Constant Wonder

Two rivaling railroad companies, both scheming to dominate the American frontier.

When a two-year-old baby orca lost her mother, rescuers in Washington State and Canada rallied to get her home to her grandmother and extended family. Nothing was easy about this rescue, but the results exceeded expectations. Now living a normal life with her clan, Springer is the mother of two with a third on the way. Here is an intimate tale told by people who were there.

Guest: Donna Sandstrom, author of "Orca Rescue," founder of "The Whale Trail," a series of sites to watch whales from shore, and and has previously been a task force member of the Southern Resident Orca Recovery.

Visit Donna online to learn more about her book: https://www.donnasandstrom.com/

To get updates on Springer and learn more about Orcas, visit the Springer File on the Orca Observatory's website: https://www.orcaconservancy.org/blog/springer-file

Legendary sea serpents may be based on the elusive oarfish.

A treasure worth millions stashed in the mountains, with clues to its location hidden in a poem.

With a hint of magic and the lure of buried wisdom, Ancient Egypt has, like a mysterious and powerful magnet, for millennia pulled on the collective imagination of the West. But almost as gripping as the story of Egypt itself is the story of Egyptomania, the tale of how that fascination took hold, the bold adventurers who unearthed antiquities, the clashing empires that fought over these ancient prizes, and a pair of brilliant linguists who cracked the ancient code of the hieroglyphs.

Guest: Edward Dolnick, chief science writer at the Boston Globe, and author of "The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone," "The Clockwork Universe," and "Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party."

Find out more about Edward's work at his website: https://edwarddolnick.net/

Black abolitionist Prince Hall could be considered a founding father.

Washington's indispensable Marblehead Regiment, and the surprising Henry Knox.

Mollusks cultivate underwater gardens, cuttlefish become invisible, and tiny fish run spas for predators. Meanwhile, some ingenious humans work to protect the underwater world that most of us rarely see.

Photograph from UNDERWATER WILD by Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck. Copyright © 2018, 2021 by Quivertree Publications. Reprinted by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers LLC. All rights reserved.

Learn more about Craig Foster and the Save Our Seas initiative: https://saveourseas.com/project-leader/craig-foster/

Find Sy Montgomery online:

Author page: https://symontgomery.com/

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SyTheAuthor/

Explore Helen Scales' work: https://helenscales.com/

Some of the strangest, quirkiest, worst days in history, to help you put your own bad days in perspective.

How a black American nurse and a German POW fell in love during WWII. The hardship and triumph of a high school football team from an internment camp during WWII.