The Secret Lives of Parks

Dec 16 2024 38 ep. 27 mins 342
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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A New Park for an Old Hero?

Dec 16 2024 34 mins  
A proposed Chuckwalla National Monument near Joshua Tree National Park would protect the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise and help many other species thrive, including people.

A School Year on Wheels

Nov 05 2024 34 mins  
One Minnesota family uprooted their lives to go on a year-long adventure to national parks, building an educational curriculum around the public lands on their trip, and getting a taste of the joys and challenges of “roadschooling.”

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.