Constant Wonder

Extended version of our conversation with Jackie Higgins.

He walked the streets in secret, a veterinarian in his off-hours, looking to help the pets of the homeless. Now his work in the subject of the tv show "Street Vet." He describes how his work has changed the lives of both pets and their owners. And his own.

Guest: Kwane Stewart, veterinarian and co-founder of Project Street Vet

Learn more about Kwane's work online:

Street Vet: https://drkwanestreetvet.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drkwane/?hl=en

Darwin hated peacocks because he couldn't explain their excess beauty. He likely would have hated mockingbirds for the excessive complexity of their songs. Where many birds are content with a few simple chirps, mockingbirds learn hundreds of sounds from other birds and animals and mix them together using sophisticated musical techniques, the kind human musicians often employ. Their songs go far, far beyond anything necessary to find food, defend territory, or attract a mate. Why do they do it?

Guests:

David Rothenberg, author, composer, musician, and Distinguished Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology

Dave Gammon, Professor of Biology, Elon University

Learn more about David's work at his website: https://davidrothenberg.wordpress.com/

This seed could symbolize the resilience of an entire people. Atop a lonely desert fortress near the Dead Sea, a Judean date seed lay inert for over 2,000 years. We talk to the scientists who brought that tree to life, named it Methusaleh, and rejuvenated an extinct species.

Guests:

Elaine Solowey, Director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies R.A., Ketura, Israel

Sarah Sallon, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

Jodi Magness, Professor of Archeology, University of North Carolina.

Giraffes don't like to swim, so how do you get them off an island that's flooding? How do keepers feed a violent, orphaned baby elephant that's been traumatized by humans? The answer is to think like an animal. Meet some empathetic rescuers who had to get creative to save the animals in their care. But their efforts paid off, and, turns out, the humans' lives were better for it, too.

Guests:

David O'Connor, President of Save Giraffes Now

Ami Vitale, filmmaker and National Geographic Magazine photographer

Jake Owens, Director of Conservation at the L.A. Zoo

Learn more about Save Giraffes Now:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savegiraffesnow/?hl=en

X/Twitter: https://x.com/savegiraffesnow?lang=en

Get involved: https://savegiraffesnow.org/

When Daniel Kish was a toddler, he got around. One night he climbed out of his window and made his way over multiple chain link fences, but the neighbors knew who he was. "All the neighbors knew who the blind kid belonged to," he says. As a kid, Daniel climbed trees, rode bikes, and swam in pools. Today he is one of the world's leaders in human echolocation and does pretty much whatever he wants. And he's teaching younger generations to do the same. Part 2 of 2.

Guests: Daniel Kish, President of World Access for the Blind

Robert Just, retired medical record transcriber

Visit World Access for the Blind's website to learn more about Daniel's mission: https://waftb.net/

Daniel Kish is blind and he navigates the world kind of like a bat—making clicking sounds with his mouth and, from the echoes he gets back, building a picture of the world he's moving through. "The sonic environment is incredibly alive," says Kish, who lost his eyes to cancer when he was barely one year old. He doesn't just get around. He reveals in the physical beauty of the world. "Domes are pretty special," he says. "So I've been in these tropical gardens, for example, where they'll have these dome structures over these gardens. And when you find the apex of the dome, your every sound that you make, and every sound that's being made in that dome is highly, highly resonant." Come along with us while we walk alongside one of the world's leading experts on echolocation. Part 1 of 2.

Guest: Daniel Kish, President of World Access for the Blind

Visit World Access for the Blind's website to learn more about their mission: https://waftb.net/

00:00:00 - [Echo Pt.1]

00:09:51 - [Echo Pt.2]

Larry Doby, Sr., became the second Black player in the MLB, and his home run during the '48 World Series turned the series around for the Indians. Behind him stood the team's free-thinking owner, Bill Veeck, who wanted to upend the sport, opening his doors to Negro league players and bringing a carnival atmosphere into the stands. Baseball would never be the same again.

Guests:

Larry Doby, Jr., son of Larry Doby, Sr.; union stage hand, Local One IATSE, New York City

Luke Epplin, author of "Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball"

Explore more of Luke's writing at his website: https://lukeepplin.com/

We examine why flavor is our "most neglected sense" and we meet a restaurant owner who, in the spirit of the fictional "Babette's Feast," is spreading the message that "Food Is Love."

The fight against cystic fibrosis has impacted medicine as a whole.