“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In.

Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road?

A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows a tip to a man’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship with digital trophy rooms.

This episode contains strong language. For a full list of credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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Introducing a special three-part series from NHPR’s Document team and Outside/In: Operation Night Cat.

A New Hampshire Fish and Game warden follows a tip to a man’s backyard. He finds a twisted game of one-upmanship, digital trophy rooms, and one of the biggest poaching cases in recent state history. Then, the hunting investigation takes a surprising turn when it reveals another set of potential crimes – this time, behind the brick walls of New Hampshire’s State Prison for Men.

Host Nate Hegyi has spent the past year digging into what happened next. Catch the first episode right here, on November 5th.

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According to our unscientific office poll, the annual changing of the clocks has all the popularity of a root canal. With few exceptions, people described the shift to and from Daylight Saving Time as disorienting, arbitrary, and unwelcome.

On a more existential level, winding the clocks back and forth reminds us that no matter how concrete minutes and hours may feel, the way we perceive time is fluid. Time flies when you’re having fun. A watched pot never boils.

So to celebrate (or perhaps protest) another year setting back the clocks, the Outside/In team has uncovered four mini-stories that will poke at, stretch, or even obliterate your perception of time. From “time expansion experiences”, to time-space synaesthesia, to the slow-motion life of a fly, prepare for a totally different type of time warp.

Featuring Steve Taylor, Rhitu Chatterjee, Kevin Healy, Katherine Akey, and Patricia Lynne Duffy.

This episode was produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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LINKS

“To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on ‘toddler time’,” by Rhitu Chatterjee, is part of NPR’s special series “Finding Time.”

“Can you see time?” (BBC News), by Victoria Gill, includes a drawing depicting an example of what a year might look like to a synesthete.

Research reveals which animals perceive time the fastest (ScienceDirect)

“When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness,” by Steve Taylor (ResearchGate)

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Every so often, oak trees go into overdrive. During these so-called mast years, the gentle patter of falling acorns grows into a mighty downpour and ripples across and over ecosystems like a flood.

What happens when a small thing goes from scarce to plentiful? When a player usually hidden behind the scenes vaults onto the main stage?

From swimming squirrels and bug-infested weddings, to an explosion in babies named Oaklee, we investigate the myriad ways a sudden surge in abundance can trigger unexpected consequences.

This episode is part of a playful exercise in community podcasting, with 6 different shows each producing their own stories about or inspired by the mystery of masting, and releasing them at (approximately) the same time.

For other masting stories, check out:

• Future Ecologies
• Golden State Naturalist
• Jumpstart Nature
• Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast
• Nature's Archive

We’ll populate this Spotify Playlist with all our stories as they come out!

Featuring Jim Salge, Dave Kelly, Lorén Spears, DeAnna Beasley, Claire Adas, David Wilson, Amelia Pruiett, and Cleveland Evans.

This episode was produced by Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Justine Paradis. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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LINKS

Check out the “Who remembers The Great Squirrel Apocalypse of 2018?” Reddit thread.

You can watch the home video from David and Claire’s wedding.

The US Forest Service keeps a helpful map of active cicada broods in North America, and their expected emergences.

Nameberry’s 2024 list of the “Reddest and Bluest Baby Names”

NPR’s coverage of the “Oakley, Oakley, Oakleigh” trend

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Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is massive, bigger than the state of Florida. If it collapses, it could reshape every coast on this planet during this century. That’s why it’s sometimes known as “the Doomsday Glacier.”

And yet, until recently, we knew very little about it. Because Thwaites is extremely remote, reachable only by crossing the wildest ocean on the planet, scientists had never observed its calving edge firsthand.

In 2019, a ground-breaking international mission set out to change that, and writer Elizabeth Rush was on board to document the voyage. We caught up with her to learn about life on an Antarctic icebreaker, how she grappled with classic Antarctic narratives about exploration (and domination), and how she summons hope even after coming face-to-face with Thwaites.

This episode was first published in early 2024. Featuring Elizabeth Rush.

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LINKS

If you’re interested in reading more about the journey to Thwaites, check out Elizabeth’s book, “The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth”.

A paper published in Nature with some of the findings from Elizabeth's voyage, showing that Thwaites has historically retreated two to three times faster than we’ve ever observed. Here’s the one detailing findings about Thwaites’ past extent, extrapolated from their study of ancient penguin bones, and another sharing observations about water currents beneath its ice shelf.

The Trump administration has pulled funding for the US’s only Antarctic icebreaker dedicated to scientific research. Read about the fate of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer in Scientific American.

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Ever since a tornado tore through one of St. Louis, Missouri’s poorest neighborhoods, there are piles of bricks all over the place.

It’s not just a debris problem. Bricks in St. Louis have a long and complicated history here – the darling of many historic preservationists and a good source of profit to just as many demolition crews.

Producer Marina Henke spent a week in North City, tagging along with a brick layer who’s racing against the clock to build back homes. Can North City keep its bricks? Should they even try?

Featuring Natalie Hughes, RJ Koscielniak, and Rasheen Aldridge.

Produced by Marina Henke. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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LINKS

The STL Vacancy Collaborative runs a Demolition Dashboard, showing all approved and completed demolitions in St. Louis City.

The 2011 documentary Brick By Chance and Fortune provides a more in-depth look at brick’s history in St. Louis, including its architectural variance.

For a comprehensive social and economic history of St. Louis check out Walter Johnson’s The Broken Heart of America.

The apocryphal headline and its report of a struggling St. Louis still exists in the New York Times’ archives: In St. Louis Even the Old Bricks Are Leaving Town.

In 2017, the podcast 99% Invisible took a closer look at St. Louis brick theft.

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What do pastries have to do with environmental justice? Cat butts with the climate crisis? And what US president ate a half-chewed piece of salmon leftover from a bear on reality TV?

Grab a pencil (and maybe a pint?) and get ready for the inaugural Outside/In trivia episode we’re calling “Natural Selection.” We’ve got a game called “Guess That Animal!” We’re testing our panel’s knowledge on the environment in movies and music. And, maybe, we’ll learn a thing or two along the way about environmental policy, past and present.

Produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

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When designer Matt Leacock decided to make a board game about climate action, he knew he wanted to make it – first and foremost – fun to play. “If we sold anything as an educational game… people would run screaming and running for the hills,” he told us.

But can simulating the climate crisis really make for a good Friday night with your friends? What are the limits to gamifying social issues as complex as global warming?

In this episode, we speak with Matt about what it took to design an entertaining game about one of the most challenging topics of our time, and enlist a few friends to playtest his game: “Daybreak.”

Featuring Matt Leacock, with appearances from NHPR’s Marina Henke, Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy. This episode was produced by Taylor Quimby. For a full list of credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org

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To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.

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Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).

Follow Outside/In on Instagram and BlueSky, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

LINKS

Read game designer Matt Leacock’s 2020 NYT opinion piece about his game, Pandemic, and what it says about social cooperation during an actual pandemic.

One of Daybreak’s inspirations was “The 100% Solution” by Solomon Goldstein-Rose. Here’s his TED Talk about building a new global electricity system.

For more insight into how Daybreak was made, check out Matt and co-designer Matteo Menapace’s design diaries.

A climate scientist/board gamer’s break down of the science and gameplay of Daybreak

Listen to Civics 101’s great episode on civics-centered board games.

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