New Yorker cartoonist Amy Kurzweil's efforts to connect to people in her own past led her to write and illustrate two graphic family histories. The first tells the story of her mother's mother, who escaped the Holocaust without any photos or personal records, only her memories—many still fresh in her now-97-year-old head. Her father's father, profiled in Kurzweil's latest book, left an abundance of records and writings but died long before the cartoonist was born. Two very different lives to reconstruct. Two very different challenges in storytelling.

Guest: Amy Kurzweil, author of "Artificial: A Love Story" and "Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir"

When the secret police discover that a well-off Iranian doctor has converted to Christianity, she must flee the country with her two children, taking only what they can fit in a suitcase. Witness her son's coming-of-age as a refugee in Oklahoma as he wrestles with the question: Is what we gained commensurate with what we lost? A heart-wrenching, inspiring—and, at times, hilarious—episode from Constant Wonder.

Guest: Daniel Nayeri, author of "Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story)"

Thanks to Onetent for the use of "Persian Fantasy," accessed at pixabay.com

Turtles have amazing recuperative powers; when an injured turtle is given the right care and time to heal, it can often outlive its human rescuers—and possibly its rescuers' children as well. Acclaimed nature writer Sy Montgomery and illustrator Matt Patterson share the transformative lessons they've learned at the Turtle Rescue Center in Southbridge, Massachusetts. In this episode of Constant Wonder: What can turtles teach us about patience, endurance, time, and even what it means to be human?

Guests: Sy Montgomery, author, and Matt Patterson, illustrator, of "Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell"

Photo by Erin Patterson

A foundling newborn owl on the brink of death was rescued by a passionate conservationist. After a couple years, she was released to the wild, where's she's lived a healthy life—she's even raised two broods of chicks. But she still calls to and pays regular visits to her rescuer, right in his own back yard. A miracle of hope and connection. Also, in this episode of Constant Wonder, a bonus conversation about tracking the world's largest owl in Siberia.

Guests:

Carl Safina, author of "Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe," Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University, and founding president of the Safina Center

Jonathan C. Slaght, Regional Director, Temperate Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society; author of “Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl”

Owl calls: © Sergey Surmach 2012; Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/; BYU Broadcasting does not claim ownership in the sounds provided by Mr. Surmach which BYU obtained from https://xeno-canto.org/species/Bubo-blakistoni

When his daughter is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, an anthropology professor must test his commitment to the lesson that his field had long taught: that someone is different doesn't mean something is wrong with them. He discovers, though, that even leading social scientists like Margaret Mead and Erik Erikson struggled to accept Down Syndrome as part of a normal life. In this episode of Constant Wonder, he and his family embrace an expanded concept of what a "normal" childhood looks like.

Guest: Thomas W. Pearson, professor of Anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Stout and author of "An Ordinary Future: Margaret Mead, the Problem of Disability, and Child Born Different"

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 12 weeks:  An anthropology professor rethinks what it means to be human when his newborn receives a Down Syndrome diagnosis. Two turtle fanatics explore the unexpected marvels of ancient family bonds. A birder adopts an injured baby screech owl and releases her to the wild, from which she returns for frequent visits. And, a young Iranian refugee navigates his early teens in rural Oklahoma. Join Constant Wonder for stories from nature, medicine, art, history, science, and more.

Constant Wonder shares excerpts of three of our favorite episodes from 2023. We meet a family who discovered that their Nazi grandfather had actually aided the French resistance in WWII; we follow two intrepid female botanists along a death-defying boat trip through the Grand Canyon; we meet a "range rider" who keeps the peace between ranchers and wolves. These are only a sampling of the fascinating, inspiring conversations from the last year.

Guests:

Burkhard Bilger, author of "Fatherland: A Memoir of War, Conscience, and Family Secrets" and staff writer at "The New Yorker"

Melissa Sevigny, author of "Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon." Thanks to Lew Steiger for allowing us to use his recordings of Lois Jotter's recollections.

Daniel Curry, range rider and wolf advocate in Eastern Washington

Marcus shares an original Christmas message.

When an ermine kills her beloved chicken one Christmas morning, Sy Montgomery learns a lesson in forgiveness that reaches far beyond the hen house.

Part of a Constant Wonder series marking the Christian Advent with daily vignettes that distill the spirit of the season, in keeping with our mission of exploring wonder and awe in all nature, human or wild, vast or small: encounters that move us beyond words.

Guest: Sy Montgomery, author of "How To Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals"

The ties that bind us—family or community—may sometimes feel restrictive, but they actually hold us safe and keep us calm, like swaddling bands, according to Hannah Anderson.

Part of a Constant Wonder series marking the Christian Advent with daily vignettes that distill the spirit of the season, in keeping with our mission of exploring wonder and awe in all nature, human or wild, vast or small: encounters that move us beyond words.

Guest: Hannah Anderson, author of "Heaven and Nature Sing: 25 Advent Reflections to Bring Joy to the World"