Encounters Podcast

Look of the shoulder of host Richard Nelson as he butchers a freshly killed deer. He tells stories of his learning to hunt from his Inupiaq teachers and we learn how knowing more about the food we eat can make us feel closer to the environment.

Travel to the front lines of global warming with host Elizabeth Arnold as she heads out to Kivalina a small island in the Bering Sea that is washing away.

What to do on a rainy day? - how about listening to the rain on a tent or taking a walk in the rain to learn about its important connection to the earth.

Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals in the world. Watch and listen to these amazing predatory birds whom are back from the edge of extinction!

The underwater song of the humpback whale is one of the most unusual sounds there is. Get your adrenaline pumping as host Richard Nelson goes along with researcher Jan Straley to observe a group of humpback whales bubblenet feeding.

The honk of the trumpeter swan reminds us that summer is officially over and birds are flying south.

Listen to the quintessential Cry of the Wild on this episode of Encounters. Watch a small group of wolves play and pounce as you listen to Richard Nelson tell you about this animal that has come to represent all that is wild.

Go for a paddle with a pod of sealions and get close enough to smell their fishy breath on this episode of Encounters.

Head up to autumn in the Yukon in Canada this week to hear the annual Elk rut. Find out what makes Elk the icon of hunters and nature lovers all around the country and get a first hand listen to their amazing bugle call.

Instead of heading uptown, head upstream this week with Richard Nelson as he gets into a salmon stream to experience the amazing annual life cycle event of wild Alaskan salmon.

Get relief from the summer heat and jump aboard a U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker with host Elizabeth Arnold. Experience life on board a 400 foot floating laboratory as an array of scientists study eiders(ducks) and walrus.

On a sandy beach on an island off the Alaskan coast host Richard Nelson makes a camp fire and discusses what is special about wild places and how wild places can humble us and remind us what is important about the world around us.

Grizzly country can quicken the pulse of anyone who enters it. In this episode, Richard Nelson keeps a sharp on a gathering of grizzlies - or coastal brown bears -in the Katmai country of Alaska. These are some of the biggest bears on earth and nowhere are they more abundant than in the sumer meadows of Katmai. Learn about portable electric fences, cooking away from camp and other tricks to stay safe around one of the most feared and esteemed animals in the Alaskan wilderness.

This Encounters segment takes listeners to new heights as we perch on the sheer face of an Alaskan mountain to observe a herd of mountain goats. Richard Nelson explains how these thiicly furred, pur white animals elude predators by scrambling around on rugged, rocky ledges high above the waters of Glacier Bay.

Listen to the sounds of early summer where wood frogs croak in the Alaskan North Country. Their croak mark the beginning of summer, but what makes them truly amazing happens in the winter. These amphibians can freeze their entire body – including their heart and their lungs. How do they do it.? Join Richard Nelson on a trip up North to get a closer listen to these remarkable beings.