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Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. A formerly incarcerated firefighter shares what it was like and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
An Ancient Climate Solution
As the water supply in Athens, Greece dwindles and demand surges from residents and tourists alike, the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens.
Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
The many millions of miles of roads that crisscross our planet block everything from bears to beetles from safely moving through habitats. But new wildlife crossings like overpasses and underpasses are helping reconnect animals with the landscape.
Sounds of Soil
Sounds like the overlapping songs of birds can speak volumes about the biodiversity in an ecosystem, and now scientists are looking to use the tiny sounds made by earthworms, ants, and voles to study the health of soils. An ecologist explains why more varied sounds appear to indicate healthier soils, and the potential applications of listening for these sounds in the earth.
"Depaving" the Way to Greener Neighborhoods
"Depaving parties" of volunteers with sledgehammers are turning paved yards into pollinator havens and green space. That can help reduce climate impacts from extreme heat and flooding.
The "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen"
Not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with high levels of harmful pesticides. Consulting the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen” lists can help consumers make efficient choices in the produce aisle.
Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. But the mushroom cooking adventure didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
Join the Living on Earth Book Club on October 13th!
Bestselling science journalist Ed Yong joins us to talk about his new book. Click here to learn more and register!
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Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. A formerly incarcerated firefighter shares what it was like and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
An Ancient Climate Solution
As the water supply in Athens, Greece dwindles and demand surges from residents and tourists alike, the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens.
Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
The many millions of miles of roads that crisscross our planet block everything from bears to beetles from safely moving through habitats. But new wildlife crossings like overpasses and underpasses are helping reconnect animals with the landscape.
This Week’s Show
August 22, 2025
listen / download
Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
listen / download
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. A formerly incarcerated firefighter shares what it was like and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
Reforesting a Gravel Mine
listen / download
At a former gravel mine in northwestern Pennsylvania, nonprofits are working to plant 70,000 trees as part of a larger project to reforest thousands of acres of degraded mine land in the region. The Allegheny Front’s Kara Holsopple reports on how they’re experimenting with fungi and biochar to help restore degraded soil and give the saplings a head start.
An Ancient Climate Solution
listen / download
As the water supply in Athens, Greece dwindles and demand surges from residents and tourists alike, the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens.
Listening on Earth
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Living on Earth Producer Sophia Pandelidis is living and working remotely from Greece and sent in the sounds of church bells and festive bouzouki music in a café on the island of Paros, which is in the Aegean Sea between Santorini and Mykonos.
Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
listen / download
The many millions of miles of roads that crisscross our planet block everything from bears to beetles from safely moving through habitats. But new wildlife crossings like overpasses and underpasses are helping reconnect animals with the landscape.
Special Features
Field Note: "After the Storm"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, ruminates on the storm as it meets the shore.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: "Countermeasures"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, shares observations about shorebirds in flight.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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