Sleepless not just in Seattle

In this week’s show Beth speaks with author Annabel Abbs-Streets about her new book, SLEEPLESS: Unleashing the Subversive Power of the Night Self, in which she dives into both the science of sleep and sleeplessness, and a new perspective on life after midnight.

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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Myths and Facts about Plastic Recycling

This week on How on Earth Beth speaks with Mattie Matsch, deputy director of Boulder’s Eco-Cycle. We spoke about the challenges of recycling plastics. As consumers, it’s vital to be aware of these challenges and the limitations they impose on the types of plastic we can toss in the barrel for pickup.

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Sam Fuqua

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Traumatic Brain Injury & Ibogaine – Andrew Linares

Tabernath Iboga Plant – courtesy Marco Schmidt, Wiki Commons

Ibogaine for Traumatic Brain Injury – The Science journal Nature has published a small case study about Special Forces veterans who suffer from traumatic brain injury . . . they report good results from one single dose of the illegal psychedelic Ibogaine . . . with careful supervision.

Andrew Linares – Boulder Therapist

IbogaineHuberman Lab discussion with Nolan Williams (Starts 3:45)  Stanford scientists discuss therapeutic use of Ibogaine.

Ibogaine Boulder Therapist Andrew Linares  (Starts 7:00) shares his experiences working with special forces veterans who are taking Ibogaine at a clinic in Mexico, where it is a legal drug.

Lynx – from Endangered Species.org

Lynx Habitat battle this Wednesday (starts 1:00) Denver’s US 10th District Court of Appeals will hear a case about U.S. Forest Service plans for environmental rollbacks in southern Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest.  They plan to log beetle-killed trees -which may disrupt old growth forest that the endangered lynx needs.  Environmentalists are pushing for more study about the impact of these plans.

Ibogaine Song by Lord Ekomy Ndong

Host/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Contributors: Beth Bennett

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A New Year and the Same Old Environmental Issues

On this week’s show, we focus on the ongoing challenge of climate change. In addition to headlines about this issue, we replay an interview with author John Vaillant, who has written extensively about the natural world over his long career. In his new book, Fire Weather:A True Story from a Hotter World, he explores the phenomena of fire, the wildland urban interface, and climate change in the context of a precedent-shattering combustion in a modern city.This colossal wildfire in Alberta in 2016 almost consumed a city of nearly 100,000. In the process the fire blew up expectations and responses to wild fires. Vaillant gives an in depth exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind along with personal stories of loss and bravery on the front lines of this horrifying event.

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional contribution: Susan Moran

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Science Stories from 2023

cc NOAA Science Graphic

 

We share the How on Earth team’s picks for of science stories of 2023:

    • Superconductor Hopes And Failures (starts at 1:47)
    • New Weight Loss Drugs (starts at 5:56)
    • Hot Temperatures (starts at 9:27)
    • Asteroid Autumn (starts at 12:29)
    • Bird Population Decline (starts at 16:51)
    • Sickle Cell Disease Treatment (starts at 22:29)

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer and Host: Joel Parker
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett, Susan Moran

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Chronic Pain: A New Approach

On this week’s show, Beth speaks with Dr Afton Hassett, psychologist and pain researcher about her book, Chronic Pain Reset: 30 Days of Activities, Practices, and Skills to Help You Thrive. Not just a guide for evaluating pain and its triggers, her book offers straightforward and often fun strategies to move past chronic pain. Dr. Hassett is Associate Professor and Director of Pain and Opioid Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan, and a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center there. Her book and research explore the key role that your brain plays in processing pain and how small, simple actions can make profound changes in how you experience chronic pain. Chronic Pain Reset is written for people with chronic pain and those who care for them.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer:Beth Bennett

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The Little Book of Aliens

The Little Book of AliensIn this Halloween episode, we talk with Dr. Adam Frank, an astrophysicst/astrobiologist at the University of Rochester, about his recent book: The Little Book of Aliens. We hear some of the stories and learn about the science of life “out there” – astrobiology – and the past, present, and future search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Host/Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Headline contributors: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett

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Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence

In this episode of How on Earth we hear the full interview Beth did with physician and author Gavin Frances.

CU Kite Fall Flying Expo (starts 1:00) CU Boulder collaborates with NASA and the kite/toy store Into the Wind to share a Kite Flying Expo about how kites can be used for atmospheric science study.

RECOVERY: The Lost Art of Convalescence. (starts 8:05) Author Gavin Frances emphasizes the importance of taking an active role in one’s recovery and outlines many paths one can take in doing so. It is an act that we engage in and that has the potential to transform our lives, if only we can find ways to learn its rhythms and invest our time, energy, and participation.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producers: Beth Bennett, Susan Moran, Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Sam Fuqua

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Western Water

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Robert Crifasi about his new book, Western Water A to Z: The History, Nature, and Culture of a Vanishing Resource. This book is the first ever field guide to Western water. Organized as a collection of terms, the book addresses the most salient water issues and provides helpful background information regarding their origins and implications.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Welcoming Biodiversity Back To Cities

Photo by Benita Lee

In this week’s How on Earth, we focus on how cities can foster biodiversity in an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.

First, we speak with author and journalist Tony Hiss (4:29), who says that while the Earth is rapidly losing species, we can still do something about it. In his latest book, Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth (Vintage), Hiss recounts the numerous ways in which grassroots movements around the world are creating habitats that are allowing biodiversity to thrive, including in least obvious of places — cities.

Next, we discuss how this is being done in Colorado by the nonprofit organization, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG). Creighton Hofeditz (14:37), the Director of Permaculture and Perennials at DUG, tells us how he turns empty city lots into “food forests” — a type of agroforestry — for residents in the metro area. The creation of these gathering spaces for humans also gives nature a place to thrive.

Hosts: Beth Bennett, Benita Lee
Producers: Benita Lee, Alexis Kenyon
Engineer: Shannon Young
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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