Outside/In

In 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 we know that's kind of annoying, we want to give you something a little extra as thanks. So for the month of April, instead of just 2 episodes, we're going to give you four. Not only that we're giving away swag! We've lined up a bunch of nifty thank you gifts, which you can peruse at outsideinradio.org So, if you want to send a little love our way click here to donate to our Outside/In Fund Drive, and get a limited edition O/I button (among other cool stuff)! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 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 full versions of several of the interviews in this episode, head to our website outsideinradio.org Sign up for our newsletter ! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 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 up for our newsletter ! Episode photo by Eddie Yip.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 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 have ever explored. Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Episode photo by Michael Carian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 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 newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 millennium. If you've got your own ideas about how humans hit record speeds during ye good olde days before the automobile, send us an email at outsidein@nhpr.org or call us on the Ask Sam hotline: 1-844-GO-OTTER! Episode photo  by William James, courtesy of the City of Toronto Archives. Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Sign up for our newsletter Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Check out Threshold at thresholdpodcast.org And find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 a landscape both very old and very human. Find more Outside/In at outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices