The Secret Lives of Parks

Oct 01 2024 36 ep. 27 mins 343
The Secret Lives of Parks Podcast artwork

Unusual stories from some of America’s most beloved and inspirational places — our national parks.

  Society & Culture  Science  History
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The Woman Behind the Weekend

Oct 01 2024 33 mins  
The home of trailblazer Frances Perkins could soon become our newest national park site, making it just the thirteenth devoted to women’s history. Yet few people know much about the first female U.S. cabinet secretary, who established many of the workplace protections we take for granted.

In the Footsteps of Grizzlies

Sep 10 2024 28 mins  
Can humans learn to coexist with some of the largest, most ferocious animals on the landscape? Former park ranger Kevin Grange has followed this question — and his love for grizzly bears — to some of the wildest lands and waters in North America, documenting ways to give humans and grizzlies a better chance at survival.

For the Love of Dog

Aug 28 2024 35 mins  
A new guide to dog accessibility at national parks can help people traveling with pets know what to expect at sites across the country. In this episode, we explore concerns, best practices — and a few horror stories to keep in mind — when visiting parks with our furry best friends.

It Takes a Village

Jul 30 2024 36 mins  
On the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, hundreds of people gathered at Stonewall National Monument in New York to celebrate the opening of its new visitor center — the first of its kind. Everyone from President Joe Biden to Katy Perry to Elton John honored the significance of the site and its watershed rebellion for equality. Mark Segal, one of the participants in the

Before the Gate

Jun 27 2024 42 mins  
On the remote Sea Islands of South Carolina, golf courses and gated developments are changing the rural character of some of the first African American-owned lands in the country. The Gullah/Geechee, direct descendants of the enslaved people who once worked the area’s plantations, are now fighting a new threat to their land and culture, which are central to the history of the nea

A Brief Shining Moment

May 31 2024 28 mins  
Experiencing the rare but spectacular event that is a total solar eclipse requires being in the right place at the right time. For April’s eclipse, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Texas—a place deeply connected to the night sky and space exploration—seemed to be the perfect setting... but would the weather hold?

Holding Back the Sea

May 01 2024 31 mins  
What does life on the front lines of climate change look like? For the residents of the tiny island of Aunu’u in American Samoa, it means watching the ocean wash away more of their land each year. As temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, could the struggle to preserve the Samoan way of life hold a lesson for the rest of the world?

The Beauty of Loss

Mar 27 2024 24 mins  
Photojournalist Pete McBride spent nearly 20 years returning to the Colorado River again and again to document its magnificence — and its decline. In his new book, McBride shows the effects decades of drought and overuse have had on the river, and he offers ways to help it heal.

Creating the Country’s First ‘Idea Park’

Feb 28 2024 26 mins  
What happens when a really important place doesn’t seem important to the people in charge? In 1978, Judy Hart was driven to create a new national park, even though people told her the places she wanted to save didn’t look like a national park. By recognizing the need to interpret women’s history, Hart changed the way the Park Service approaches the concept of national signif

Stamped in the Soil

Jan 30 2024 32 mins  
In 1965, civil rights activists made history by marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, overcoming vicious attacks by police and winning voting rights for Black citizens throughout the South. The route they walked is now a national park site, but the rural camps where marchers found shelter are not — and they’re falling into disrepair. Can these lesser-known pieces of histo