Constant Wonder

Plants are sentient. It's not just animals that think. Able to choose, they detect problems, find nutrients, and defend themselves. Guest: Zoë Schlanger, science writer for The Atlantic and author of "The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth"

Bringing the wonders of the natural world to the curious kids in your life, Constant Wonder KIDS is the podcast that turns everyday moments into extraordinary adventures! This new show from Constant Wonder shares fascinating facts and true stories about amazing people doing incredible things in nature. Join us as we explore the playful side of octopuses who enjoy toys like Lego bricks. Dive into the ocean with whale sharks and meet one who has an unexpectedly friendly personality. Or cheer for tiny athletes at the International Hedgehog Olympic Games. Each episode of Constant Wonder KIDS is a bite-sized story taken from its parent podcast, Constant Wonder. Perfect for road trips, bedtime listening, or when your brain’s got an itch that needs to be scratched.

When she realized that her father had become a voice for the scattered Hmong people, Kao Kalia Yang—who'd refused to speak English for 20 years—found the courage to do the same. Guest: Kao Kalia Yang, author of "Where Rivers Part," "The Song Poet," and "The Latehomecomer"

Lyme disease keeps her from driving, but the beloved author of The Joy Luck Club relishes the wonder of nature right at home. Amy Tan's insights will help you see your back yard, whatever its size, in a whole new light. Tune in as she describes the animal life in her yard—hummingbirds, owls, finches, squirrels, and even rats—as if they were players on the stage of a great opera. Guest: Amy Tan, author of The Backyard Bird Chronicles

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, describes miraculous discoveries in genetic research, including advances in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and progeria. All that and more is coming up in Season 9 of Constant Wonder, kicking off August 28.

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 for the revolutionary work he'd done on "Bambi." Never say it's too late to succeed! Guest: Mo Rocca, correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning," author of "Roctogenarians: Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs," and host of the "Mobituaries" podcast

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, conservationist, and founder of the Waldrappteam Photo copyright of Waldrappteam Conservation and Research

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, author of "Glacial Erratic," published in the Willowherb Review

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 harmonic radar, machine learning, and AI—in an effort to see the world through the eyes of a bee. Guests: Lars Chittka, professor of Sensory and Behavioral Ecology at Queen Mary University of London and author of "The Mind of a Bee" Tim Landgraf, professor of Machine Learning and Robotics at the Free University Berlin

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 logical. Guest: Alan Townsend, author of "This Ordinary Stardust: A Scientist's Path from Grief to Wonder"

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

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. Guests: John Oakes, author of "The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without" Carin Kuoni, Senior Director/Chief Curator, Vera List Center for Art and Politics

When Christian Wiman and Danielle Chapman met and married, life seemed charmed and the horizon calm. But within a year, 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 experienced intense joy amidst great pain and developed a quiet, shared Christian faith. Guests: Christian Wiman, professor at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music; editor; poet; author of "Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair" Danielle Chapman, poet, essayist, and lecturer in English at Yale University

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

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. Featuring guests, deep dives, and thoughtful discussions, each episode centers around a theme and explores movies from an artistic and theological perspective.