The Hanbury-Tenisons have turned to a rare temperate rainforest on their family farm for solace and renewal after emotional and physical trauma. Now they want to share this healing resource with others. But they also want to restore and expand the ancient forest. Healing the land and healing ourselves in this episode of Constant Wonder.

Guests:

Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, author of "Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests" and founder of Cabilla retreat center

Lizzie Hanbury-Tenison, founder of Cabilla retreat center

Rob Stoneman, Director of Landscape Recovery  Landscape Recovery for the British Wildlife Trusts

Ever since "Dracula," bats have been seen as terrifying threats that carry disease. They're actually essential to our agriculture and industry. In this episode of Constant Wonder, you'll meet an expert who can set the record straight. No wonder he's known as "The Batman of Mexico"; he's been obsessed with the flying mammals since he was young!

Guest: Rodrigo Medellin, Professor of Ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico

Originally aired July 19, 2023

One day in 1901, a young farmer from Croatia set out on a walk. Decades later, he was still walking, had traversed six continents, and had stood face-to-face with the most famous people of the age. His mammoth autograph book, lost to history for nearly a century, has resurfaced to tell the tale of Joseph Mikulec and his eccentric quest.

Guests:

Rebecca Rego Barry, author of "Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds in Unlikely Places" and editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine. She wrote about Mikulec's odyssey for "Smithsonian Magazine."

Nathan Raab, rare book collector, Philadelphia, PA

Originally aired September 14, 2022

Meet a tireless physician who has spent nearly four decades caring for the unhoused population of Boston. We'll also learn about some of his enterprising and generous patients, who've formed a community that watches out for one another on the streets, as they find redemption and hope amid tragedy.

Guests: Jim O'Connell, MD, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

Tracy Kidder, author of "Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People" and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Photo credit: Bill Brett

Originally aired May 10, 2023

Hummingbirds are often admired for their dazzling speed and iridescent beauty, but their nesting habits remain one of nature's best-kept secrets. Citizen scientist Eric Pittman takes us into this hidden world, sharing his firsthand observations of hummingbird mothers as they build intricate nests and nurture their young—right in his very own backyard. Join us as we explore the hidden wonders of nature that await when we take the time to look.

Guest: Eric Pittman, Hummingbirds Up Close; subject of "The Bird in My Backyard" documentary

Photo credit: Eric Pittman

Select hummingbird audio courtesy of Paul Marvin and Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Educator and activist Septima Clark used her passion for teaching to increase literacy rates in the Deep South, preparing Black citizens to pass the voter registration tests that were designed to disenfranchise them.

Guest: Elaine Weiss, author of "Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil Rights Movement"

Septima Clark reader: Janice L. Jones

Photo Caption: Septima Poinsette Clark, 1973; Photo Credit: Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC.

News footage courtesy of EasyStreet, Pond5, www.pond5.com

The best way to see the world is on foot, it might be argued. Mary Colwell has had amazing encounters with wildlife on her walking treks around the globe. She's even used her walks to raise awareness and increase protection of the fascinating but imperiled curlew.

Mary Colwell, Director of Curlew Action; TV and radio producer, conservationist; author, "Curlew Moon"

Daniel Curry had had recurring dreams about wolves, long before he chose to devote his career to helping them. After working with captive wolves for several years, he became a "range rider," a human intermediary between predators and the cattle they might want to eat. In this episode of Constant Wonder, we'll discover Curry's extraordinary empathy for both domestic and wild creatures, and we'll hear how he works to keep them all safe.

Photo credit: Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review

Guest: Daniel Curry, range rider and wolf advocate in Eastern Washington

Originally aired on May 17, 2023

When Paula Whyman started trying to rehabilitate 200 acres she'd just bought, she knew very little about conservation. Among many other challenges, she faced off with mile-a-minute vine and rattlesnakes, but, with self-effacing humor and passion for this corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she persisted (and still persists!) in restoring the land to a healthy equilibrium.

Guest: Paula Whyman, author of "Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop"

Use the power of retreat and meditation to ease the stress of our frenetic lifestyle. From decades of friendship with the Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer has learned the value of sacred silence.

Guest: Pico Iyer, author of "Aflame: Learning from Silence"