Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / Environment

Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon 6:22 Curt Olson

A sound-portrait of the The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. The race commemorates the son of a Chippewa chief who delivered mail by dog sled along Lake Superior's rugged North Shore in the late 19th century. The Beargrease draws world-class sled dog teams from around the world. (Photo: Kit Larson).

Broadcast: Jan 26 2008 on APM Weekend America Subjects: Sports, Environment

Hike Australia 7:50 Jake Warga

A travel writer's upside-down Australian dilemma of drop bears and hoop snakes, swag and snores, knee-clicks and star clusters.

Broadcast: Jan 1 2008 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: International, Environment, Sports, Travel

Spider Vibes 4:37 Jeff Rice

In recent years, scientists have discovered complex forms of acoustic communication among spiders. Spiders don't have ears in a traditional sense. They hear vibrations through their legs, and tap out coded courtship rhythms by banging on leaves or twigs, or by plucking their webs. Damian Elias of the University of Toronto used a Laser Doppler Vibrometer to measure and record some of this spider communication. He describes the subtle world of spider music.

Broadcast: Aug 24 2007 on NPR Living on Earth Subjects: Environment, Science

Miners on Mining 7:14 Scott Carrier

Rescuers continue to dig toward the Utah miners trapped by a cave-in last week. Miners in the nearby town of Huntington talk about what life is like down in the mines.

Broadcast: Aug 15 2007 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Environment, Business

Charles Bowden 22:41 Scott Carrier

A portrait of the non-fiction writer Charles Bowden, told by the people he's written about and the editors he's worked with. Bowden lives in Tucson, Arizona, and has written extensively on the cultural and physical environment of the Southwest. His style is both harsh and beautiful, and somewhat painful to read, as he takes the position that we are all to blame, or perhaps that there is no one is to blame, for the violent and destructive acts committed against nature and society. He writes about child molestors, drug traffickers, savings and loan executives, real estate developers, and crooked politicians in a way that implicates all of us.

Broadcast: Jul 16 2007 on HV PODCAST Subjects: Environment, Literature

Heat (extended mix) 7:30 Jeff Rice

The longer (and better) version of the NPR show focusing on the words, thoughts and sounds of desert residents: writer Charles Bowden, the Tohono O�odham poet Ofelia Zepeda, and ambient composer Steve Roach, , whose composition "Slow Heat" scores the piece. (Image by Andy McIntire, from Steve Roach�s Slow Heat cover art.)

Broadcast: Jul 9 2007 on HV PODCAST; Mar 1 2002 on NPR All Things Considered Subjects: Environment

Desert Air 54:00 Ben Adair, Scott Carrier & [Hearing Voices]

A hot and dry Summer special with audio from the arid regions, hosted by Ben Adair of Weekend America: Scott Carrier finds the basins near Nevada's "Battle Mountain" beautiful, lonely, dreary, and full of sagebrush, solace and stories. Host Ben Adair heads down to the ghost towns, Opera Houses, century-old abandoned mines, and billion-year old boulders along Death Valley's "Mojave Road." The band Faust dials in "Long Distance Calls in the Desert." Coyotes, owls, frogs and songbirds are part of Bernie Krause's Desert Solitudes. And the Quiet American records warning signs outside a Nevada Test Site rattling in the wind under the "Desert Sun." (Photo gallery�)

Broadcast: Jul 1 2007 on HV SpecialSeries: Hearing Voices- Specials Subjects: Specials, Environment

Sun shining directly thru concrete Sun Tunnels

Sun Tunnels in the Utah Desert 5:08 Scott Carrier

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the official beginning of summer, is makred by an obscure art installation called the Sun Tunnels in a very remote part of the Utah desert. Concrete drain pipes -- are aligned to channel the sun's rays at precise celestial moments. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 20 2007 on PRX Nature Stories Podcast; Jun 21 2006 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Environment, Art

Seismic Communication 6:22 Jeff Rice

Seismic communications are the sound signals animals send each other by making things vibrate -- the ground, twigs or leaves. Elephants do it, 200K species of insects do it, and right now your lawn is a seismic symphony.

Broadcast: Jun 20 2007 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Western Soundscape Subjects: Science, Environment

Moth Music 3:31 Jeff Rice

The eerily beautiful music of moth wings. A tale of bat-detectors, beehive destruction and the intersection of insect and synthesizer. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jun 11 2007 on HV PODCAST; Sep 7 2004 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Western Soundscape Subjects: Technology, Science, Music, Environment