Threshold

How much of what we know about animals is actually just an assumption? From dominant males and passive females to stigmas around same-sex sexual behavior, ideas from our human world influence our understanding of the nonhuman one. Ambika Kamath is a behavioral ecologist and evolutionary biologist, and Melina Packer is a scholar of race, gender and sexuality. Together they wrote the book Feminism in the Wild: How Human Biases Shape Our Understanding of Animal Behavior. They join us to unpack some long-held ideas in biology, explain why these ideas are so powerful, and imagine how we might open our eyes to animal behavior that defies our expectations. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Episode transcript Feminism in the Wild from MIT Press The paper on female birdsong by Michelle Hall and colleagues Amy’s Substack, Letters to Earthlings

Thirty-four years ago, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established the annual “conferences of the parties,” known as COPs, where almost every nation on earth comes together to negotiate a solution to climate change. But this past November, for the first time ever, the United States did not send a delegation to COP, and this month, the Trump Administration announced its intention to withdraw from the UNFCCC entirely. Lina Yassin has been to nine COPs, including the most recent, COP30, in Brazil. Originally from Sudan, Lina provides support for some of the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable nations at these negotiations. She joins Amy to talk about what happened at this year’s conference, and why, despite the U.S. withdrawal, she believes it’s essential to keep this multilateral process alive. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Lina’s work at the International Institute for Environment and Development Key outcomes of COP30 from Carbon Brief Amy will be writing more about recent developments in climate diplomacy at her Substack, Letters to Earthlings

All over the world, small groups of complete strangers are getting together to share their feelings about climate. These gatherings are called Climate Cafes, and they’re carving out space for some big emotions we might prefer to avoid. But what if talking about our feelings can also help us address the climate crisis? Audrey Martin is a Bay Area psychotherapist and one of the leaders of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America. She also happens to be Amy Martin’s sister. Audrey joins us to unpack some of our complicated, scary emotions around climate, and to make the case for why this kind of self-reflection isn’t just comforting—it’s crucial. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Credits: Threshold Conversations is produced by Sam Moore. Our music is by Todd Sickafoose. Amy Martin is our host and executive producer. Resources and Links: Climate Psychology Alliance of North America Mentioned in this episode: Threshold needs your help. To keep making this work and sharing it with audiences for free, we have to raise $75,000 by the end of the year — and we’re almost 50% of the way there! Donate today and your gift up to $1,000 will be doubled. Donate now Threshold is underwritten by its listeners. To keep sharing more stories, we need to raise $75,000 by the end of the year. Right now, donations up to $1,000 will be doubled by our partners at NewsMatch. Consider making a gift today.

Last June, the U.S. the Secretary of Agriculture announced that the Trump administration intends to repeal something called the “Roadless Rule”—a policy implemented in 2001, which protected some of the Forest Service’s wildest lands from logging, mining, and road-building. Author Ben Goldfarb examined the impacts of road and roadless areas in his 2023 book, Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. We talk with Ben about why our Forest Service lands already have so many roads, and what building more would actually mean for wildlife and for people. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Mentioned in this episode: Donate now Threshold is underwritten by its listeners. To keep sharing more stories, we need to raise $75,000 by the end of the year. Right now, donations up to $1,000 will be doubled by our partners at NewsMatch. Consider making a gift today.

Something new is coming to your feed next week. Threshold is made possible by our listeners. To keep making our show, we need to raise $75,000 by the end of the year — and we’re already 15% of the way there! Support real journalism, powered by real listeners. Make a donation today and your gift up to $1,000 will be doubled. DONATE NOW

In this final episode of Hark, we think about listening with Indigenous storytellers on three different continents—and we have one more encounter with those magical Shark Bay dolphins. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Mentioned in this episode: Support Threshold During Our Year-End Campaign Threshold is listener-funded. This allows us to make the kind of show we want to make: science positive, wildly imaginative, and fiercely independent. Donate today and your gift up to $1,000 will be doubled.

New technologies like artificial intelligence have helped to accelerate and open up the entire world of bioacoustics, launching us into a new era of communication with the more-than-human world. In this episode, we explore the promise and perils of using AI in bioacoustics. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.

Humans have filled the world with so much noise that the only sounds many of us often hear on a daily basis are our own. But all this sound isn’t great for our planetmates and it isn’t great for us either. In this episode, we look at how human-made sound makes it hard for other creatures to listen and communicate. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Special thanks to: Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve Discovery of Sound in the Sea Scripps Whale Acoustics Lab Ships, Whales & Acoustics in Gitga’at Territory These sounds were recorded in Gitga’at Territory and sourced from the Ships, Whales & Acoustics in Gitga'at Territory Project, a collaborative initiative of the Gitga’at Nation, North Coast Cetacean Society (BC Whales) and WWF-Canada. Brian Miller, Australian Antarctic Division NOAA Lofoten-Vesterålen Ocean Observatory Mentioned in this episode: Subscribe to Amy's newsletter, Letter to Earthlings at https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/

Homo sapiens joined the story of life on Earth just 300,00 years ago. So when and how did we start making music and creating languages? In this episode, we explore these signature sounds and discover how they just might be rooted in listening. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Mentioned in this episode: Subscribe to Amy's newsletter, Letter to Earthlings at https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/

Elephants communicate through a variety of calls, trumpets, and rumbles. But despite being some of the largest land animals on Earth, elephants can also be incredibly quiet. In this episode, we open our ears to elephants and discover how listening may play a key role in saving them. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Mentioned in this episode: Subscribe to Amy's newsletter, Letter to Earthlings at https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/

Modern humans emerged into a world filled with and shaped by elephants. But for elephants, living with humans isn’t always easy. Elephants have survived by adapting to all the changes we’re making to their world. But there’s only so much they can do. In this episode, we look at how we can learn to live with—and listen to—elephants. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Learn more: Reteti: reteti.org Longuro: reteti.org/blog/longuro-story Shaba: amivitale.com/product/shaba Sarara Foundation: sarara.co/foundation Mentioned in this episode: Subscribe to Amy's newsletter, Letter to Earthlings at https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/

More than 60 million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth, wiping out nearly all the dinosaurs. The only dinosaurs to live through this mass extinction were birds. In this episode, we look at how these ancient creatures learned to listen and communicate, and how listening to birds has changed us. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Operation frog sound! Send us your frog sounds for an upcoming episode. We want you to go out, listen for frogs and toads, and record them. Just find someone croaking, and hit record on your phone. It doesn’t matter if there’s background noise. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not sure whether or not you’re hearing an amphibian—if you think you are, we would love to get a recording from you. Please also say your name and where you are in the world, and then email the recording to us at outreach@thresholdpodcast.org Mentioned in this episode: Subscribe to Amy's newsletter, Letter to Earthlings at https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/

Birds, frogs, dolphins, and humans—we’re all big talkers. Turtles, on the other hand, are considered to be silent. Or are they? In this episode, we challenge what we know about some of our quieter planet mates. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Operation frog sound! Send us your frog sounds for an upcoming episode. We want you to go out, listen for frogs and toads, and record them. Just find someone croaking, and hit record on your phone. It doesn’t matter if there’s background noise. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not sure whether or not you’re hearing an amphibian—if you think you are, we would love to get a recording from you. Please also say your name and where you are in the world, and then email the recording to us at outreach@thresholdpodcast.org Episode links: Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen Turtle Island

Living together in a group is a strategy many animals use to survive and thrive. And a big part of what makes that living situation successful is listening. In this episode, we explore the collaborative world of the naked mole rat. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. Operation frog sound! Send us your frog sounds for an upcoming episode. We want you to go out, listen for frogs and toads, and record them. Just find someone croaking, and hit record on your phone. It doesn’t matter if there’s background noise. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not sure whether or not you’re hearing an amphibian—if you think you are, we would love to get a recording from you. Please also say your name and where you are in the world, and then email the recording to us at outreach@thresholdpodcast.org

A name is essential to your identity. It’s what people call you and what you respond to—it’s part of what you understand about yourself. But do other living things call each other by names? In this episode, we look at how names work in some non-human worlds. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.

Listening and looking for loons. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. We want to hear from you! Send us your questions about the new season, the content or how it’s made, for an upcoming behind-the-scenes episode. You can submit your questions to outreach@thresholdpodcast.org

We answer listener questions about the making of Season 5: Hark and of Threshold more broadly in this special AMA episode with host Amy Martin, managing editor Erika Janik, and producer Sam Moore. Thanks to Kraftkabel for the use of his music. You can find the whole track here. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter.

Sometimes a place we consider quiet is just a place we haven’t taken the time to listen. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. We want to hear from you! Send us your questions about the new season, the content or how it’s made, for an upcoming behind-the-scenes episode. You can submit your questions to outreach@thresholdpodcast.org

If a being doesn’t have ears, can it hear? And if it doesn’t have a mouth, can it talk? In this episode, we spend a golden afternoon conversing with the flowers, plants, and trees. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. We want to hear from you! Send us your questions about the new season, the content or how it’s made, for an upcoming behind-the-scenes episode. You can submit your questions to outreach@thresholdpodcast.org

Listening to Threshold is free. Creating it is not. We’ve always been committed to making the best show we can—and making it available for free. This is only possible with your financial support. Our year-end fundraising campaign is happening now through December 31st, and each gift will be matched by our partners at Newsmatch. That means if you can give $25, we'll receive $50. It’s easy to make a tax-deductible donation at thresholdpodcast.org. Just click donate and give what you can. Thank you for listening. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today. To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter. We want to hear from you! Send us your questions about the new season, the content or how it’s made, for an upcoming behind-the-scenes episode. You can submit your questions to outreach@thresholdpodcast.org