Show threadDr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDDec 20, 2022

Making the #BBCEarthPodcast has been an absolute dream. Talking about weird animals is my favorite thing ever, and it is so affirming that y'all find value in that enough to listen. Thanks to the killer production team and our many guests for making this all happen!
Rutendo--you're a wicked cool scientist/comics nerd. It's been a joy & honor cohosting with ya.

Everyone, I hope ya had a blast listening, and that we get to bring even more to your ears soon!

Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDDec 20, 2022

It's the #BBCEarthPodcast season finale and Rutendo & I are going out w/ an incredible show all about "ghosts"--parts of nature that, in one fleeting encounter, leave you mystified & obsessed w/ learning more!

Fossils connecting us to life long dead, elusive canines in the Amazon, hauntingly isolated landscapes, late-night bat-watching (hearing?) in a cemetery..

This might be my favorite episode of the show, and I haven't stopped thinking about some of these ideas ever since.

Listen & tell BBC Earth yall want S2! https://bbcearth.com/podcast

Podcast | BBC Earth

BBC Earth’s podcast is everything you’d expect – a blend of nature, science and human experience, with worldclass story telling and immersive soundscapes.

Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDDec 13, 2022

It's a new #BBCEarthPodcast! This week, Rutendo and I are looking at the duality of order vs chaos shows up in the wild, and how that "either/or" mentality might just be something we came up with, not nature.

Join us as we zoom in and out on:
🪶Dr. Mario Pesendorfer marveling at how 1000s of birds manage to fly in sync
🔍Darwin Tree of Life Project's (frankly absolutely WILD) quest to sequence the DNA of *every* species in the UK
🌧️Sound recordist Chris Watson showing how weather shapes migrations

Available now on ACast (https://play.acast.com/s/bbcearthpodcast/series-5-episode-11-order-and-chaos) or wherever you get your podcasts!

Order and chaos

The difference between order and chaos can depend on your perspective. The systems and processes that drive the natural world might seem random in close-up, whether it’s an ant wandering around near its nest, or a wildebeest charging through the water. But if you zoom out, you can see how these small activities combine to form part of a bigger picture. The Darwin Tree Of Life project is an attempt to bring order to nature by sequencing the DNA of every living thing in the UK, a staggering 70,000 species. The research team explains how they’ll keep on target by doing a little light sequencing before their morning coffee. We fly high with one of nature’s most stunning visual displays of order, murmuration, learning from Professor Mario Pesendorfer how this magical movement comes together, and how birds move in perfect sync with no leader. And wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson – who has helped to create some of the BBC’s best-loved nature documentaries – takes us on a trip to Maasai Mara, where the annual rains bring a natural order to the migration patterns of wildebeest. Credits: The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton. This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh. The researcher was Seb Masters. The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton. Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews. The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon. Special thanks to: Caroline Howard, Liam Crowley and Mark Blaxter for the feature on the Darwin Tree of Life Project. Mario Pesendorfer for sharing his insights into murmurations. Chris Watson for providing the wildebeest soundscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

acast
Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDDec 7, 2022
On this week's #BBCEarthPodcast, Rutendo & I are taking a closer look (listen?) to the rhythms of nature! We've got:
🐵🥁Chimps w/ individual drumming styles
🌼🌕A plant whose life is tied to the full moon
🧊🌊The cycle of freeze+thaw in the arctic
Check it out now at https://play.acast.com/s/bbcearthpodcast/series-5-episode-10-rhythm or wherever you get your podcasts!
Rhythm

Sebastian is not afraid to admit that he lacks natural rhythm. But Rutendo thinks he’s too hard on himself – perhaps the world is just out of sync with him. Besides, every living thing is built upon natural rhythms, from our response to night and day, to the beating of our hearts. Kristina Bolinder leads us on an exploration of a plant with a very unusual habit: it only flowers under the light of the full moon. The reason why connects a century of lunar records with the latest in botanical research. Deep in the Budongo Forest in Uganda, a team of researchers has been following a group of chimps for several years, and learning that they each have their own signature rhythm, expressed through drumming on the base of trees. What’s more, they can choose when to reveal their identities through their drumming, and when to keep them hidden. Frozen Planet II Producer Rachel Scott tells us about the rhythm of life in the Arctic, from the devastating effects of climate change, to a beautiful and unexpected sequence featuring polar bears dancing on ice. We close with the friendly tap-tapping sounds of the Great Spotted Woodpecker – who reveals much within its rhythm. Credits: The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton. This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh. The researcher was Seb Masters. The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton. Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews. The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon. Special thanks to: Kristina Bolinder for sharing her discovery that connected plants to the lunar cycle. Vesta Eluteri, Viola Komedova, Catherine Hobaiter and Mugisha Stephen for the feature on chimpanzee drumming. Rachel Scott from the BBC Natural History Unit. Chris Hails of wildechoes.org for providing the woodpecker soundscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

acast
Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDNov 29, 2022

& if ya missed *last* week's #BBCEarthPodcast, go catch up!

* Former WWE wrestler Stu Bennett shares how a momentary fear lead to a lifelong fascination with wildlife
* Dr. Liana Zanette explains how predators affect an ecosystem just by being scary
* Kumar Paudel uses art to fight the threat of poaching, & understand the threats that push people into poaching

As usual, you can listen on A-Cast (https://play.acast.com/s/bbcearthpodcast/series-5-episode-8-threat) or wherever you get your podcasts!

Threat

It’s a scary world out there, as we explore how everything on the planet – from humankind to glaciers – must be able to respond to threat in order to survive. Sebastian surprises Rutendo with a story of the time he lived in Japan and took up fencing, occasionally finding himself at the wrong end of a sword. WWE wrestler and commentator Stu Bennett, better known as Bad News Barrett, is used to feeling the pressure in the ring. But away from that controlled environment, he has faced less expected threats, including an underwater close encounter with an enormous moray eel. He also shares his concerns – and hopes – for the future of a planet under its own kind of threat. In Nepal, poaching of rare animals is a growing problem, threatening the ecosystem itself. Kumar Paudel is tackling this issue head-on, using folk music and videos to educate rural communities on the consequences of poaching, and meeting face-to-face with convicted animal smugglers, to try to make lasting change against the odds. Lianna Zanette tells us about her work studying predator-induced fear, and how animals respond differently to threats depending on how they perceive their environment. And Oskar Glowacki introduces heartrending sounds recorded inside glaciers which are dying as a result of climate change. Credits: The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton. This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh. The researcher was Seb Masters. The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton. Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews. The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon. Special thanks to: Liana Zanette from The University of Western Ontario for sharing her research into the ecology of fear. Interviewee Stu Bennett aka Bad News Barrett. Kumar Paudel from Greenhood Nepal. Oskar Glowacki from the Polish Academy of Science for talking us through and letting us hear his glacier recordings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

acast
Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDNov 29, 2022

Y'all may have noticed that my fave parts of the #BBCEarthPodcast are where Rutendo & I get to question longstanding assumptions about how nature works.
SO!
This week we're bringing ya stories about the surprisingly blurry line b/w one individual animal & the next: https://play.acast.com/s/bbcearthpodcast/series-5-episode-9-individuals

With shoutouts to our awesome guests:
🚢Western Australia Museum's Dr. Lisa Kirkendale who recounted her encounter w/ a? many? deeply strange animal(s)
🐝Beekeeper & sound recordist Richard Youell
🎸Stu Mackenzie & the rest of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Individuals

In an age of individualism, sometimes we are more connected than we think. And the same is true for everything on the planet. Rutendo and Sebastian explore the question of how and why we define an individual, a colony, or a group, across the animal kingdom. Lisa Kirkendale was astounded when she came across the longest organism ever discovered, a siphonophore off the coast of Australia. Composed of several semi-independent but constantly connected parts known as zooids, could it be seen as a colony of many creatures, or just one? Richard Youell, a beekeeper and sound recordist, uses innovative techniques to record directly inside a beehive, an almost impossible task because of bees’ natural inclination to protect themselves from a microphone, by covering it in wax. After a lot of time and patience, he has managed to record the unique captivating sounds of the battle between potential queens, a behaviour known as piping, where there can be only one victor. And we hear from Australian rockers King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, about their efforts to reduce the impact of their packed touring schedule on an increasingly fragile ecosystem. Credits: The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton. This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh. The researcher was Seb Masters. The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton. Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews. The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon. Special thanks to: Richard Youell for sharing his insight and sound recordings from within a beehive. Interviewee Lisa Kirkendale from the Western Australian Museum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

acast
Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDNov 18, 2022
Don't think I'd let ya go a week without more wild stories about wonderfully weird animals! Join me & my cohost Dr. Rutendo Shackleton for this week's #BBCEarthPodcast--we're diving into how bats, hatchetfish, lyrebirds & more have evolved to play tricks with light & sound! Featuring interviews with Dr. Yossi Yovel (https://yossiyovel.com/) & Dr. Alison Sweeney. Listen now at https://play.acast.com/s/bbcearthpodcast/series-5-episode-7-reflections or wherever you get your podcasts!
neville parkNov 8, 2022

The previous episode of the #BBCEarthPodcast, "Whose Story", made me cry and I had to take a break to be sad. The segment about the regent honeyeater. https://www.bbcearth.com/podcast

Highly recommend listening and, of course, following Our Own™ @spiderdaynightlive who is one of the hosts!

Podcast | BBC Earth

BBC Earth’s podcast is everything you’d expect – a blend of nature, science and human experience, with worldclass story telling and immersive soundscapes.

Dr. Sebastian A Echeverri, PhDNov 8, 2022
This week's #BBCEarthPodcast is about doing the important work. Dr. Rutendo Shackleton
& I are bringing y'all:
✨How vultures keep the world clean
🐌Making conservation about more than just the "cute" animals
🇧🇷Brazil's Indigenous protestors fighting colonialism+deforestation!
Listen now at bbcearth.com/podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts! #scicomm