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Hunger mountain's peak

A Poet Finds Life Lessons on Hunger Mountain

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Is there a special mountain in your life? David Hinton, who lives in Vermont, told us about the one he knows best — Hunger Mountain - which he's climbed 300 times. His thinking about mountains has been shaped by his study of ancient Chinese poetry.More

Latest Stories

What Do You Owe The Mountains Around You?

Poudre Lake is the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre River

Articles

Environmental philosopher and bonafide "mountain man" John Hausdoerffer explains how mountains are connected to all life on earth, and what it means to treat them as "living kin"

Length:

12:12

Why We Ought to Live a 'Pro-Bee Lifestyle'

Pro-bee is pro-human

Audio

When we talk about bees, usually we mean honeybees. Or bumblebees. But that’s just two out of 20,000 different species of bees. Thor Hanson tells Anne about how different species of bees and humanity have developed dependence on one another.

Life in the Diaspora: How Teju Cole Pivots Between Cultures

Teju Cole

Audio

Teju Cole grew up in Nigeria and then moved to U.S., joining millions of others in the African diaspora. He became an acclaimed novelist and photographer, and now celebrates the cosmopolitan culture of global cities, including Lagos and New York.

Length:

04:48

A Tour Of The Networked City

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When you’re visiting a new city, it helps to have a guide. Dejene Hodes took Anne and Steve on a tour of Addis Ababa, from the Mercato to the financial district. He says the city is bursting with entrepreneurial energy and ambition.

Length:

04:06

Decoding Global Capitalism on One African Street

A moment on the street in Addis Ababa.

Audio

Ghanaian post-colonial theorist Ato Quayson thinks a lot about globalization, diaspora and transnationalism. Because he’s a literary scholar, he decided to "read" a single street — Oxford Street in Accra — as a study of contemporary urban Africa.

Length:

04:58

'People As Infrastructure'

Lending a helping hand.

Audio

Historian Emily Calacci says the massive migration into African cities isn't following the Western model of urban development. Instead of an infrastructure of roads, railways and electric grids, many African cities rely on "people as infrastructure."

Length:

06:33

Have You Considered Doing Nothing?

A french bulldog doing a snooze.

Dangerous Ideas

Philosopher Lars Svendson thinks we shouldn't be stressing about learning to bake sourdough or memorize TikTok dances in quarantine. He thinks we need to learn to be lazy again.

Length:

4:05

Sunday Night Blues, Monday Morning (Short) Fuse

Mondays, powered by coffee

Audio

Why does it seem like we always head into Monday feeling let down? Journalist Katrina Onstad explains how we ruined the weekend, and how to get it back.

Length:

7:12

Latest Episodes

The Brooks Range divides the continent north and south.

When Mountains Are Gods

Science tells us mountains are giant piles of rock, formed millions of years ago. But that's not all they are — there was a time when mountains were gods.More

Woman staring into the distance

Forgiving the Unforgivable

When you’re hurt and the only way out of toxic bitterness and resentment is to let go, how do you summon the resolve to reach out to the person who hurt you most?More

Bookmarks

children's book illustration of a city street

Ada Calhoun on 'Street Through Time'

There’s a book that author Ada Calhoun thinks of as both one of her favorites to read out loud with her son, as well as one that has inspired her own writing. It’s “A Street Through Time: The 12,000 Year Journey Along the Same Street ” — a story of one street, leading the reader through historical events and the passage of time, with the street itself starring as the main character.

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Spotlight

Working and parenting, a balancing act

A Parenting Revolution

The pandemic has made clear that parents are walking a tightrope with no safety net. Is it time for a parenting revolution?

Left to right - an owl, a plant, a mountain

Kinship With The More-Than-Human World

Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions.

Figures thinking and playing music against the Addis skyline.

Ideas From Africa

“Ideas From Africa” explores the world of contemporary scholars, writers and artists who are redefining our understanding of Africa’s past and helping to shape its future. Through interviews, personal stories, soundscapes and field recordings, this radio project investigates a series of big ideas and provocative questions.

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