x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

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. Hosted by Marcus Smith, Constant Wonder is a production of BYUradio.

science nature

All Episodes

3:18

Don't Miss Season 9 of Constant Wonder!

Constant Wonder ·

2024/08/14

We're busy working on stories to remind you how phenomenal our world is! Coming up next season: Amy Tan, author of six New York Times best-selling novels, takes us into her back yard to meet the wild birds whose vibrant individual lives populate the pages of her new non-fiction book. Hmong American writer Kao Kalia Yang shares her discovery that her humble factory-worker father had a voice of music and poetry that spoke for his people. Francis Collins, the scientist who led the Human Genome Project,

en-us

45:56

S8 E12: Late in Life Comebacks and Triumphs

Constant Wonder ·

2024/07/24

Yasmeen Lari was a famous Pakistani architect celebrated for her work in steel, cement, and glass. In her 60s, she turned her back on all that, and, after a massive earthquake hit her country, she began to work with locals building humble homes of adobe, mud, and bamboo. Painter Henri Matisse, when debilitated by stomach cancer in his 70s, hung up his brushes and took up scissors to continue making art. And, the Disney illustrator Tyrus Wong waited until he was 90 years old to receive full credit

en-us

50:00

S8 E11: Human Foster Parents Take Flight to Help...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/07/17

Northern bald ibises vanished from the wild in Europe 400 years ago. Austrian scientists attempted to re-introduce the birds to the wild, but the birds got spectacularly lost when they were released for migration, flying east in their search for south. In this episode of Constant Wonder, learn how Johannes Fritz was inspired by a Hollywood movie, leading him to teach the bald ibises to migrate safely—by guiding them for hundreds of miles in a microlight plane. Guest: Johannes Fritz, biologist,

en-us

54:59

S8 E10: How Nature Makes a (Human) Transplant Feel at...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/07/10

Born to a Taiwanese mother and Welsh father, Jessica J. Lee grew up in suburban Ontario feeling "not quite Canadian." She attempted to set down roots in England as a young adult, but her sense of belonging was challenged by the xenophobia that followed Brexit. In this episode of Constant Wonder, we'll examine how nature helps an immigrant or transplant feel at home. Guests: Jessica J. Lee, author of "Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging" and "A Garden Called Home" Stephanie Krzywonos,

en-us

48:17

S8 E9: Exploring the Mind of a Bee

Constant Wonder ·

2024/07/03

A bee’s brain is tiny, but its one million neurons make shockingly complex connections. Individual bee and bumblebee intelligence is phenomenal, from spatial memory to communication. And would you believe that bees are likely also capable of play? Two leading researchers paint a compelling picture of just how much we’ve underestimated the individual sentience of bees. The stereotype of the bee as a robot fully dependent on the hive is far from accurate. We explore fascinating bee research involving

en-us

48:08

S8 E8: A Scientist's Path from Grief to Wonder

Constant Wonder ·

2024/06/26

Alan Townsend describes his early professional and personal life as marked by a naïve faith in the power of science to provide answers and solve problems. Townsend was already softening his early scientific dogmatism when his wife and his daughter were diagnosed with unrelated brain cancers. One survived, while the other did not, and this father and husband then had to choose how to how to put back the pieces, both of his life and of his view of a universe that once seemed to him so clear and

en-us

56:47

S8 E7: Secret Harvests: A Farmer Discovers a...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/06/19

After farmer Mas Masumoto was contacted as next-of-kin for a woman he knew almost nothing about, he set about to uncover why his disabled aunt was hidden away after WWII, and his efforts began to heal wounds that were seven decades old. His story tracks the triumphs and heartaches of four generations of Japanese Americans. Guest: David Mas Masumoto, author of "Secret Harvest: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm" Original artwork by Patricia Wakida Natural wonders,

en-us

51:52

S8 E6: The Fine Art of Laid-back Hardcore Fasting

Constant Wonder ·

2024/06/12

Amidst the annus horribilis that was 2020, New York-based writer John Oakes sought to exorcise some of his own inner noise and "automaticity" by doing a week-long liquid only fast. He liked it so well that he and his wife, Carin Kuoni, began fasting twice a year. And he liked that so well, that he wrote a book about it. In this episode of Constant Wonder he and Carin explain the how and why of these biannual fasts. Hidden histories, human interest, human interest stories, audio documentary,

en-us

53:59

S8 E5: A Hopeful Marriage, Despite Incurable Cancer

Constant Wonder ·

2024/06/05

When Christian Wiman and Danielle Chapman met and courted, life seemed charmed and the horizon calm. But within a year of their marriage, Christian was diagnosed with a rare, incurable blood cancer, and their life veered in directions unforeseen. Now, over twenty years later, Christian and Danielle and their two teenage daughters are thriving; Christian is cancer free after the latest round of therapy. He has been the beneficiary of multiple timely medical breakthroughs. Along the way, they have

en-us

61:34

S8 E4: Stories of Adventure from the Bear Man of India

Constant Wonder ·

2024/05/29

He's known as the "Bear Man of India" for his work rescuing sloth bears from inhumane conditions "dancing" on the streets. His obsession with helping animals began early in his life, when he'd spend full-moon nights high in a jungle tree watching a procession of wild animals visit a nearby watering hole. In the intervening 30 years, he's braved the "timber mafia" and even gunshots in a tireless crusade to protect wildlife. Guest: Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS Wildlife,

en-us

33:55

S8 E3: Finding God in the Movies

Constant Wonder ·

2024/05/22

This week we bring you a very special feed drop. Our host, Marcus Smith, appears as a guest on the podcast "The[ART]ology: Finding God in the Movies." In this episode, Marcus describes how the Constant Wonder podcast came to be. And he shares his favorite movies, from "Babette's Feast" to "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On." "The[ART]ology" podcast puts the art back into theology by finding God in the movies. Host Vincent Nel delves into the mysteries that movies reveal about ourselves and God

en-us

54:12

S8 E2: Family Embraces "Dad 2.0" After Traumatic...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/05/15

After Tod O'Donnell suffers a traumatic brain injury, his filmmaker son, Tim, documents his recovery and his advocacy for others. The family embraces "Tod 2.0," a more fearless, more open version of his former self. Listen to Tod's accounts of life today, what he calls "a new frontier." Guests: Tod O'Donnell, subject of the documentaries "The House We Lived In" and "No Quit" Tim O'Donnell, documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Pixela Films Original music, "The Field," by James Call Health,

en-us

54:14

S8 E1: Sheer Delight in Indestructible Microscopic Worms

Constant Wonder ·

2024/05/08

Explore the hidden world of nematodes. These tiny—less than one millimeter long—organisms are everywhere in the soil, some as plant parasites, others as pest predators. With 57 billion nematodes in the soil for each human standing on it, turns out their importance in genetic research and biomedicine is immense. Join us as we delve into this fascinating field and tap into the excitement and humor of nematologists on the cutting edge of discovery. Guests: Byron Adams, biology professor at Brigham

en-us

4:08

TRAILER: Season 8 of Constant Wonder

Constant Wonder ·

2024/04/25

Constant Wonder continues its pursuit of awe and wonder in all creation, human or wild, vast or small. Here's a sample of what we've got coming up over the next weeks: We'll meet a pair of married poets, perched at Yale University, whose shared lives have been shaped for two decades now by the looming threat of cancer, but the also the redemptive promises of love and faith. We'll hear from a Japanese-American farmer about how he discovered his "lost" aunt, whose mental disability had led to her

en-us

44:07

FEED DROP: Curator's Choice at Luray Caverns

Constant Wonder ·

2024/04/17

While we're busy working on Season 8 of the Constant Wonder podcast, we're pleased to bring you an episode from a podcast we think you'll love. In Curator's Choice, Ayla Sparks goes behind the scenes at museums and other points of interest, getting the stories that explain why they're so special. In this episode, you'll learn the quirky and litigious history of Luray Caverns' discovery. You'll also hear the world's largest lithophone, aka the "stalacpipe organ." If you enjoy this episode be sure to

en-us

54:30

S7 E12: Glimmers of Awe: The Fascinating World of...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/04/03

Facing the loss of her Elkmont cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains—a family treasure for five generations—Lynn Faust began to pay more attention to the fireflies there, the "light show," as the family called it, where thousands of fireflies would light up in unison. When she read that synchronous fireflies did not exist in North America, she knew that scientists were wrong. The creatures were right in her own yard! Realizing just how little was known about these enchanting insects, she set out to

en-us

61:28

S7 E11: Love and Loss and Elephants

Constant Wonder ·

2024/03/27

Businesswoman Françoise Malby traveled the world for work, until a chance encounter in a London tube station changed her life. Within a year, she'd quit Paris for South Africa, where she and her partner, Lawrence, would eventually establish a wildlife preserve to shelter troubled and orphaned elephants and rhinos. The two would eventually marry and spend 14 years together operating the Thula Thula preserve. When Lawrence passed away suddenly, the responsibility for these animals fell to Françoise

en-us

53:38

S7 E10: One Man's Quest to Restore A Beloved American...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/03/20

Emmett Hoops was seven when he determined to help save the nearly extinct American chestnut tree. He's 64 now, but his hope and passion are unabated. In this episode of Constant Wonder, you'll meet Emmett, but you'll also hear voices from the past: people who grew up under the leaves of the chestnut tree and who relied on its nutritious nuts—before blight drove it from the American forest around 1940. Guests: Emmett Hoops, Director for District 5 and Vice President for Outreach, New York Chapter

en-us

54:03

S7 E9: Shared Solitude: The Life-Changing Epiphanies...

Constant Wonder ·

2024/03/13

Though his life looked calm from the outside, Douglas Wood's undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia dragged him down—until he received a personal letter from the famed wilderness writer Sig Olson. Olson's encouragement set him on a path to become a wilderness guide and a noted children's author. Guest: Douglas Wood, author of over 40 children's books, retired wilderness canoe guide, and most recently the author of "A Wild Path," a collection of essays for adults

en-us

52:50

S7 E8: Freediver Welcomes All to a World of Wonder

Constant Wonder ·

2024/03/06

Raised in landlocked Soweto, Zandile Ndhlovu didn't have easy access to a pool or the ocean, and she grew up hearing tales of monsters lurking in rivers and the sea. When she was nearly 30, she went on a snorkeling trip in Bali and felt a startling feeling of "coming home" beneath the waves. She would soon give up her management consulting career to become the first female Black South African freediving instructor. She can hold her breath for nearly five minutes underwater! As an ambassador for the

en-us

223 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter