How Cicadas Become Flying Saltshakers of Deat...

For centuries, the Northwest Passage, the long-sought sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through northern Canada, was a holy grail of Arctic exploration. Even now, sailing through it isn’t guaranteed. Mark Synnott, a National Geographic Explorer, writer, and adv ...  Show more

There’s a lost continent waiting to be explored, and it’s right below our feet. We’ll dig into the deep human relationship to the underground—and why we understand it from an instinctive point of view, but not so much from a physical one. (Hint: We’re afraid of the dark.) In an e ...  Show more

We're going underground today to learn more about the life cycle of cicadas! These incredible insects live underground for 17 years before emerging altogether—all 1.5 million of them! 

During the first breathing exercise called Backbone Breathing (our kid-friendly versi ...

As we prepare for the historic emergence of two broods of cicadas, we unearth the story of the often forgotten woman behind a key cicada discovery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

How do insects factor into our traditions of death -- and how do insects handle their own burials? Find out in this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind as Robert and Joe discuss ants, termites, Virgil, ancient civilizations, bees and more. (originally published 1/21/2021) ...  Show more

While most of us hear a wall of white noise, squeaks, and squawks....David Rothenberg hears a symphony. He's trained his ear to listen for the music of animals, and he's always looking for chances to join in, with everything from lonely birds to giant whales to swarming cicada ...