Beginnings. Join the crew from the BBC Studios series Dynasties on a journey to Senegal, home of Fongoli chimps. Each year, these chimps brave intense wildfires that ruin their homes. Destructive though they seem, these wildfires are actually part of the cycle of life. The stories in this episode embrace what it means to discover our roots, to begin again and the trials some animals must endure in their very first stages of life.

Very few of us get up early enough to hear the birds sing in the dawn and even fewer of us decide to sing back. English-Finnish vocalist Hanna Tuulikki calls back to the birds.

Eric Grandon, a military veteran, explains how caring for a colony of bees turned his life around after suffering his darkest days having returned home from war. 

Finally, the BBC Springwatch team recount the harrowing journey of a tiny great tit named 'Plucky'.

Close your eyes and open your ears for the first episode of the BBC Earth Podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.