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Oyster Trash to Treasure
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. These recycled oyster shell reefs are helping to protect the coastline from worsening storms and rising seas.
The Outlaw Ocean
Seventy percent of our planet is covered by the oceans, but the high seas are among the least-explored frontiers on Earth. And lawlessness is rampant in this vast wilderness, with crimes ranging from illegal fishing to slavery at sea. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Urbina wrote The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier to tell the harrowing stories of high crimes on the high seas.
Protecting Tenerife's Marine Marvels
One of the recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize is helping to protect an especially biodiverse part of the oceans around the Canary Islands. Carlos Mallo Molina was previously a civil engineer who also loved scuba diving. When he found out about plans to build a massive port on the island of Tenerife that could have devastated the local marine life, he decided to leave construction and dedicate his career to protecting the oceans.
Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. A formerly incarcerated firefighter shares what it was like and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
An Ancient Climate Solution
As the water supply in Athens, Greece dwindles and demand surges from residents and tourists alike, the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens.
Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
The many millions of miles of roads that crisscross our planet block everything from bears to beetles from safely moving through habitats. But new wildlife crossings like overpasses and underpasses are helping reconnect animals with the landscape.
Sounds of Soil
Sounds like the overlapping songs of birds can speak volumes about the biodiversity in an ecosystem, and now scientists are looking to use the tiny sounds made by earthworms, ants, and voles to study the health of soils. An ecologist explains why more varied sounds appear to indicate healthier soils, and the potential applications of listening for these sounds in the earth.
Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
Join the Living on Earth Book Club on October 13th!
Bestselling science journalist Ed Yong joins us to talk about his new book. Click here to learn more and register!
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Oyster Trash to Treasure
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. These recycled oyster shell reefs are helping to protect the coastline from worsening storms and rising seas.
The Outlaw Ocean
Seventy percent of our planet is covered by the oceans, but the high seas are among the least-explored frontiers on Earth. And lawlessness is rampant in this vast wilderness, with crimes ranging from illegal fishing to slavery at sea. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Urbina wrote The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier to tell the harrowing stories of high crimes on the high seas.
Protecting Tenerife's Marine Marvels
One of the recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize is helping to protect an especially biodiverse part of the oceans around the Canary Islands. Carlos Mallo Molina was previously a civil engineer who also loved scuba diving. When he found out about plans to build a massive port on the island of Tenerife that could have devastated the local marine life, he decided to leave construction and dedicate his career to protecting the oceans.
This Week’s Show
August 29, 2025
listen / download
Oyster Trash to Treasure
listen / download
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. These recycled oyster shell reefs are helping to protect the coastline from worsening storms and rising seas.
Reef Symphony
listen / download
For a taste of what an oyster reef sounds like, an excerpt of a piece by Living on Earth Producer Sophia Pandelidis about the “symphony” of a reef, with snapping shrimp, grunting fish and grazing urchins all part of this underwater orchestra.
The Outlaw Ocean
listen / download
Seventy percent of our planet is covered by the oceans, but the high seas are among the least-explored frontiers on Earth. And lawlessness is rampant in this vast wilderness, with crimes ranging from illegal fishing to slavery at sea. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Urbina wrote The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier to tell the harrowing stories of high crimes on the high seas.
The "Little Sea" with a Big Champion
listen / download
The Mar Menor or “little sea” lagoon on the coast of Spain faces impacts from mining, agriculture, and a booming tourist industry. Teresa Vicente helped pass a 2022 law granting the lagoon legal personhood to give it greater protection. She received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe and shares how she led a grassroots movement to protect this beloved lagoon.
Protecting Tenerife's Marine Marvels
listen / download
One of the recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize is helping to protect an especially biodiverse part of the oceans around the Canary Islands. Carlos Mallo Molina was previously a civil engineer who also loved scuba diving. When he found out about plans to build a massive port on the island of Tenerife that could have devastated the local marine life, he decided to leave construction and dedicate his career to protecting the oceans.
Special Features
Field Note: "After the Storm"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, ruminates on the storm as it meets the shore.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: "Countermeasures"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, shares observations about shorebirds in flight.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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