Podcast
Overheard at National Geographic
Hosted by National Geographic · EN
Come dive into one of the curiously delightful conversations overheard at National Geographic’s headquarters, as we follow explorers, photographers, and scientists to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world. Hosted by Peter Gwin and Amy Briggs.
19episodes
Episodes
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There’s a Bear in My Backyard
Nov 29, 2022Tap to summarizeSure, we love bears when they show up in books or cartoons. But what if one is outside our window? Human-bear encounters are becoming far more frequent as development continues to spread and people and bears seek similar resources of food, water, and shelter. National Geographic Explorer and large-carnivore ecologist Rae Wynn-Grant dispels a few myths about bear behavior, describes what it’s like to cuddle a bear cub, and offers tips on what to do if you find a bear in your backyard—or bump into one in the wild.For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.Want more? If you haven’t seen the viral Instagram video of Rae Wynn-Grant cuddling with bear cubs for science, you can watch that here. And you can keep up with her adventures with more species, like ring-tailed lemurs and African lions, on her website, raewynngrant.com. Or you can also listen to her podcast, Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, where you can hear her interview fellow conservationists about their work, from studying hyenas in Kenya to coyotes in California.Also explore:Read Christine Dell’Amore’s piece about how bears and other wild animals have adapted to urban areas across the U.S.If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Who Inspired Wakanda's Warrior Women?
Nov 8, 2022Tap to summarizeThe fictional, fearsome, and all-female Dora Milaje in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were inspired by a real group of African warriors: the Agojie. Nat Geo contributing writer Rachel Jones shares the history of the Agojie and discusses the way that movies and pop culture can shape our understanding of the world.For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.Want more?Learn more and check out photos of the Agojie in Rachel Jones’s article. Also, in 2019 Rachel traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to find out how they were combating the Ebola epidemic. Read her pieces on a new tool that some hope could uncover the lost ancestry of enslaved African Americans and on Albert José Jones, who founded the first African American scuba club and led the way for Black divers to explore the ocean—and their own history.Also explore:Watch the Dora Milaje kick butt in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in theaters this Friday, November 11th. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Do Shark Stories Help Sharks?
Jul 12, 2022Tap to summarizeOur obsession with sharks has generated folklore around the world for thousands of years. But a series of attacks at the Jersey shore in 1916 would forever change the way we tell stories about sharks. We trace how attitudes toward sharks shifted in the past century—from stoking our fears to emboldening some to ride on their backs—which directly affects the future of one of the most evolved species on the planet.For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.Want More? SharkFest returns! For more great stories on sharks and for our programming schedule, check out natgeo.com/sharkfest.Read about camo sharks that change the color of their skin, scientists who are using drones to expand our understanding of shark behavior, and discoveries on the shark superpowers of speed and bite force.Also explore: The attacks on the Jersey Shore in 1916 were captured in the newspapers at the time; the fear generated was instantaneous. Read more about that here.“Sharkzilla” was not a thing. But that didn’t stop many people from believing in it. What was the real story behind the Carcharocles megalodon? Read about it here.If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Going Undercover to Save Manta Rays
May 3, 2022Tap to summarizeAfter wildlife filmmaker Malaika Vaz stumbled upon manta ray poaching near her home in India, she disguised herself as a fish trader to find out who was behind the plot—a dicey proposition as she pursues traffickers in India, China, and Nepal.For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.Want more?Check out Malaika and Nitye’s production company, Untamed Planet. There, you can see films about big cats, pandemics, and, of course, manta ray trafficking.Also explore: Curious how these animals stole Malaika’s heart? Take a look at Nat Geo Wild’s The Social Lives of Manta Rays.For subscribers:Believe it or not, manta rays have their own distinct social circles. Learn more in our article about manta ray friendships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Amelia Earhart Part I: The Lady Vanishes
Mar 1, 2022Tap to summarizeEver since Amelia Earhart made her last radio transmission somewhere over the Pacific, theories about her disappearance have proliferated; more than 80 years later, the constant retelling of her story shows no signs of slowing. Although the search to find a “smoking gun” has yielded little evidence, there are many who believe they know how Amelia’s story ended. Whether they’re right or wrong, one thing remains true: Their stories have little to do with Amelia herself.For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard.Want more?Check out the maps of Amelia Earhart’s flight plan as well as archival photos, and take a peek inside Bob Ballard’s search vessel in a National Geographic story about Ballard’s expedition. You can also watch the documentary Expedition Amelia on Disney+. See the final radio log between Earhart and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca on the morning she disappeared. Also explore:Learn about how cadaver dogs are used around the world to help uncover what humans can’t detect. There’s a reason humans are such good storytellers—it’s to our evolutionary advantage. Learn about why we crave the ending to a story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Resurrecting Notre-Dame de Paris
Jan 18, 2022Tap to summarizeNational Geographic photographer Tomas van Houtryve documents the layered history and revival of one of the world’s most enduring landmarks, Notre-Dame de Paris. A reflection of the city and part of its soul, the cathedral has been ravaged, reimagined, and resurrected over the course of eight centuries. Badly damaged by fire in 2019, Notre-Dame is again in the hands of skilled artisans who are braving dizzying heights and dangerous conditions to bring the cathedral back to life.For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard. Want more?For more on the restoration of the Notre Dame de Paris, read National Geographic’s magazine story, which features Tomas van Houtryve’s photography and drone videos.Take a look at more than a century of photos of Notre Dame from National Geographic’s archive, including some very curious-looking gargoyles. The late art historian Andrew Tallon had a vision to map Notre-Dame de Paris with lasers. His work has aided the reconstruction of the cathedral. Also explore:Victor Hugo is a literary icon with deep connections throughout French culture. See the source of his inspirations here. Painter Henri Matisse could see Notre Dame from his window on Quai Saint-Michel; it was the subject of many of his paintings and sketches. But many other artists had their own angle on the cathedral. See 16 of them here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Ancient Orchestra
Nov 16, 2021Tap to summarizeSound on! From conch shells to bone flutes, humans have been making musical instruments for tens of thousands of years. What did prehistoric music sound like? Follow us on a journey to find the oldest musical instruments and combine them into one big orchestra of human history.For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard Want More?A conch is more than just a musical instrument. A mollusk lives in that shell, and it’s a staple food in the Bahamas—so much so that overfishing is threatening their existence, but a few simple solutions may solve the problem.The oldest musical instrument was once thought to be a cave bear bone flute made by Neanderthals, but recent evidence suggests that the holes were made by animals rather than tools.More information about each instrumentThe organization First Sounds found and brought to life the recordings of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. For more information about that project, please visit www.firstsounds.org.Bettina Joy de Guzman travels the world, composing and performing music on ancient instruments. You can read more about her work on her website: www.bettinajoydeguzman.comMore information about the bells of Bronze Age China can be found at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art. A virtual version of their collection can be viewed here: https://asia.si.edu/exhibition/resound-ancient-bells-of-china/(Credit: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.4-9)The conch shell sounds you heard were research recordings of the approximately 3,000-year-old Titanostrombus galeatus conch shell horn—excavated in 2018 by John Rick and team from the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site Chavín de Huántar, in Perú—from a 2019 acoustics and performance study by Miriam Kolar, Riemann Ramírez Rodríguez, Ricardo Guerrero de Luna Rueda, Obert Silva Espinoza, and Ronald San Miguel Fernández. Recordings were made at the Centro Internacional de Investigación, Conservación y Restauración de Chavín (CIICR) in the Museo Nacional Chavín as research conducted within the Programa de Investigación Arqueológica y Conservación Chavín de Huántar (PIACCdH). Site music archaeology and archaeoacoustics research information can be found on the Chavín de Huántar Archaeological Acoustics project website: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/groups/chavin/pututus.html.National Geographic Explorer Jahawi Bertolli is collecting the sounds of rock gongs from all over the African continent. More information about his rock project can be found here: www.jahawi.com/first-rockFlutist Anna Potengowski specializes in recreating the sounds of ancient flutes. You can hear more of her work here: open.spotify.com/artist/4a9uIQ2g8A5BIDN1VExUZqIf you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Portraits of Afghanistan Before the Fall
Aug 30, 2021Tap to summarizeTwenty years since the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban have once again seized power of the country. In the months leading up to the fall of the nation’s capital, National Geographic photographer Kiana Hayeri and writer Jason Motlagh heard the stories of young Afghans struggling for a better future. In the time since this reporting, some of the people featured have died or have become unreachable.For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard.Want more?Read Jason and Kiana’s full article about the people of Afghanistan, just a few months before the Taliban takeover.After her evacuation from Kabul, Kiana sat down with us for an extended interview.Learn more about the life of Sharbat Gula, the famed “Afghan girl,” whose portrait became National Geographic’s most famous cover photo ever. In Afghanistan, girls are sometimes dressed as boys to avoid the stigma and restrictions of being a girl. But for many of these bacha posh, going back to life as a female is difficult. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcribe →Searching for the Himalaya’s Ghost Cats
Feb 2, 2021Tap to summarizeSearching for the Himalaya’s Ghost CatsNational Geographic’s editor at large Peter Gwin travels to the Himalaya to join photographer and National Geographic explorer Prasenjeet Yadav on his search for snow leopards, one of the planet’s most elusive animals in one of its most forbidding landscapes. Himalayan communities have long regarded the snow leopards as threats to their livelihoods, but conservation efforts and tourism are changing the way people see them.For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard.Want more? For Peter Gwin’s reporting on snow leopards in Kibber, National Geographic magazine subscribers can read his piece, “Himalaya Snow Leopards Are Finally Coming Into View.” And if you want to see photos that National Geographic explorer Prasenjeet Yadav has captured of snow leopards, head to his instagram page: @prasen.yadav. Also explore: For basic information on snow leopards, here’s National Geographic’s reference page on the species.Subscribers can also see beautiful illustrations that show how the snow leopard’s anatomy has adapted to the harsh Himalaya environment and read about how poaching is threatening the species in Asia. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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