Constant Wonder
Stay in tune with our phenomenal world. Join us for explorations of science, art, history, and more. We're on a quest to find awe and wonder in all nature—human or wild, vast or small. Encounters that move us beyond words.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 9
- Latest publication
- Sep 2, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 8, 2026
Latest episodes
Arguing With the Wind: A Spiritual Journey in Wilderness (opens the original)
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As a teenager, Walt McLaughlin told his parents he'd been talking to God in the woods, and he ended up in a psychiatric ward on Thorazine. Years later a philosophy degree had done nothing to assuage his existential anxiety, so he hitchhiked west — and eventually flew alone into Alaska's Endicott River Wilderness with a .44, no radio, and two-and-a-half-weeks worth of food. On this episode of Constant Wonder, the writer and erstwhile hiking guide tells host Marcus Smith how a death wish that had
Protecting Humans, Protecting Wildlife (opens the original)
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What if protecting humans is the key to protecting wildlife? In this episode, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka tells host Marcus Smith how people living near African nature preserves can unknowingly pass illnesses to nearby mountain gorillas—and how she's working with local communities to shield these endangered animals from disease and habitat loss. As Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian, Kalema-Zikusoka pioneered the use of "One Health" in gorilla conservation—an approach that treats human, animal,
Floral Revolutionaries: Plants as Planet-Makers (opens the original)
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Flowers, believe it or not, are nature's greatest revolutionaries. In this episode of Constant Wonder, biologist David George Haskell and host Marcus Smith discuss how flowers turned enemies into allies and used ultra-precise adaptations to survive an intensely competitive natural world. By exploring the floral connections that draw him closer to his mother and great-great-grandfather, David also examines how flowers have changed in just a few short decades. He makes the case for following a sin
On the Spot (and Spot On!): Great Impromptu Performances on Vintage Typewriters (opens the original)
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They are like street musicians, busking with words instead of instruments. Typewriter poets Kathleen Rooney and Allison Fragakis share with Constant Wonder's Tennery Taylor how they write poems-on-demand for complete strangers. Whether at a farmer's market, tucked between the stacks at a library, or as entertainment at a wedding, typewriter poets surprise customers with a keepsake that reflects unexpected insight into a stranger's life. (Or maybe it's a poem about a burrito! These poems don't ha
River Rising: Jeremy Jones, His Old Farmhouse, and Hurricane Helene (opens the original)
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Jeremy Jones has loved exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains since childhood, and despite his world travels, his identity as a "mountain person" always brought him home. His family has lived in Henderson County for five generations—so when Hurricane Helene sent the river rising toward his old farmhouse, it threatened more than a house. In this episode of Constant Wonder, Jeremy joins host Marcus Smith to share what it took to rebuild, and how the experience reconnected him to his neighbors, his fam
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