Overheard at National Geographic

Come dive into one of the curiously delightful conversations overheard at National Geographic’s headquarters, as we follow explorers, photographers, and scientists to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world. Hosted by Peter Gwin and Amy Briggs.

Latest Episodes:

The Soul of Music: Exploring Chief Xian's ancestral memory Feb 21, 2023

Show notes

This episode is part three of The Soul of Music—Overheard’s four-part series focusing on music, exploration, and Black history. Our guest this week is Grammy-nominated trumpeter Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, formerly known as Christian Scott. Chief Xian sits down with National Geographic Explorer and archaeologist Justin Dunnavant to discuss Xian’s childhood in New Orleans, how he created a new instrument, and what he calls stretch music.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

Learn more about Chief Xian at his website https://www.chiefadjuah.com/. And you can follow him on Instagram @christianscottofficial.

You can also download his stretch music app, an interactive music player, in the Google Play store or Apple App store.

Also, be sure to follow Justin online to stay updated with his latest adventures: www.justindunnavant.com or on social media @archfieldnotes.

Also explore:

Interested in learning more about global Black history and heritage? Follow Justin Dunnavant as he explores Loíza, the ancestral heart and soul of the Afro-Puerto Rican community, in Hulu’s Your Attention Please: Initiative 29.

Listen to episode 3 of the Into the Depths podcast which includes Justin as a guest.

Want to travel to New Orleans? Check out Nat Geo’s travel guide for tips on how to make the most of your trip.

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The Soul of Music: Sampa The Great returns to her roots Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

This episode is part two of The Soul of Music—Overheard’s four-part series focusing on music, exploration, and Black history. Our guest this week is Sampa The Great, a Zambian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter. Sampa spent most of her childhood living in Botswana, and her music career took off in Australia; but when the pandemic hit, Sampa returned home to Zambia where she recorded her album As Above, So Below. This album sees Sampa shedding her mask and getting personal. Sampa is joined by Nat Geo Explorer and wildlife biologist Danielle Lee to discuss inspiration through history, the power of language, and mental health therapy through nature.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

Learn more about Sampa The Great at her website sampathegreat.com. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @Sampa_the_Great.

Learn more about Danielle Lee at her website about.me/DNLee. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @DNLee5.

Also explore:

Listen to an in-depth interview with Danielle Lee in the Overheard episode “The Wonders of Urban Wildlife.”

Zambia is home to the impressive Victoria Falls. Learn how you can visit the waterfall in this Nat Geo article.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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The Soul of Music: Rhiannon Giddens excavates the past Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

This episode is part one of The Soul of Music—Overheard’s four-part series focusing on music, exploration, and Black history. Our guest this week is two-time Grammy award winner Rhiannon Giddens, a singer, songwriter, and banjo and fiddle player. A self-described “armchair historian,” Rhiannon chats with Nat Geo Explorer and spoken-word poet Alyea Pierce about the origins of the banjo, her new opera Omar, and how she finds inspiration through history.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

Learn more about Rhiannon and her music, opera, and children’s book at her website, rhiannongiddens.com. And you can follow her on Twitter @RhiannonGiddens.

You can follow National Geographic Explorer Alyea Pierce at her instagram @alyeaspierce.

Also explore:

Listen to the National Geographic podcast Into the Depths to hear more of Alyea’s poetry and follow Explorer Tara Roberts on a journey to document sunken slave ships in the Atlantic.

Learn about how music is used to heal the sick in Appalachia in this Nat Geo article.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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Introducing: The Soul of Music Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

National Geographic turns 135 in 2023. In February 2023, to celebrate exploration and commemorate Black History Month, National Geographic’s flagship podcast, Overheard, will feature musicians and National Geographic Explorers in conversation on music and exploration. This is just one of many celebrations planned for this milestone anniversary.

Hosted by Overheard producer Khari Douglas, these four episodes (every Tuesday in February) will feature world-famous musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Sampa the Great, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), and Meklit Hadero (also a Nat Geo explorer) in conversation with Nat Geo Explorers Alyea Pierce, Danielle Lee, Justin Dunnavant, and Jahawi Bertolli. The Explorers and artists will discuss how nature, history, and culture influence their work, what music inspires their adventures, and how they address some of the world’s most pressing and complicated issues through art and exploration.

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Unfolding the Future of Origami Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

The future is bright for origami, the centuries-old art of paper folding. In recent decades, scientists, engineers, and designers have pushed origami beyond its traditional roots and applied its patterns to fascinating technologies like foldable kayaks and tiny robots that can fit into a pill capsule. We’ll fold cranes with National Geographic writer Maya Wei-Haas, who will share the latest advancements with origami and what the future holds for this art form in science.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

We’ve just touched the surface of origami science. To go deeper, read Maya’s story in the February issue of National Geographic magazine. She talks about more applications of origami, including origami in space.

Did you know that origami could be the key to making better face masks? Origami’s unique folds may be able to make face masks fit better. Check out our article exploring this possibility.

Also explore

Plus, grab some origami and head to the ocean. Origami folds could be the key to perfecting a super delicate robot that can catch deep-sea animals, study them, and release them unharmed.

If you like what you hear and you want to support more content like this, please rate and review us in your podcast app and consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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What Happens After You Uncover Buried History? Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

The 1619 Project was a New York Times Magazine endeavor that explored the ways the legacy of slavery still shapes American society. The story exploded into cultural consciousness in 2019, and has since become a book, a podcast, and now, a documentary series. For the project’s creators, that meant great success, but it also meant facing pushback and surprises. We talk to journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones about how politics affected The 1619 Project and what it means to be in the middle of this social reckoning.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

The 1619 Project documentary examines how the legacy of slavery has influenced music, capitalism, and democracy itself. It premieres January 26 on Hulu.

Also explore:

Take a look at the original New York Times Magazine 1619 Project. It features articles, photo essays, and more that discuss how black Americans created democracy in the country, how segregation leads to traffic jams, and more.

Check out the audio series that The New York Times produced. It explores topics like Black land ownership and health disparities.

National Geographic also has extensive coverage of these issues, including the long and complicated legacy of Black landownership in the U.S., COVID's disproportionate death toll, and how Black Americans see racism infecting the U.S. health-care system.

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The People and Tech That Power Nat Geo Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

Cameras that drop miles beneath the ocean surface. Handmade art that reveals the secrets of archeological sites and extinct animals. For 135 years, National Geographic has pioneered new ways of exploring and illuminating our world—and now you can meet a few of the people who make it possible. Join Nathan Lump, National Geographic’s editor in chief, and Jill Tiefenthaler, CEO of the National Geographic Society, for a tour of the cutting-edge Exploration Technology Lab and a look inside the studio where original, scientifically accurate art comes to life. Then, play along with a fun trivia game based on sounds from the National Geographic Soundbank recorded by explorers around the world.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

Learn more about the people in this episode, including editor in chief Nathan Lump, National Geographic Society CEO Jill Tiefenthaler, and senior graphics editor Fernando Baptista.

See how the National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab is illuminating Earth’s largest, yet least explored habitat: the deep ocean.

Also explore:

Want to hear more about how Nat Geo creates all-new tech for Explorers and photographers? Meet photo engineer Tom O’Brien, the real-life MacGyver in Nat Geo’s basement, in a previous episode of Overheard.

See the first issue of National Geographic from 1888, which cost 50 cents and had zero photographs—those wouldn’t appear for another 17 years.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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Meet an Imagineer Who Built a Wish Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

Last summer, Disney Cruise Line released its fifth and most technologically advanced cruise ship yet: Disney Wish. We’ll meet Laura Cabo, a creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, who shares the excitement and challenges in designing a cruise ship that’s nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower, and how Imagineers turn visions into reality.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

The documentary Chad made with Laura and other Disney Imagineers is called Making the Wish: Disney’s Newest Cruise Ship. It will be available on Disney+ February 17.

And while you’re there, check out the documentary series The Imagineering Story about other Imagineers all over the world.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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How Sharks Devoured My Career Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

When Nat Geo Explorer Gibbs Kuguru was in college, he found himself trying to choose between two terrifying futures: going free diving with sharks off the coast of South Africa or, even scarier, studying for the MCAT. Since then, he’s become devoted to sharks. His genetic research has shown they can do remarkable things, like change color to become more effective predators. And he’s also become a staunch advocate for shark species as they grow more vulnerable to overfishing and the effects of climate change.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

If you want more on Gibbs’s journey and his research, check out our story about him online.

Plus, we’ve also got an article about how great whites change their color to sneak up on prey.

Also explore

You can watch Gibbs in the National Geographic documentary Camo Sharks. He and other scientists try to catch sharks in the middle of their color changes.

And if you just can’t get enough of sharks, we’ve got a whole bunch of SharkFest stories for you, including how drones are changing how we observe and think about sharks.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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The Nurse Keeping Explorers Alive Dec 27, 2022

Show notes

For 17 years, nurse Karen Barry’s office at National Geographic headquarters has served as an important stop for journalists, photographers, and explorers in need of vaccines and medical advice before they set out on expeditions all over the globe. We’ll head down to the medical office to listen to her stories of helping explorers out in the field—and we’ll hear from one of her most frequent “customers,” Dangerous Encounters host Brady Barr, who over the years has dealt with multiple animal bites, parasites, and even a lost finger.

For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard.

Want more?

Here are some more tips from Nurse Karen Barry for staying safe while traveling,

The snake that bit Brady Barr is an amazing creature. The reticulated python is the longest snake species in the world. They are commonly measured at 20 feet long, longer than a giraffe is tall.

When isolated, female reticulated pythons are able to give virgin birth, a phenomenon biologists call parthenogenesis.

Also explore:

Pythons aren’t venomous, but the venom of other snakes, as well as ants, treefrogs, cone snails, and many other creatures might just hold the key to the next medical breakthrough.

If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today.

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