Outside/In
Episodes
A Dry Hot American Summer
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 pu...
Like a Dirty Rotten Whale
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We’re cleaning out the proverbial fridge, but instead of old food, it’s fantastic and forgotten questions from the Outside/Inbox. Conversation top...
The Dead Bird Rabbit Hole
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Every December, tens of thousands of volunteers look to the skies for an international census of wild birds. But during migration season, a much sm...
The Microplastics Cleanse
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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....
A climate activist and a gas executive walk into a bar
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
The Raw Milk Question
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ma...
Hunting Party
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2023, dozens of strangers gathered together in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York for three straight days. Their mission? Teach people of c...
Catching the Codfather
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ca...
Red is the warmest color
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Reefer madness and the future of hemp
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Raw Milk Question
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ma...
Goats, Ghosts, and Roadkill [Live stories from Portsmouth]
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
That's so raven
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Emerald Forest
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Safe to Drink, Episode 1: You don’t know about this?
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Remembering Christa
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 lasti...
In Challenger's wake: The ethics of sending citizens to space
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1985, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe was selected to become the first private citizen to travel to space. After the Challenger explosion tha...
Bill McKibben has changed (but not that much)
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
nom nom nom
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 worl...
Return of the Kiwi Apocalypse: 10 years of Outside/In
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
** We’re celebrating our 10 year anniversary and want you to come! Join us in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for a night of storytelling, featuring forme...
How Broadway’s SFX designers make it rain (and snow) on stage
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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, prac...
The FernGully Effect
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 mo...
Time heals all wounds
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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. Wil...
Of Men and Mice
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
On the mend: 8 tips on how to repair your clothes
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Operation Night Cat, Episode 3: A Duck’s a Duck
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.Episode 3: A Duck’s a DuckTwo sets of potential ...
Operation Night Cat, Episode 2: Behind the Brick Wall
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.Episode 2: Behind the Brick WallThe poaching inves...
Operation Night Cat, Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road?
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road? A New...
Introducing: Operation Night Cat
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Introducing a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In: Operation Night Cat. A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows...
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
According to our unscientific office poll, the annual changing of the clocks has all the popularity of a root canal. With few exceptions, people descr...
Critical Mast
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every so often, oak trees go into overdrive. During these so-called mast years, the gentle patter of falling acorns grows into a mighty downpour and r...
On the edge of the ice
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is massive, bigger than the state of Florida. If it collapses, it could reshape every coast on this planet during this ...
The Brick Lady of St. Louis
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since a tornado tore through one of St. Louis, Missouri’s poorest neighborhoods, there are piles of bricks all over the place. It’s not just...
O/I Trivia: Natural Selection
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do pastries have to do with environmental justice? Cat butts with the climate crisis? And what US president ate a half-chewed piece of salmon lef...
How to solve the climate crisis in 60-90 minutes
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When designer Matt Leacock decided to make a board game about climate action, he knew he wanted to make it – first and foremost – fun to play. “...
Why is there so much roadkill?
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For humans, roads epitomize freedom. For wildlife, it’s a different story: a million animals are killed by cars every day in the US alone. How did o...
The cold truth about refrigeration
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1900s, people didn’t trust refrigerated food. Fruits and vegetables, cuts of meat… these things are supposed to decay, right? As Nico...
All Wings Considered
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re catching some air this week, and talking things with wings! Quandaries range from the practical (how do different animal and insect wings d...
Saving the shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shipwrecks captivate our imagination, and are the subject of many books, academic papers, and movies—from the world-famous Titanic, to sunken World ...
Your brain on GPS
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
GPS is essential these days. We use it for everything, from a hunter figuring out where the heck they are in the backcountry, to a delivery truck find...
Taxonomy's 200-Year Mistake
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fungi used to be considered plants. Bad plants. Carl Linnaeus even referred to them as “the poorest peasants” of the vegetable class. This reputat...
People are buying coyote urine. Where does it come from?
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last spring, a curious listener called with an unusual question about coyote urine. Is it – as advertised by companies who sell it – an effective,...
Field reports from the cutting edge of science
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a weird time to be an environmental scientist. The proposed cuts to federal science funding in the United States are profound, and if they come...
The Element of Surprise: The $1,000 Balloon
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Helium is full of contradictions. It’s the second most abundant element in the universe, but is relatively rare on Earth. It’s non-reactive, total...
A Map to the Next World
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map for those who would climb through the hole in the sky.”That’s the first line of the...
The Trojan Seahorse
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1970, marine architect Charlie Canby got an odd assignment: Design a 600-foot ship for an undisclosed purpose and an undisclosed customer. Only aft...
A 2,200 Mile Podcast
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Outside/In, we’re sharing an episode from our friends and partners at Common Land.Common Land explores the creation stories behind protecte...
What Jurassic Park got wrong (and right) about dinosaurs
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the smash-success Jurassic Park first hit theaters in 1993, it inspired a generation of dinophiliacs and helped to usher in a new “golden age o...
Phallic windchimes and ASMR: the magic of sound
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re taking your questions on the subject of sound. We talk about tinnitus, “the mind’s ear,” and the celebrity voices we ha...
Lawn and Order
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Green grass grows everywhere: on baseball fields, in backyards, in front of strip malls. Collectively, we spend billions of dollars every year keeping...
Cruise-o-nomics
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This summer, more than 100 cruise ships will visit the small city of Portland, Maine, dropping thousands of passengers onto the city’s commercial wa...
Where the Wild Things Grow
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
A Righteous Gemstone
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of our listeners is in a pickle. He’s looking to buy an engagement ring but wants to make sure the diamond comes from an ethical and sustainable...
Foraging made her famous
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known to her millions of fans as @blackforager, was raised by a mother who is an avid gardener and a father who loves to ...
The future was hydrogen
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Strizki drives the only hydrogen-powered car on the East Coast. That’s because he’s the only person with access to fuel… which he makes, by...
Black Sheep Metal
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lead is a study in contradictions. It’s dense enough to stop an X-ray, but soft enough to scratch with your fingernail. It’s heavier than steel an...
The Cold War Ice Core of Greenland
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 1950s, engineer Herb Ueda Sr. traveled to a remote Arctic military base. His mission? To drill through nearly a mile of ice, and extract t...
Dark Magic Rabbit
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A magician spins a black top hat to show their audience it’s empty. Then, with the wave of a wand and a few magic words, PRESTO: a snow white rabbit...
The Bee’s Sneeze: Why allergies are getting worse
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Allergies have been documented in historical records dating as far back as 2,400 years ago, when Hippocrates wrote about “hostile humors” in some ...
Venom and the cure
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Venom is full of dualities. According to the UN’s World Health Organization, snakebite envenoming causes somewhere between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths...
Tasting the forbidden fruit
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A few months ago we got an email from a listener who tried a bit of a very poisonous apple and lived to tell the tale. Ultimately, he was fine, but th...
The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sgt. Tibbs, a fluffy, 19-year-old Maine Coon with tiger stripes, soft eyes, and a chipped tooth, is missing on the streets of Manchester, New Hampshir...
The Emerald Forest: Why Irish farmers aren’t happy about some American trees
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Why we sing
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, our producer Justine Paradis noticed something. Humans really like to sing together in groups: birthday parties, sports games, church hymns,...
Why do animals play?
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re used to seeing dogs and cats play with toys or get the zoomies… but do animals like rats and bumblebees play too? What is animal play for? H...
What is a forest for?
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In New Hampshire, the most beloved swath of public land is the White Mountain National Forest. People interact with it as they would a national park –...
FEMA and the other 50 percent
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It seems like every morning, another arm of the federal government is being reformed, eliminated, or downsized. That might wind up including an agency...
The Great Grand Canyon Burro Rescue
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1980s, an animal rights group airlifted nearly 600 wild burros out of Grand Canyon National Park. The media ate it up – magazines sold...
Order on the pickleball court!!!
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It may also be the most hated. Tennis and basketball players are complaining about losing court sp...
Fluoridation nation
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since fluoridation became widespread in the 1950s, cavities in kids have fallen drastically. The effort is considered one of the ten greatest pub...
What are Trump's Climate Plans?
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What has Donald Trump claimed he would do when it comes to environmental policy in the U.S.? What happened during his last administration? And what ...
The tinned fish renaissance
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sardines are in vogue. Literally. They are in Vogue magazine. They’re delicious (subjectively), good for you, and sustainable… right? Recently, a...
Once in a blue moon
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The next blue moon isn’t until May 2026, but luckily for you, you won’t have to wait that long to hear the Outside/In team answering listeners’ ...
Bigfoot is from North Carolina
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Appalachia is Bigfoot territory. In a big way. This week, we look at the mythical beast's legend, lore and sizable economic impact in the region. And ...
No Regrets Coyote
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coyotes are a sort of goldilocks animal. They can be active during the day, and at night. They can hunt in groups, or survive solo. They’re wolfish ...
What Remains: More MOVE remains found
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Just a few weeks after we released the What Remains series, news broke that the Penn Museum discovered additional remains of 1985 MOVE bombing victims...
Making the most of ‘stick season’
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hear ye, hear ye! Winter is fast approaching, and it is time for our fifth annual ‘surthrival’ special, in which the Outside/In team reframes the ...
Shhhh! It’s the sound and silence episode
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Humans are noisy. The National Park Service estimates that all of our whirring, grinding, and revving machines are doubling or even tripling global no...
The Ballad and the Flood
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Appalachia, Hurricane Helene was a thousand-year-flood. It flattened towns and forests, washed roads away, and killed hundreds.But this story is no...
What's living under your porch
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A few months ago, producer Marina Henke saw two skunks sprint under her porch. Since then, she can’t stop wondering what’s really going on beneath...
The Night Owls
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 north...
Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring the issue of human remains collections for our miniseries, “What Remains.” Today, we want to share ...
What Remains, Part 2: In Memoriam
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A scholar and an activist make an uncompromising ultimatum. A forgotten burial ground is discovered under the streets of New York City. In Philadelphi...
What Remains, Part 1: No Justice, No Peace
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A classroom display of human skulls sparks a reckoning at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. A movement grows to “abolish the collection.” The Penn ...
What Remains: What's Past is Prologue
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A 1,500 year old skeleton is diagnosed with tuberculosis. A visit to a modern-day bone library. A fight over the future of ethical science. MORE ABOU...
"Primitive, Unconfined Recreation"
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When KALW’s Marissa Ortega-Welch hit the Pacific Crest Trail, she used her preferred method of navigation: an old-fashioned trail map. But along the...
Ghosts in the machine
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you’re familiar with our Outside/Inbox hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER. Anyone can leave us a voicemail sharing questions about the natural world, a...
The cold, hard truth about refrigeration
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1900s, people didn’t trust refrigerated food. Fruits and vegetables, cuts of meat… these things are supposed to decay, right? As Nico...
The Mississippi Cyborg
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For more than two hundred years Americans have tried to tame the Mississippi River. And, for that entire time, the river has fought back. Journalist ...
The $1,000 balloon
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Helium is full of contradictions. It’s the second most abundant element in the universe, but is relatively rare on Earth. It’s non-reactive, total...
Why we get scared—and why we like it
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Rodolico knows exactly what scares him. Sharks. But here’s what he doesn’t get: if he’s so freaked out, why can’t he stop incessantly wa...
The not-so-secret life of plants
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From the perspective of Western science, plants have long been considered unaware, passive life forms; essentially, rocks that happen to grow. But th...
This is your brain on GPS
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
GPS is essential these days. We use it for everything – from a hunter figuring out where the heck they are in the backcountry, to a delivery truck f...
The fifth sense
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Once again, it’s that wonderful time when scientists everywhere hold their breath as the team opens the Outside/Inbox to answer listener questions a...
Saving the tallest trees on Earth
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Redwood National and State Parks are home to giants: coast redwoods that can grow as tall as a thirty-story building. These ancient California forests...
Hot Olympic Summer: Is Paris Greenwashing the Games?
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Will Simone Biles live up to her moniker as greatest gymnast of all time? Will Lebron James and Team USA continue to dominate men's basketball? And ...
Every bite is a story
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 worl...
Introducing “The Youth Development Center”
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Introducing the newest series from NHPR’s award-winning Document team: “The Youth Development Center.” New Hampshire has sent its most troubled ...
The new space race
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you’ve looked at the sky on a clear night and spotted the International Space Station, a tiny white dot gliding through the stars. Maybe it fe...
The Potato Show
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Consider the potato. The typical potato is not all that pretty. They can be beige and lumpy, dusty and speckled, and on top of that, they even sprout...