Dave talks to one of his favorite people on the planet, Ann Druyan. As the wife of the late Carl Sagan, Ann has worked tirelessly since his passing in 1996 to foster and carry on his legacy. In 2014, Druyan teamed with Seth McFarlane to produce the sequel to Sagan's classic Cosmos: a Personal Voyage. Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey, received critical acclaim and 4 emmys and spurred the production for a second series Cosmos: Possible Worlds, which airs on FOX TV beginning September 22. 

In today’s show, we’ll hear from a couple who lost everything in the Bear Fire. We’ll also hear from the head of the North Valley Community Foundation talks about how the Camp Fire prepared it to quickly help survivors of this latest tragedy. To wrap it up, for all of us who are feeling like these crises are never-ending, some advice from the Butte County Health Department on how to cope. 

If you have questions or comments, leave them on our message line at 530-433-9216 or head over to mynspr.org.

Most gardens, gardeners, and gardening seasons are deeply informed first and foremost by a deep love of PLANTS. Of space, and design, and color, and food, and refuge and beauty, YES, but for many of us it all starts with a love of plants. This week on Cultivating Place, we’re joined by an international gardener, designer, and horticulturist Wambui Ippolito - tracing the history of our own plant love, and the legacies and deeply human histories of the plants we all love. Join us!

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This week we wrap up our Volcanic California Tour, visiting several more special places you could add to the list, whether your road trip is for-real and right now, or imaginary, at this point.

Let’s start with Medicine Lake Highlands, 14 miles south of Lava Beds National Monument by gravel road. The Modoc National Forest terrain here truly qualifies for the “lunar landscape” label often used to describe volcanic lands. In 1965, astronauts from the Manned Spacecraft Center in Texas came here, to the pumice fields, to prepare for the first moon landing.

Retired Chico coach Chuck Sheley is editor of Smokejumper Magazine and has now published a book, Smokejumpers and the CIA, which contains stories not found in history books. Starting in 1951 smokejumpers were recruited by the CIA “because they could go anywhere, anytime, and do a tough, confusing job and then keep our mouths shut.” This little-known working arrangement peaked in 1975. Also, a commentary on the November 2018 Camp Fire by Richard Parker. 

Dave talks to longtime friend and fellow astronomer and artist Tyler Nordgren. In 2017 Tyler invited Dave to join his viewing of the Great American Eclipse in Kimberly, Oregon and they'll discuss that experience as well as their mutual love for the national parks and Tyler's ongoing work with them to promote the dark night sky as one of their precious natural resources where "half the park is after dark!"

Tyler's globe trotting eclipse watching came to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic but you'll find out that in Tyler's case, that was actually a life saving circumstance. Find out about the next great American eclipse in 2024 as well as a wide ranging conversation about the dark night sky and two kindred souls with a lifetime connection to it.

You'd be forgiven this week for having a sense of horrible déjà vu. Orange skies. Smoke. Fire. Evacuations. We’ll hear about major losses in Berry Creek and talk with someone from CalFire about what it’s like for firefighters out on the line in this kind of heat. Plus, a pyrogeographer explains some of the differences in fire behavior between the Bear Fire and the Camp Fire. That’s all ahead.