Ancient Forests

California’s coast redwoods are Earth's tallest living beings, some reaching more than 350 feet high. They can also live for more than 2,000 years, outlasting entire civilizations. In this episode, we spend an evening with an ancient tree. Below ground, its roots tap into a forest-wide network; above ground, its branches harbor life in its many forms.

Rome reused everything it owned — men, eagles, camps, even legion numbers. Except three. In September of AD 9, the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth legions marched into the forests of northern Germany and did not come out. Over three or four days of rain, mud and closing ground, a coalition of tribes destroyed a Roman column of some fifteen to twenty thousand soldiers, servants and families. The army that renumbered, remustered and recycled everything it touched left those three numbers empty on its rolls for three hundred years — the closest thing Rome ever produced to an ...

"Three narrators clarify a complex timeline, imbuing an ambitious tale of ecological disaster with emotional resonance." — Kirkus The Future of Another Timeline meets The Bone Clocks in this dazzling piece of time-travel climate fiction. Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos to change...

“Superb....Augustus is a first-rate popular biography by a skilled and knowing hand.” (Washington Post) Caesar Augustus created the Roman Empire and forever associated the name Caesar with power. Heir to Julius Caesar, he thrust himself into the middle of Roman politics at its most violent...

In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests. At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben’s passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests, and allowing them to thrive.

A brave girl. A lost map. A rainforest secret older than memory. Thirteen-year-old Kaya has always dreamed of seeing the world beyond her hidden jungle valley. Trained as a young warrior of the Rainroot Tribe, she knows how to climb towering trees, track animals, and listen to the language of the forest. But when she discovers a mysterious stone map once carried by her vanished grandmother, Kaya realizes her destiny may lie far beyond the life she was told to accept. With her loyal jaguar companion Eru, her funny and clever friend Tamu, and the brilliant archaeologist Dr. Selene Marquez, ...

“Luminous.”—Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun Acclaimed nature writer Marina Richie guides us into a vertical world of old-growth forests through the eyes of the birds that inhabit them—exploring her journey as an environmentalist in her signature verdant prose. With exquisite...

Canadian botanist, biochemist and visionary Diana Beresford-Kroeger's startling insights into the hidden life of trees have already sparked a quiet revolution in how we understand our relationship to forests. Now, in a captivating account of how her life led her to these illuminating and crucial...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Most people assume that the world has been explored and true adventure is dead: This book is one man’s rebuttal. Explorer and conservationist Paul Rosolie shares his incredible life in the Amazon rainforest—and what we can learn from the people fighting to...

In The Heartbeat of Trees, renowned forester Peter Wohlleben draws on new scientific discoveries to show how humans are deeply connected to the natural world. In an era of climate change, many of us fear we’ve lost our connection to nature - but Peter Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest remain alive and intact. We just have to know where to look.

Deep in the North Ridge Valley, some secrets are better left buried. Steve is a Wilderness Response ranger who has seen it all, but an anonymous tip about illegal poaching leads him into a restricted zone where the rules of nature no longer apply. Lena is a determined wildlife photographer chasing the shot of a lifetime, unaware that she is about to become the prey. When a brutal flash flood traps them in a "dead zone" of magnetic interference and impenetrable timber, they realize they aren't just fighting the elements. A team of ruthless mercenaries is hunting a legend, and they won't ...

Yellowstone was not just built on a volcano. It was built on a cage. When a massive earthquake fractures the caldera, it destroys roads, collapses bridges, and strands wildlife biologist Rourke Fenner deep in the backcountry. The tremors have also cracked open a network of ancient subterranean lava tubes and released a nightmare that has been surviving in the dark for eleven thousand years. Arctodus simus. The giant short-faced bear. Trapped in a boiling landscape of toxic steam and crumbling terrain, Rourke must lead a small group of stranded park employees and tourists to safety. They are...

You can escape the woods. But you can never outrun the bloodline. Elara Vance survived the Briarwood Holler massacre. She escaped the fire, the fangs, and the horrific truth of what slumbers beneath the Appalachian ridge. The official report called it a tragic forest fire that claimed her research team. But Elara knows the truth. The deep, cellular chill inside her has nothing to do with the trauma. Her silver scar thrums with a dark, terrifying rhythm. She brought a piece of the holler back with her—a gnawing, ravenous emptiness that grows stronger as the moon waxes. She is a ticking ...

An eviction notice, a failed career, and one last chance to salvage her life. Desperate journalist Audra Winslow accepts a strange assignment from an obscure magazine: travel to the isolated village of Zavolya, deep in the Carpathian Mountains, and investigate a 300-year-old witch trial. The pay is just enough to be a stay of execution. But Zavolya is not welcoming. The air is heavy with an oppressive silence, and the villagers are bound by a suffocating fear. The innkeeper's warning is dire: bolt your door when the sun sets, and do not, under any circumstances, listen for the toll of the ...

“This is the most life-affirming book I’ve read in a long time.” —John Vaillant, National Book Award finalist for Fire Weather Named a Best Book of the Year So Far by: The New Yorker NPR The Financial Times From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller On Trails...

The earthquake was just the beginning. A catastrophic 7.1 tremor has shattered the Uinta Mountains, trapping Ranger David Archer and a handful of survivors behind miles of impassable, broken terrain. But the shifting fault lines have unsealed ancient subterranean vaults that were never meant to be opened. A pack of massive, blind apex predators has emerged from the depths. Hunting entirely by sound, they are fast, ruthless, and perfectly adapted to track terrified prey through the fractured forest. To survive, Archer must lead his group out of the disaster zone. But in a crumbling ...

12 Japanese concepts to Live By : "Uncovering The Secrets of Ancient Japanese Wisdom to Live Rich, Purposeful And Fulfilling Life. Applying Ancient Japanese Concepts to Navigate Life's Challenges and Achieve Inner Peace." “One glass of water doesn’t equal another. One may just appease the thirst, the other you may enjoy thoroughly. In Japan, people know about this difference.”- Jil Sander Japanese culture is renowned for its unique concepts of living that emphasize harmony, simplicity, and a deep connection with nature. Rooted in centuries-old traditions and philosophies, these ...

Every great nation or empire has had at least one horrific military loss or disaster in their history, and the Roman Empire, perhaps the greatest empire that ever existed in the Western world, was no exception to this rule. While Rome certainly suffered defeats and outright massacres over the course of its long and storied history, none of them were as disturbing for the Empire as the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE.

In Hidden Japan, acclaimed author and environmentalist Alex Kerr leads us to the country's most secluded and enchanting corners—places where time seems to stand still and traditional culture endures. From thatched-roof villages in misty mountains to volcanic islands few have ever visited, Kerr's lyrical prose, narrated by the author himself, is brought to life in this immersive audio experience.

A weekend getaway was supposed to mend a fractured family. Instead, it woke a forty-year-old curse. Former search-and-rescue diver Owen Rourke just wants to reconnect with his grieving teenage daughter, Sadie, at their old vacation cabin. But when a violent summer storm traps them on the water alongside a hundred panic-stricken tourists, they realize they aren't just fighting the elements. Something massive, intelligent, and relentlessly hungry is hunting the crowded shallows—attacking boats from below and tearing through steel like paper. To survive a night of claustrophobic terror, Owen...