Constant Wonder

Darcy Gaechter is the first and only woman to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea. Here's her story. Buddy Levy describes a Western explorer's discovery of the Amazon River.

Trond Larsen shares his recent journey to Bolivia’s Zongo Valley, a haven for lost and forgotten species. Richard Preston teaches us about the would above our heads in tree canopies. Mike Benton of the Univ of Bristol discusses dinosaur extinction theory.

Patrick T. Reardon explains how the ”L” tracks in Chicago both form and give identity to the city. Carl Smith breaks down the events that led up to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that displaced thousands.

Alecia Carter on how baboons deal with death and how they understand their own mortality. Naturalist Sy Montgomery describes “How to be a Good Creature," lessons she's learned from wildlife.

Lorrie Glover looks at the life of Eliza Pinckney, one of the wealthiest planters in pre-revolutionary America. Catherine Clinton, of the University of Texas at San Antonio, shares a complicated perspective on the Civil War from the diary of Mary Chesnut, a Southern feminist.

Roland Ennos tells human history through our uses of wood. Céline Montanari of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology discusses how to make windows out of wood.

Cassie Chambers Armstrong grew up in Appalachia and eventually attended both Yale and Harvard; she couldn't have done it without generations of determined women behind her. Shannon Parker describes how of Maud Lewis' entire house ended up in The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Katherine Moore tells the story of her mother, Katherine Johnson, one of the heroes of "Hidden Figures," in a new inspirational picture book. Joe Drape on the quest for sainthood for Father Emil Kapaun, a POW chaplain in the Korean War.

Jonathan S. Jones reveals an opiate crisis among veterans of the US Civil War that mirrors our current problem. David Blistein explains the complicated history of opium.

Dana Chandler shares how George Washington Carver used clever science to helped save America's farms. James Tour races nano cars, cars so small you can't see them, to drive the field of nanomanipulation forward. Ben Abbott of BYU introduces us to microbes that fight pollution.