Category: Episodes

Forest as Superorganism: What it means to Clearcut.

On this week’s How on Earth, Beth speaks with Suzanne Simard, professor and researcher at the University of British Columbia, about her book, WHEN THE FOREST BREATHES, both a call to action, and a journey into the heart of British Columbia’s old growth forests and the indigenous communities that live there, and her efforts to unite them to ensure the health of these vital ecosystems.Also: an allergist’s take on why this year’s seasonal allergies are worse than normal.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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Buy Now Pay Later – Enticement or Addiction?

Buy Now Pay Later – is this lending service simply enticing, or is it addictive?  For the GenZ 20 somethings that are its biggest users, is Buy Now Pay Later a danger or a deal?  CU Boulder student and Howonearth volunteer Juliana Krigsman  speaks with students about this, plus Adam Brown – director of New Schools Center for Global Mental Health,  Renee Shannon Hickey – Mindful Creation Counseling in Colorado, and Harvard Business Economics Researcher Justin Katz. 

Hosts: Joel Parker
Show Producers:  Juliana Krigsman and Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:58 — 37.1MB)

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Women’s Health Pt. III: Menopause & the Brain

Estrogen on the brain
Credit: Mosconi Lab

The Brain on Menopause (start time: 01:24) In this week’s show, we offer the finale of our three-part series on menopause and women’s health. We focus on a most precious organ: the brain. And we discuss how  hormones such as estrogen and cortisol affect brain health; on how experiencing stress during childhood can intensify perimenopause symptoms; and on what women can do to reduce risks as well as to take part in research. How On Earth’s Susan Moran and contributing host Meghan Rabbitt interview Dr. Christina Metcalf, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the CU Anschutz Department of Psychiatry Colorado Center for Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness.  Journalist Meghan Rabbitt wrote the recently published book The New Rules of Women’s Health: A Guide to Thriving at Every Age.
Information on how you can participate in CU Anschutz research studies:
* “Find a Research Study” tool lets people filter by category, 3 menopause-related studies currently recruiting.
*RAHH Lab (Resilience and Adaptation in Hormones and Health Lab)
-New menopause research study focusing on estradiol and the brain, called CEREBRA, starting in April 2026. Email cerebra-study@cuanschutz.edu.
    – Menopause stress reduction study (MENORISE, starting in September 2026. Email christina.metcalf@cuanschutz.edu.

Hosts:  Susan Moran, Meghan Rabbitt
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:56 — 35.6MB)

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A Brain Circuit That Switches Acute to Chronic Pain

On this week’s How on Earth, Beth talks with neuroscientist and chronic pain researcher Jayson Ball. He recently completed a study of a novel brain circuit involved in generating chronic pain. Since finishing his graduate studies at CU Boulder, he has moved to Neuralink, a biotech start up focused on implantable brain devices with the goal of someday alleviating chronic pain through this new technology.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender and Abby O’Brien
Engineer: Abby O’Brien

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:43 — 32.9MB)

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Conserving Imperiled Prairie Dogs, Raptors & Their Grasslands

White-tailed Prairie Dogs Credit: Rich Reading

Preserving prairie dog+raptor ecosystem (start time: 5:03)  Spring has just begun, even if winter hardly visited Colorado. On the plains, prairie dog colonies seem to be in full swing.  However, populations of these keystone species have plummeted, as the grasslands they and raptor predators rely on are being fragmented by urban development, as well as oil and gas, and to some degree solar and wind, development. In this week’s show we discuss the imperiled prairie ecosystem and efforts to further conserve them, with Dr. Rich Reading, vice president of science and conservation at the Butterfly Pavilion; and Dana Bove, founder of the nonprofit Front Range Nesting Bald Eagle Studies. Click here for information about and to register for their and colleagues’ upcoming Science and Conservation Symposium (March 31 and April 14) in Denver.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:17 — 37.5MB)

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Pollinator Power & Precarity

Photo credit: Butterfly Pavilion

The Power of Precarity of Pollinators (start time: 8:01) This extremely warm winter in Colorado has delivered early spring blooms, and thus early appearances of some pollinators. In this week’s show we explore the world of pollinators, such as such as butterflies, bees, moths, hummingbirds and certain flies. Pollinators are responsible for roughly one third of the food we eat, and the help strengthen ecosystems. How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Amy Yarger, senior director of Horticulture at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colo., about the critical role these pollinators play; the various threats they face, such as the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup)  and the class of insecticides called neonicotinoids; and how we can help give these important creatures a lift. Yarger leads local pollinator habitat initiatives at the Butterfly Pavilion, a nonprofit research, conservation and education institution focusing on invertebrates and their habitats.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:02 — 35.8MB)

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The Scale of the Universe

How big is the universe – not just in the scale of  distance but also the scale of time?  What do those…astronomical…scales mean about us humans on Earth and how can we understand and measure such vast expanses? In this episode, our guest, astronomer and author Dr. Jeff Bennett, helps us wrap our minds around these ideas as we discuss his book The Scale of the Universe. We look back at the Big Bang, the possibility of the existence and meeting aliens, and when events such as the formation of our solar system, the appearance and demise of the dinosaurs, and the evolution of humans fit into the “Cosmic Calendar”.

Host: Joel Parker
Show Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:25 — 37.6MB)

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Winter Recreation in a Warmer World

On this week’s How on Earth, we hear from a climate scientist about the implications of our changing weather patterns for winter recreation. It’s a warm, dry winter, throughout the Rocky Mountain West and elsewhere in the country, the weather has been a mixed bag. Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski, a Research Faculty member in the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space and Affiliate faculty in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of New Hampshire, gives us her take. Her research focuses on winter climate change in the northeastern United States, including what changes we’ve seen in the past, what we can expect for the future, and the impacts on ecosystems and society. She is also familiar with local snowfall changes, having served on the Boulder-based non-profit Protect Our Winters since 2016.

Executive Producer:Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker, Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:05 — 34.9MB)

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What do Grasslands Have to do with Climate Change?

From Science MOAB

We hear an interview aired by our sister community radio station’s, Science MOAB. Ecologist Brooke Osborne talks about how dryland ecosystems – such as the grasslands east of Boulder – influence the whole planet. Dryands cover 40% of the earth; they support a third of the planet’s humans, and while their roots store lots of carbon, they’re vulnerable to climate change, overgrazing and aggressive land management.

In this episode, you’ll also hear about this weekend’s Colorado Environmental Film Festival in Golden.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producers: Beth Bennett and Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Gracyn Custin

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:48 — 36.8MB)

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Women’s Health Pt. II: Heart Health

Image credit: American Heart Association

Truths & Tips About Women’s Heart Health (start time: 7:33)  February is American Hearth Month, a nationwide observation  spotlighting cardiovascular disease, and a call for all of us to take care of our hearts. 
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country, for both men and women, and for most racial and ethnic groups. In fact, it kills more women than all forms of cancer combined. A big problem is that many physicians don’t typically tell female patients about risk factors and symptoms when they are in their 30s and 40s. So no wonder many women develop symptoms that remain hidden until crisis hits. To help shed light on what researchers are discovering about how women can detect symptoms and lower their risks of heart disease, we welcome back to the show health journalist Meghan Rabbit, after we discussed women’s health, and particularly menopause, last week. Rabbitt is the author of the new book, The New Rules of Women’s Health: Your Guide to Thriving at Every Age. She is an editor of Maria Shriver’s weekly digital newsletter, Sunday Paper. 

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker, Shelley Schlender

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:25 — 33.5MB)

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