10x10: Under the Ice

February 28, 2019 by Guest User

In our series 10X10, 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 have ever explored.

Leave No Stone

February 14, 2019 by Taylor Quimby

Outdoorsy 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.

Episode photo courtesy of Paul St. Cyr.

32 Is the New 40

January 31, 2019 by Guest User

The 40-hour workweek is as American as apple pie, and it’s been around almost just as long. So, is it finally time to re-think our Monday-through-Friday lifestyle? 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.

Falling Doesn't Count

January 17, 2019 by Taylor Quimby

Here'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 millenium.

Rake and Ride

January 03, 2019 by Guest User in What is Wilderness

Pirate 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?

Just Decide

December 20, 2018 by Guest User

Everyone'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?

Now I am an Axolotl

December 06, 2018 by Justine Paradis in Middle School, What is Wilderness

There'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 the last surviving fragments of a landscape both very old and very human.

Ask Sam: Trichomes, Bug Hair, Bug Tumors & Mollusk Shells

November 21, 2018 by Taylor Quimby

Ask 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? And finally, why do ocean mollusks have tougher shells than their freshwater comrades?

The Meat Matrix

November 08, 2018 by Taylor Quimby

Listener 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.

So Over Population [Parts I & II]

October 11, 2018 by Guest User

Today, 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 a comic book super-villain.