FanFare

Earth's longest mountain range; baby bears make treacherous descents, rare hummingbirds compete for mates, frogs freeze and revive, and lizards battle for territory — all in a land of extremes, from glaciers to deserts. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over on Mar 23, 2025 - 0 comments

The Gulf Coast, where swamps and wetlands shelter black bears and alligators; manatees gather in freshwater springs, burrowing owls look for love in the suburbs and a rare ocelot raises her kittens in Texas' thornscrub. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over on Mar 16, 2025 - 0 comments

The Frozen North, where wolves and polar bears vie for food, hares outsmart lynx and walrus sing on rocky shores; as summer arrives, grouse perform mating dances, caribou migrate vast distances and salmon race upstream to survive. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over on Mar 9, 2025 - 0 comments

The Amazon, the largest rainforest on Earth; drone footage captures giant otters hunting together while black caimans prey on newly hatched turtles; a harpy eagle chick's first days in the canopy and army ants on the move reveal new behaviours. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over on Mar 2, 2025 - 1 comment

The Wild West, where coyotes face a snowbound Yellowstone, rattlesnakes emerge in the hundreds, woodpeckers compete to store food, bison battle on the Great Plains and cranes gather in vast numbers on their age-old migration.
posted by the primroses were over on Mar 2, 2025 - 1 comment

Mexico, where deserts meet tropics; see new footage of fledgling pygmy owls, orca hunting, new species in flooded caves and orchid bees filmed in incredible detail -- all revealing the hidden lives of unique wildlife.
posted by the primroses were over on Feb 23, 2025 - 1 comment

Tom Hanks narrates a 10-episode television event from the executive producers of Planet Earth, exploring the extraordinary worlds and wildlife of North and South America. [more inside]
posted by the primroses were over on Feb 23, 2025 - 3 comments

Journalist Mark Woods gets a grant to visit 12 US National Parks over a year to write about the future of the National Park System. Life throws in a curve ball as his mother gets a terminal cancer diagnosis early in the year. Part travelogue, part reflection on family, part essay on the past and future of the National Park Service, this was a really enjoyable book to read, especially in January when my camper is in winter storage.
posted by COD on Feb 9, 2022 - 0 comments

The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
posted by ob1quixote on Apr 15, 2020 - 6 comments

From medieval bestiaries to Borges’s Book of Imaginary Beings, we’ve long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer’s song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology—they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to captivate us with the things they can do and the things they cannot, what we know about them and what we don’t. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Nov 9, 2019 - 1 comment

The true story—and true glories—of the plants we love to hate From dandelions to crabgrass, stinging nettles to poison ivy, weeds are familiar, pervasive, widely despised, and seemingly invincible. How did they come to be the villains of the natural world? And why can the same plant be considered beautiful in some places but be deemed a menace in others? [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Apr 16, 2019 - 1 comment

Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America’s native bees—several endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies—is just as crucial. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Our Native Bees explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis on Mar 8, 2019 - 2 comments

Forests feel like a place of great stillness but dig deeper and there's a hidden world beneath your feet as busy and complicated as a city. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Jul 31, 2016 - 3 comments

This episode contains a handful of stories that show how every time we think we've settled on a price for something, it slips out of our grasp. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Dec 25, 2014 - 1 comment

Jake turns into a brick to fulfill a childhood fantasy of being a brick in a wall as it collapses, but ends up narrating the drama of a rabbit caught in a storm.
posted by Small Dollar on Nov 26, 2014 - 13 comments