The Wild Episode

Latest Episodes:

Tripod Fish : Standing in the Dark Oct 30, 2026

Show notes

Tripod Fish are amongst the most amazing inhabitants of the deep sea, standing on the seafloor on stilts. But why?

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Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

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Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Modified versions of: Find a Peaceful Place, Ganzfeld Experiment, Pillars of Creation and The Big Drop by ROZKOL, CC BY 4.0

Upside-Down Jellyfish : Medusa in the Sunlight Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

The Upside-Down Jellyfish are a little group of remarkable jellyfish that are not only upside-down, but also photosynthetic, sleepy and capable of releasing stinging bombs into the water ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

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Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Marine Iguana : Darwin's Menagerie III Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

Charles Darwin reaches the Galapagos Islands, and there he encounters the very, very unusual Marine Iguana ... an animal caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to evolution ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

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Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Modified versions of: Feather by Gurdonark, CC BY 4

Darwin's Frog : Darwin's Menagerie II Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

Following Charles Darwin on his voyage around South America, we arrive in Chile - where he discovers a remarkable little frog that has one of the strangest approaches to fatherhood in the whole Animal Kingdom ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

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Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Modified versions of: Feather by Gurdonark, CC BY 4; World's Strongest Camel, Please, Not The Mind Fizz and The Spiders Of Battersea Park by Doctor Turtle, CC BY 4

Steamer Duck : Darwin's Menagerie I Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

Steamer ducks are big, mostly flightless, famously aggressive ducks in South America. An amazing example of evolution in action, because some supposedly flying steamer ducks can't fly, and some flightless ones apparently can. Charles Darwin would be fascinated.

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better!

Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.

Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Modified versions of: Feather by Gurdonark, CC BY 4

Reticulated Python : The Killing Mechanism Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

The Reticulated Python: not only the longest snake in the world, but also the only one you could reasonably call a man-eater. A snake that kills by constriction - but how does constriction actually work?

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better!

Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.

Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Modified versions of: Everywhere and The Past by Lee Rosevere, CC BY 4.0; Echo by Philipp Weigl, CC BY 4.0; The Companionship of Isolation and Shrouded Supermoon by Brylie Christopher Oxley, CC BY 4.0

Barrel Amphipod : The Hollow Kindergarten May 27, 2026

Show notes

The Barrel Amphipod is a tiny terror for certain animals that share its open ocean habitat ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

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Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Eclipsed by Fear by Aldous Ichnite, CC BY 4.0, The Big Drop, Find a Peaceful Place and The Ganzfeld Expriement by ROZKOL, CC BY 4.0

Salp : The Great Chain of Being Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Salps are the strangest, most extraordinary of your reasonably close relatives in the Animal Kingdom ... some of the most extraordinary animals on Earth, in fact ... fellow chordates, yet so very, very different ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better!

Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.

Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Astral Longing, Tea, World is Yourz and Elevate by 1000 Handz, CC BY 4.0

Grey Seal : The Corkscrew Killer Mystery Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

The Grey Seal is a very big predator - but also the victim of a strange killer that was, for a long time, a bit of a mystery ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better!

Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.

Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Perhaps It Was Not Properly Manufactured, Cut to Rip Torn and Last Night I Dreamt I Saw True Love In Your Eyes by Chris Zabriskie, CC BY 4.0

Moniliformis : Attack of the Necklace Worm Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

Moniliformis moniliformis is an example of one of the strangest groups of animals in the world: the parasitic Acanthocephalans, or the Thorny-Headed Worms ...

Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com

Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better!

Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.

Music

Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0.

Soundwork LXVII, Soundwork LXX and Soundwork LXXVII by Jon Shuemaker, CC BY 4.0