, it led to a major shift in American diplomacy towards the Caribbean socialist state. But the story has also led to a split in journalism, stemming from the sources different kinds of journalists rely on. This story forces us to ask: how do we ...
Ask Sam: Bidets the Day
April 25, 2019 16:32 - 27 minutes - 38.3 MBAsk Sam: that special segment when scientists cringe as Sam and the team speculate wildly on answers to a diverse range of questions from listeners before calling in the real experts. This time we tackle paper towels, cow poop, body temperature, and weighing whales. Find more Outside/In
Pants on Fire
April 18, 2019 18:05 - 31 minutes - 42.9 MBTextiles are all around us. We live in them, sleep on them, sit on them, walk on them, live in houses filled with them. It’s one of the biggest industries in the world. But it’s also one with a big problem and, at least for consumers in the United States, a largely invisible one - textile waste. Today, we’re tearing the very shirt off your back to explore the old is new approach to textiles that could eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Find more Outside/In
Must Love Logs
April 12, 2019 16:20 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBThis month, Outside/In is asking for your support. Your donations will keep the show kicking butt, and help us make our next big series! Plus, we’ve got special (limited-edition, super-twee) swag, handcrafted with an actual branding iron. Donate here . You hike, you fish, you camp… and you’re single. When you’re looking for love, what is the importance of being “outdoorsy”? And how do you communicate your identity — and expectations for potential matches — on an online dating prof...
Killing Cats, Saving Numbats
April 04, 2019 20:42 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBIn Australia, conventional conservation wisdom has stated that in order to save the small indigenous mammals, it's necessary to kill invasive predators. But is it? Today on the show, we follow environmental writer Emma Marris as she explores the concept, and possible limits, of compassionate conservationism. Also, are you noticing that we're in your feed a little early? That's because this month, we're asking for you to pitch in and support the podcast with a donation, and because...
The Family Business
March 28, 2019 20:09 - 58 minutes - 81 MBThe Sununus are one of New Hampshire's grandest families. John H. Sununu was governor and White House Chief of Staff. One of his sons, John E. Sununu, was a U.S. congressman and senator, and another, Chris Sununu, is governor today. In their roles of political power, all of these men have faced a different landscape with regard to climate change, and what it means to be a Republican. Today, we track that party's evolution on the subject, through the frame of this one family. For f...
Hunting The Night Parrot
March 14, 2019 13:53 - 33 minutes - 45.5 MBFor a long time, the elusive night parrot of the Australian outback was believed to be extinct. Then, an experienced birder with a reputation for dubious finds offered up foolproof evidence that the bird is still alive: photographs, feathers, and birdsong that he promises is the real deal. This week on the show, we're featuring our Australian podcast pal Ann Jones, host of ABC's Off-Track, as she heads out into the bush to try and capture sound from a bird few have ever heard. Sign...
10X10: Under The Ice
February 28, 2019 19:42 - 22 minutes - 31.6 MBIn our 10X10 series, we examine places that might not seem all that interesting... places like your typical frozen pond. Sure, on the surface it's a wind-swept desert of crunchy snow and frigid temperatures, but drill a few inches down though, and you'll discover a world turned upside-down. In this episode, we give the down low on bizarre properties of water, fish that thrive in a capped-off environment, and long beards of algae clinging to the underside of a secret ecosystem few h...
Leave No Stone
February 14, 2019 18:12 - 37 minutes - 51 MBOutdoorsy types are the among the biggest ambassadors of Leave No Trace, a set of principles and best practices for sharing and conserving wilderness areas. But while most people agree on the broad strokes - DON'T SCREW UP NATURE! - sorting out the details can be an emotional and argumentative affair... especially when it comes to rocks. Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
32 Is the New 40
January 31, 2019 20:33 - 28 minutes - 39.6 MBThe 40-hour workweek is as American as apple pie, and it’s been around almost as long. So, is it finally time to re-think our Monday-through-Friday lifestyle? With modern mechanization and automation, should we all have more leisure time? And what would that mean for the environment? Producer Jimmy Gutierrez looks into the history of work culture, where it’s being challenged, and makes the argument that we ALL should be working less, you know, to save the planet. Sign up for our n...
Falling Doesn't Count
January 17, 2019 21:41 - 44 minutes - 60.7 MBHere's a humdinger of a thought experiment: How fast could people go before the combustion engine and other technologies drastically increased the speed of the human race? And how did they pull it off? Skis? Sled-dogs? Catapults? From ancient horseriders and viking ships to primitive luges and "Russian Mountains", the Outside/In team researches all sorts of old-fashioned methods of locomotion and presents biggest the speed trial of the millennium. If you've got your own ideas about...
Rake and Ride
January 03, 2019 18:07 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MBPirate trails are everywhere: the pioneers of mountain biking built them on private land, public land and everything in between. They were built by riders just looking for a place to take their new bikes, and in the process they simply appropriated land that they wanted for their trails. But what happens when the evolution of a sport threatens the very thing that made it so attractive in the first place? Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Just Decide
December 20, 2018 16:38 - 34 minutes - 47 MBEveryone's heard of Vikings - their daring North Atlantic voyages, their mysterious runes. But there's another ancient culture in Arctic Scandinavia that's much older, and just as fascinating - the Sámi. While the Vikings have been celebrated, Sámi music, language and traditions were forced underground. Why? Check out Threshold at thresholdpodcast.org And find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Now I am an Axolotl
December 06, 2018 19:14 - 36 minutes - 51.1 MBThere's only one place in the world that you can find the axolotl—the Mexican salamander—in the wild. This creature is the living embodiment of Xolotl, the Aztec god of heavenly fire, of lightning and the underworld, and the renegade twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. But the wild axolotl’s fate might be bound to the Aztecs by more than myth: its life in 21st century could rely on a landscape both very old and very human. Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org
Ask Sam: Trichomes, Bug hair, Bug Tumors, & Mollusk Shells
November 21, 2018 20:37 - 22 minutes - 30.6 MBAsk Sam: that special time when scientists worldwide cringe as Sam & the team speculate wildly on a diverse range of topics before picking up the phone to call in the real experts. This time, we've got another hirsute mystery: Are insect and plant hairs also made from the magical (seeming) protein called keratin? Also, do bugs get cancer? And which came first: the chachalaca (not a typo) or the turkey? The Ask Sam Hotline (1-844-GO-OTTER) is always open, so do your best to stump...
The Meat Matrix
November 08, 2018 19:10 - 50 minutes - 68.8 MBListener feedback is a big part of working in radio and podcasting. We try to look for the lesson in every critical email, phone call, or tweet (even the cranky ones). However, there is one listener who has probably gotten in touch with producers at New Hampshire Public Radio more than any other - a vegan advocate named Laura Slitt. Her approach hasn’t always made it easy to take her seriously. Today, we’ve got a deeply personal story from producer Taylor Quimby, who last year deci...
So Over Population [Part 2]
October 25, 2018 20:28 - 37 minutes - 51.7 MBToday the second in our two-part series on the politics of population. In this episode, we’re digging into the story of how around the turn of the millennium, population got all tangled up in immigration in one vote at the Sierra Club. That ugly fight represents a pivot point for the movement: a transition from the environmental politics of the 70s and 80s to the environmental politics of today. Find more at outsideinradio.org
So Over Population [Part 1]
October 11, 2018 22:39 - 35 minutes - 49.4 MBToday, we’re talking about population. How it went from being on the front pages of our newspapers and all over late night television to being the issue that you’ll only hear from out of the mouth of comic book super-villain Thanos. It's a big story, so we're spending two episodes on it. Also, we promised you a link to David Roberts' Vox piece, so here's that. Find more at outsideinradio.org
O/I Presents: Bear Brook
October 04, 2018 10:06 - 38 minutes - 53.4 MBTwo barrels. Four bodies. And the decades-long mystery that led to a serial killer. A special look at a new podcast from NHPR, Bear Brook: A podcast about a cold case that's changing how murders will be investigated forever. www.bearbrookpodcast.com
This Isn't Science, It's a Love Story
September 13, 2018 17:02 - 37 minutes - 52.2 MBToday, we’re giving you an inside look at what it takes to make the podcast. A bunch of people make this show, which means that our ideas meetings almost inevitably turn into total chaos when one of us starts shouting our favorite facts about our favorite animals. This time, we gave up. Rather than fight it, we’re leaning in to bring you four stories about animals. Or rather… four cases for animals that are the best… the coolest… the niftiest… however you want to define that. And w...
Shrunk and Punk'd
August 30, 2018 20:25 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MBNews flash: men aren't the only people who enjoy the outdoors. No sh*#, right? But the outdoor gear industry has only recently started to realize that there are more people wanting high quality gear than traditionally fit men. Today, we're digging in to the fraught relationship between the gear industry and gender. When do women actually need something different, and when are companies just looking to make more money by selling women a product that is essentially the same thing......
The Sky is Burning
August 16, 2018 20:38 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBThere are between eight and ten thousand wildfires in the United States each year, but most quietly burn out and we never hear about them. The Pagami Creek Wildfire in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area was supposed to be like that, but things turned out differently. And Greg and Julie Welch were camping right in its path.
10x10 - Pine Barren
August 02, 2018 20:28 - 24 minutes - 33.8 MBAnother year… another record-breaking wildfire season. Thanks to climate change the fire season now starts sooner and ends later. Scientists also say climate change will make lightning more frequent, and winds more powerful… basically the world is a tinderbox. But what if I told you that maybe the problem with all these big, out of control fires was *not enough* fire.
Loser Wolves: A Cat Fancy
July 19, 2018 20:12 - 38 minutes - 53.1 MBBengal cat is an attempt to preserve the image of a leopard in the body of a house cat — using a wild animal’s genes, while leaving out the wild animal personality. But is it possible to isolate the parts of a wild animal that you like, and forgo the parts that you don’t? Can you have your leopard rosette, and your little cat too?
Molto Moleche
July 05, 2018 17:40 - 20 minutes - 28 MBIt took 200 years of dealing with with the invasive European green crab before American scientists finally decided to head back to the source. And when they did, they discovered that the invasive scourge of our estuaries is a straight up Italian delicacy.
The Most Dangerous Game
June 21, 2018 17:57 - 33 minutes - 46.1 MBShow that you love Outside/In! (And stick it to the guy in the corner office) Click here to donate: https://goo.gl/ijzVaZ On June 27th, 1981, a bodybuilder, a stockbroker, and 10 other men entered the woods of New Hampshire, determined to settle an argument. They called it The First Annual Survival Game, and the details are the stuff of the legend. The game marked the birth of a multi-billion dollar sports industry, but also sheds light on the squishy art of myth-making.
The Forest for the Treesap
June 07, 2018 17:11 - 36 minutes - 50.8 MBShow that you love Outside/In! (And stick it to the guy in the corner office) Click here to donate: https://goo.gl/ijzVaZ Mysteries are brewing in the sugar shack. Changes are coming to New England’s sugar bushes. And the very identity of a product that we’ve been crafting in basically the same way for centuries, could be on the verge of a radical shift. But a shift towards what?
Ride or Die
May 24, 2018 20:32 - 32 minutes - 44.1 MBStorm chasing is a pursuit we love to hate in the comment section, but if you look at the TV ratings, or YouTube views, it’s clear that we can’t look away, either. So what motivates chasers to actively put themselves in front of a storm when everyone is else is taking shelter? And, ultimately, do we owe them an apology?
Ask Sam: Hair of the Dog, Walking Fish and the Truth About Palm Trees
May 10, 2018 16:23 - 23 minutes - 32.3 MBCuriosity abounds in the listener ranks and the Ask Sam Hotline (1-844-GO-OTTER) has been ringing off the hook! Sam and the gang tackle your questions about decorative fountains, land fish and the difference between dog hair and dog fur. Oh, and think you love wood stoves? Think again. It's time for another Sam Ruined It!
Stay In Your Lane
April 26, 2018 14:42 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBIf you ask John Forester, there’s a war being fought, between the forces that want to eject cyclists from the roads, and those that want to preserve their right to ride. According to him, it’s been underway for at least a century, and environmentalists and cycling advocates have all been co-opted by the car lobby.
Shine Service
April 12, 2018 14:29 - 19 minutes - 27.1 MBRobert Person Sr. — Percy, as he’s known — has been shining shoes for 70 years. He started around age 10 and now, at 80, continues to work at Percy’s Shoe Shine Service in Nashville. He’s worn out, stressed out, but this veteran shoe shiner just can’t stop. This episode comes to us from Neighbors, a podcast by Jakob Lewis made with Nashville Public Radio.
One Bin to Rule Them All
April 02, 2018 16:01 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MBThe reality is, recycling doesn’t work because we believe in it. It works because it’s an industry. You might be keeping that plastic bottle out of your trash bin, but the commodities market keeps it out of the landfill. That plastic bottle is cash in someone’s pocket. But what happens when the way we recycle no longer fits the rest of the equation? Where does our trash go when our partners aren’t buying?