Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant

Latest Episodes:

Slave Trade Shipwrecks + Saving Sharks: Meet Alannah Vellacott May 27, 2025

Show notes

Sign up for ⁠⁠Nature's newsletter⁠⁠: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/ Marine ecologist Alannah Vellacott grew up in a Bahamian subsistence fishing community, where wrestling sharks before sunrise was part of daily life. Now she's dedicated to conserving these majestic creatures and uncovering artifacts from slave-trade shipwrecks. In this episode, Alannah shares her journey to becoming a conservationist, highlighting the intersections of ecology, ancestry, and climate justice.

Alannah's website: https://www.alannahvellacott.com/

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠ and catch up on seasons one through three ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

A Metamorphosis Behind Bars May 20, 2025

Show notes

Sign up for ⁠Nature's newsletter⁠: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/ Carolina Landa's story begins in the orchards of Quincy, Washington and takes a transformative turn within the walls of an Oregon prison. Raised in a Mexican-American immigrant family, Carolina's curiosity and passion for science led her to champion sustainability initiatives behind bars. In this episode, she discusses how incarceration became a catalyst for her environmental awakening and advocacy for green rehabilitation programs.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠ and catch up on seasons one through three ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, ⁠⁠X⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Nature: The Cure for Ed Yong's Burnout? May 13, 2025

Show notes

As a science journalist, Ed Yong spends a lot of time writing about nature without actually being immersed in it. After three years of covering the COVID pandemic, Ed found himself anxious, depressed, and in need of a change - despite winning the Pulitzer Prize. He took a step back from pandemic reporting to write a book about nature.

During this time, Ed also discovered something that prompted him to fall in love with nature in a way he never had before. Birding brought him renewed joy and helped him realize that curiosity, empathy, and a “childlike” fascination with nature might be precisely what we need to reconnect with and save the world around us, as well as to foster community in times of need.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four ⁠HERE⁠ and catch up on seasons one through three ⁠HERE⁠.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, ⁠X⁠, and ⁠Facebook⁠. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Fossil Hunting in Conflict Zones May 06, 2025

Show notes

Ella Al-Shamahi grew up a creationist, but her perspective shifted when she studied evolution at university. Today, she’s a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in unstable territories to uncover the overlooked stories of human evolution. Ella is a fierce advocate for conducting research in places where people don’t usually do science, and she believes these under-researched places are the frontier of scientific discovery.

Through her archeological pursuits, Ella is not only working to eliminate the blind spot of Western science, but she’s also shedding light on the least understood people and places on Earth. She envisions a world where “conflict zones” aren’t just seen as war-torn landscapes, but as places where life continues and discoveries are possible.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Follow PBS Nature and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant on Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Fighting Violence Against the Lubicon Cree Land with Melina Laboucan-Massimo Apr 29, 2025

Show notes

Growing up in her Lubicon Cree community in northern Alberta, Melina Laboucan-Massimo witnessed the destruction of her once-pristine boreal forests for oil.

A massive oil spill in Melina’s community became the catalyst to launch an initiative that would bring not only clean energy jobs to her community, but a vision for a just and equitable transition to renewable energy.

But after decades of putting her body on the line to fight for the land and her people, Melina hit a breaking point. Learn how she redefined what it means to care for the collective while also taking care of herself.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

From Foraging to Fame: How Alexis Nikole Nelson Became @blackforager Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

For more NATURE, sign up for our newsletter: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/

Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known to her millions of fans as @blackforager, was raised by a mother who is an avid gardener and a father who loves to cook. Foraging allowed Alexis to fuse her love for wild plants and food from a very young age. But before Alexis became the @blackforager we all know today, there was a period in her life where Alexis lost that love and connection to foraging, and where food became very much the enemy.

By rediscovering her childhood love of foraging and falling back in love with food and plants, Alexis has inspired millions of her fans to discover the abundance growing freely around them and rethink their own relationship to food.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season four HERE and catch up on seasons one through three HERE.

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Season Four is Here! Apr 15, 2025

Show notes

Welcome back to Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn Grant, a different kind of nature show about the human drama of saving animals. This season, we're talking to all sorts of nature advocates. From a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in conflict zones to someone who helped save an endangered species while in prison. We will hear from real-life heroes with widely different expertise and life experiences that led them to be champions for the natural world.

What transformation did they undergo to create change within themselves, their community and the world? Together, we'll discover how these ordinary people fell in love with nature and became their most extraordinary selves. This is Going Wild.

Outside/In: Where The Wild Things Grow Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

Growing up, Kiese Laymon thought of himself as a city kid. But he spent his childhood with a foot in two worlds: his mom’s house in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi and his grandma’s house in a rural country town.

It wasn’t until Kiese left Mississippi that he came to understand that this question of city vs. country meant a lot more. It carries a lot of baggage: the tensions between north and south, tectonic historical forces, and the contradictions of life in Mississippi.

In this episode from Outside/In, a podcast where curiosity and the natural world collide, producer Justine Paradis sits down with author Kiese Laymon, for a conversation on this question of country versus city, what that has to do with the history of Black life in this country, and the story of Kiese’s first children’s picture book, his latest in a lifelong exploration of a complicated love of Mississippi.

To hear more episodes from Outside/In, follow them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Introducing: Sea Change Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

This is a special episode from Sea Change, the nature podcast from WWNO and WRKF. Sea Change brings you stories that illuminate, inspire – and sometimes enrage – as they dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond.

In this specific episode, they take you on a journey to the remote Chandeleur islands to try to find the most endangered sea turtle on the planet, Kemp’s Ridley. After 75 years, these mysterious turtles have been discovered on the shores of Louisiana. It’s a story of loss and restoration – of hope and heartbreak.

To listen to more important stories like this one, follow Sea Change on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

Armchair Explorer: Rewilding Chile with ground-breaking conservationist Kris Tompkins Apr 01, 2025

Show notes

Kris Tompkins has spent a lifetime fighting tooth and nail to protect wild lands. In 1993, she stepped down as CEO of outdoor apparel brand Patagonia, and moved to the edge of a windswept road-less fjord in the northern end of Patagonian Chile with her late husband Doug Tompkins (the founder of North Face).

There, they began to dream up one of the most audacious conservation visions ever conceived. It would culminate, more than 25 years later, in the largest private land donation in history, the creation of one of the most spectacular national parks in the world and the launch of the wildest road trip on the planet: the Route of Parks. This story is about the realization of that vision.