Matt Fidler

On the morning of November 8, 2018, one of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in United States history destroyed the town of Paradise, California. At least 86 people died in the inferno. The California Camp Fire—Reflections and Remnants is the quintessential historical testament and reflection of that tragic day and the continuing aftermath. 

Dave talks with two of the Deputy Project Scientists deeply involved with the Curiosity Rover, which has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012, and the new, yet to be named, Mars 2020 Rover that will be launching this July. 

Abigail Fraeman is the DPS for Curiosity and explains how the mobile science laboratory has furthered our understanding of how Mars was once a planet that was suitable for primitive microbial life. 

We continue our appreciation of California’s unique state parks, this week stopping at a spot you’ve probably passed many times on the way to and from Tahoe.

Donner Memorial State Park has its attractions. Donner Lake, for starters, fringed with private cabins—fun for summer recreation, with public lake access, beach, picnic areas, miles of hiking trails.

Even in winter you can enjoy this place—snowshoe hiking, cross-country skiing. Almost an irony, given that right here in Truckee, in heavy winter snow, a truly shocking immigrant story played out in the days before California statehood. 

This week on CP, we're emboldened to consider our strength and power in the garden and in life generally by Erinn Carter and Georgia Faye Hirsty, two of the co-founders of an organization known as Frailty Myths, based in Oakland, CA. 

Their mission is to reimagine femininity and build power by excusing ourselves from the implications, hobbles, and damage wrought by mainstream conceptions of what is naturally feminine or naturally masculine (the dominant ethos of what we know as "patriarchy” and as perpetuated by us all). 

Retired professors Roger Lederer and Carol Burr wrote and illustrated The Birds of Bidwell Park.  Now they have collaborated on a guide to the trees of Bidwell Park.  

In this episode, Dave is going to the dogs. Literally. But that's OK with him because Dave loves dogs and dogs love him and now, thanks to Dr. Clive Wynne, he can prove it. Dr. Wynne, a researcher in animal behavior at Arizona State University, is the author of the new book, Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You.

From Pavlov's dogs (you'll find out there's more to that story than wringing a bell) to modern research using MRI machines, Wynne's book is an exploration of a simple and compelling question that he asked himself, "What is it that makes dogs special?" 

January and mid-winter indeed feels poetic in its spareness, and while many poets come to mind, for me Emily Dickinson stands out for seasonality and abundance in spareness.

In 2004 writer and gardener Marta McDowell published Emily Dickinson’s Gardens – a celebration of a poet and a gardener; Following up on new research and her own experience as Gardener-In Residence at the Emily Dickinson Museum, Marta updated her original work with Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life – The Plants and Places that Inspired the Iconic Poet, which was published in 2019. 

We’ve been dipping into books for the winter reading season—books that help us appreciate this unique place, what we’re seeing when we set out to enjoy it.

But what about travel in the larger sense, world travel? Should Americans even be traveling abroad these days?

It is a packed hour this week at Nancy’s Bookshelf. Kicking things off is the author of the international award-winning VanOps thriller series, Avanti Centrae. Our second guest, author Howard Levine provides us with details about his fast-paced thriller, “Last Gasp.”

It's shaping up to be a big news year for Washington DC, so this week Cultivating Place heads to the capital, but we’re there to check in with the gardeners of the region.

Kathy Jentz, AKA The Washington Gardener, is an avid plantswoman, and founder and editor of Washington Gardener magazine, serving Mid-Atlantic gardeners, celebrating 15 years of publication in 2020. Listen in!