Nocturne

Astronomer James Lowenthal gave a TEDx talk in 2016 warning that with the availability of cheap LED lights, light pollution around the world was about to get much worse very quickly. Little did he know that there was a much bigger threat to the night sky right around the corner.

Dvora has interacted with elemental spirits since she was a child.  She's learned to set boundaries, so as not to be attacked or taken advantage of. Sometimes the elementals just want to talk, sometimes they need help,  and sometimes they're the ones offering help.

Nocturne is having a 30 day special offer on https://www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast ! Sign up to become a supporter at the $5 level or above and get all the existing benefits (including Night Light bonus episodes), AND I will send you a treat bag with Nocturne stickers and some other cool stuff.

Danny's first skydiving experience set him on course to do something that most people would never dream of doing, something that for most people would actually be seriously terrifying, and for good reason.

This story is about something that is dangerous, illegal, and I don't recommend it, AT ALL.

Nocturne is having a 30 day special offer on https://www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast ! Sign up to become a supporter at the $5 level or above and get all the existing benefits (including Night Light bonus episodes), AND I will send you a treat bag with Nocturne stickers and some other cool stuff.

Clustering around the warmth and power of a campfire, it feels like the edges of people get softened - we speak and listen to each other differently - there's a deepening that doesn't happen in many other settings. What use to be the norm, is now a special treat -  gazing into the embers, listening to the mesmerizing crackle, and telling our own secrets and stories in the night.

There are only 6000 tule elk left in the world, all of them found in California. Some of them roam along the coastal hills of Point Reyes National Seashore, an area that is also occupied by cattle and dairy ranches. To protect grazing land for cows, some of the elk are confined by high fences. But as drought worsens, and the elk are cut off from food and water, large numbers of them are dying. A band of activists have been trekking through the fog, in darkness, to try to help them.

*The initially released version of this episode was revised on the same day of its release.

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Through the Fog Credits

Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling 

Find more information about Jack Gescheidt.

Sounds of the nighttime water drop were recorded by Tony Sehgal, for his film, "Dying of Thirst at Point Reyes National Seashore".

More information on the issues related to the tule elk and cattle operations at Point Reyes National Seashore:

www.pacificsun.com/death-by-design-how-the-national-park-service-experiments-on-tule-elk/

www.abc7news.com/tule-elk-deaths-protest-endangered/10838764/

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk.htm

www.sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/09/13/point-reyes-protest-calls-out-park-service-over-tule-elk-water-supply/

www.abc7news.com/tule-elk-deaths-protest-endangered/10860141/

www.ptreyeslight.com/article/elk-activists-stage-protest-ranch-land

www.ptreyeslight.com/article/true-boom-and-bust-fenced-herd-shrinks-drought

www.ForElk.org

www.IDAusa.org

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Kim felt an irresistible pull toward life on the road - the traveler's lifestyle, without schedules or responsibilities. Hopping freight trains and searching for places to sleep are now a thing of the past, but she still tries to hold on to the spirit of adventure and surprise she loved from that time.

Grace felt everything deeply from an early age. She was having panic attacks at 9 years old, and separation anxiety in middle school. The anxiety came to a head when she was 12, and nothing she tried helped in any meaningful way. Until one night she looked out her window.

Tonight, as you're lying in bed, take a moment to think about the fact that in the night sky right above you, a massive river of birds is on an epic, death-defying journey of survival.

Most parents would never consider leaving their kids in the dark woods at night, and letting them find their way back. The Dutch do just that, and they call it Dropping, and the kids mostly have fun.

When Lia Ditton set out from San Francisco to row alone across the Pacific Ocean she was  confident that she would make it to Hawaii. But when you leave land, all you really know is that you're going on an adventure.