Constant Wonder
Stay in tune with our phenomenal world. Join us for explorations of science, art, history, and more. We're on a quest to find awe and wonder in all nature—human or wild, vast or small. Encounters that move us beyond words. Hosted by Marcus Smith, Constant Wonder is a production of BYUradio.
Episodes
July 2, 2025 • 55 mins
Though his life looked calm from the outside, Douglas Wood's undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia dragged him down—until he received a personal letter from the famed wilderness writer Sig Olson. Olson's encouragement set him on a path to become a wilderness guide and a noted children's author.
Guest: Douglas Wood, author of over 40 books, retired wilderness canoe guide, and most recently the author of "A Wild Path," a collection of essay...
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June 25, 2025 • 56 mins
When she was growing up, Dr. Kate Kennedy dreamed of becoming a professional cellist. After a devastating injury at music school, this dream was cut short. However, in recent years, Kennedy has reclaimed her identity as a cellist. She set out across Europe to investigate how cellists connect to their instruments. On her journey, she learned about the story of Pál Hermann—a composer and cello virtuoso who was killed in the Holocaust...
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June 18, 2025 • 64 mins
Everyday people overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles to produce fine art. Due to decades of historical isolation, the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama developed a radical, abstract approach to quilting. We meet two quilters from the small town who have quilts on display in some of the finest museums in the country. We also meet a contemporary furniture maker whose work is a living history of Black craft.
Guests:
Robell Awake, ...
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June 11, 2025 • 52 mins
Facing the loss of her Elkmont cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains—a family treasure for five generations—Lynn Faust began to pay more attention to the fireflies there, the "light show," as the family called it, where thousands of fireflies would light up in unison. When she read that synchronous fireflies did not exist in North America, she knew that scientists were wrong. The creatures were right in her own yard! Realizing just ho...
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June 4, 2025 • 54 mins
The Hanbury-Tenisons have turned to a rare temperate rainforest on their family farm for solace and renewal after emotional and physical trauma. Now they want to share this healing resource with others. But they also want to restore and expand the ancient forest. Healing the land and healing ourselves in this episode of Constant Wonder.
Guests:
Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, author of "Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Bri...
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May 28, 2025 • 52 mins
Ever since "Dracula," bats have been seen as terrifying threats that carry disease. They're actually essential to our agriculture and industry. In this episode of Constant Wonder, you'll meet an expert who can set the record straight. No wonder he's known as "The Batman of Mexico"; he's been obsessed with the flying mammals since he was young!
Guest: Rodrigo Medellin, Professor of Ecology at the National Autonomous University of M...
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May 21, 2025 • 52 mins
One day in 1901, a young farmer from Croatia set out on a walk. Decades later, he was still walking, had traversed six continents, and had stood face-to-face with the most famous people of the age. His mammoth autograph book, lost to history for nearly a century, has resurfaced to tell the tale of Joseph Mikulec and his eccentric quest.
Guests:
Rebecca Rego Barry, author of "Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds in...
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May 14, 2025 • 52 mins
Meet a tireless physician who has spent nearly four decades caring for the unhoused population of Boston. We'll also learn about some of his enterprising and generous patients, who've formed a community that watches out for one another on the streets, as they find redemption and hope amid tragedy.
Guests: Jim O'Connell, MD, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medi...
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May 7, 2025 • 36 mins
Hummingbirds are often admired for their dazzling speed and iridescent beauty, but their nesting habits remain one of nature's best-kept secrets. Citizen scientist Eric Pittman takes us into this hidden world, sharing his firsthand observations of hummingbird mothers as they build intricate nests and nurture their young—right in his very own backyard. Join us as we explore the hidden wonders of nature that await when we take the ti...
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April 30, 2025 • 56 mins
Educator and activist Septima Clark used her passion for teaching to increase literacy rates in the Deep South, preparing Black citizens to pass the voter registration tests that were designed to disenfranchise them.
Guest: Elaine Weiss, author of "Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil Rights Movement"
Septima Clark reader: Janice L. Jones
Photo Caption: Septima Poinsette Clark, 1973; Photo Credit: Avery Re...
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April 23, 2025 • 53 mins
The best way to see the world is on foot, it might be argued. Mary Colwell has had amazing encounters with wildlife on her walking treks around the globe. She's even used her walks to raise awareness and increase protection of the fascinating but imperiled curlew.
Mary Colwell, Director of Curlew Action; TV and radio producer, conservationist; author, "Curlew Moon"
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April 16, 2025 • 53 mins
Daniel Curry had had recurring dreams about wolves, long before he chose to devote his career to helping them. After working with captive wolves for several years, he became a "range rider," a human intermediary between predators and the cattle they might want to eat. In this episode of Constant Wonder, we'll discover Curry's extraordinary empathy for both domestic and wild creatures, and we'll hear how he works to keep them all sa...
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April 9, 2025 • 52 mins
When Paula Whyman started trying to rehabilitate 200 acres she'd just bought, she knew very little about conservation. Among many other challenges, she faced off with mile-a-minute vine and rattlesnakes, but, with self-effacing humor and passion for this corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she persisted (and still persists!) in restoring the land to a healthy equilibrium.
Guest: Paula Whyman, author of "Bad Naturalist: One Woman’...
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April 2, 2025 • 47 mins
Use the power of retreat and meditation to ease the stress of our frenetic lifestyle. From decades of friendship with the Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer has learned the value of sacred silence.
Guest: Pico Iyer, author of "Aflame: Learning from Silence"
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March 26, 2025 • 52 mins
If snorkeling seems like something you can only do on a tropical vacation, think again. In this podcast episode, we meet a river snorkeling guide who encourages us to stick our heads in the water, right in our local streams and rivers. Keith Williams thinks you'll be amazed at the aquatic life you'll see there. Tune in to Constant Wonder and get hooked with some amazing fish tales.
Guest: Keith Williams, author of "Snorkeling Rive...
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March 19, 2025 • 55 mins
After waking from a coma with devastating brain damage, Samina Ali relearns to walk and speak alongside her newborn son.
Guest: Samina Ali, author of "Pieces You'll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival"
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March 12, 2025 • 54 mins
When Chloe Dalton starts caring for a newborn hare, the line between "indoors" and "outdoors" blurs—inviting her to explore the natural world that she previously took for granted.
Guest: Chloe Dalton, author of "Raising Hare: A Memoir"
© The British Library; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en; BYU Broadcasting does not claim ownership in the wildlif...
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March 5, 2025 • 54 mins
From rural oddity to New York Times writer, Wilson Bentley's singular devotion to snow and desire to share it with others changed snow science forever.
Guests: Wayne Howe, former president of the Jericho Historical Society; Kenneth Libbrecht, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology; Anna and Juniper of Jericho, VT; Seth of Provo, UT. Special thanks to Rod Gustafson for voicing Wilson Bentley.
Photo courtes...
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February 26, 2025 • 52 mins
Clint Edwards' hilarious honesty gives encouragement to those struggling with mental health challenges. Facing off his anxiety
with humor and hope, he learns to raise his a family of his own after growing up at odds with his parents.
Guest: Clint Edwards, blogger and author of "Anxiously Ever After: An Honest Memoir on Mental Illness, Strained Relationships, and Embracing the Struggle"
Originally Aired on February 8, 2023
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February 19, 2025 • 52 mins
When Korean adoptee Sara Jones went looking for her birth family, she wondered if a strange tattoo given to her in childhood could unlock any secrets. Adopted into an American family at age three, Jones found much success here in America, becoming an attorney and CEO. It wasn't until her own kids started asking questions that she decided to search for her birth family. And she started her search with that mysterious tattoo.
Guest...
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