Constant Wonder

What does it mean to truly listen: not just hear, but attend to the world with exquisite care? In this episode of Constant Wonder, host Marcus Smith sits down with Hank Lentfer, a sound recordist and acoustic ecologist who has spent decades capturing the natural world's most breathtaking voices from his home base in Gustavus, Alaska, gateway to Glacier Bay National Park. Lentfer shares unforgettable recordings — a humpback whale trumpeting over a mirror-calm sea, barnacles whispering as a shadow passes over them, ancient air bubbles escaping from icebergs — and the stories behind each one. But this episode is about far more than wildlife audio, along the way, he reflects on hunting as a spiritual practice, the amnesia of supermarkets, the never-ending dawn chorus that circles the globe, and caring for a mother with dementia whose ears still light up at a Hank Williams song. Lentfer's memoir "Faith of Cranes" is the throughline, and finding the sounds and stories that remind us we are not separate from the world is his life's work and the beating heart of this conversation.

Guest: Hank Lentfer, author of "Faith of Cranes: Finding Hope and Family in Alaska"

Photo Credit: Taliesin Black-Brown

Harriet Tubman was sustained by vivid dreams and fierce spiritual faith as she risked everything—again and again—to guide enslaved people to freedom. In this episode of Constant Wonder, Harvard historian Tiya Miles explains to co-host Tennery Taylor how Tubman's intense spirituality and her connection to the natural world empowered her and shaped her into a compelling leader.

As a child, Tubman worked in swamps and timber yards, enduring grueling labor that also prepared her to flee to the North in 1849. But her own freedom was only the beginning: for the rest of her life, she dedicated herself to helping her family and friends escape slavery as well.

Guest: Tiya Miles,  author of "Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People"

Chapters:
(0:00) Introduction
(5:15) A childhood spent outdoors
(12:54) The night the stars fell
(16:41) Harriet Tubman's prayers and faith
(30:27) Working in a timber yard
(34:50) Escaping to the North
(44:35) Walking across the Ohio River
(51:27) Freeing her brothers
(1:03:08) Applying dreams

George Smith is a maintenance worker by day, but his true passion lies in tracking and monitoring peregrine falcons. In this episode, he tells host Marcus Smith about his adventures in rock climbing and checking in on his birds. George has developed methods to trap them in order to collect DNA and give them tracking microchips. This methodology has helped him to catch poachers, bring them to justice, and release the falcons back to the wild.

Lynn Schofield and Sean Peterson are scientists who discovered a peregrine falcon nest on the bell tower at the University of California Berkeley. The nest is presided over by a matriarch affectionately called “Queen Annie” and her mate. Schofield and Peterson founded Cal Falcons, a livestream of the nest that brought Annie worldwide fame.

Guests:
George Smith, Peregrine Coordinator for the Scottish Raptor Study Group https://www.scottishraptorstudygroup.org/
Lynn Schofield and Sean Peterson, biologist and ecologist with Cal Falcons https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu/

(0:00) Meet George Smith
(4:32) To Trap a Peregrine Falcon
(12:34) Poaching & Repatriation
(21:45) George’s Nest Checks
(26:37) Meet Lynne Schofield and Sean Peterson
(27:20) Cal Falcons on the Campanile
(33:23) Queen Annie

Originally aired on September 25, 2024

Dan Roche has an implausibly realistic prosthetic eye. He was born with a cataract on his right eye, rendering him partially blind and very self-conscious. In this episode of Constant Wonder, he tells host Marcus Smith about how ocularist Michael Strauss made him a prosthetic that transformed his life. Now, Dan is fascinated by the industry of eye making, and the ocularists that dedicate their lives to the practice.

Dan Roche grew up hating his sightless right eye. After medical complications and fruitless corrective surgeries, he had it removed and replaced with a prosthetic. No longer fragile glass spheres, prosthetic eyes are intricate, bespoke medical devices. (Check out Dan's photo and see if you can tell the difference!) Modern ocularists, like Michael Strauss, facilitate both emotional and physical healing with their work, giving Dan (and other patients) confidence and a new lease on life.

Guests:
Dan Roche, professor of English at Le Moyne College, and author of "Eyes by Hand: Prosthetics of Art and Healing" https://www.eyesbyhand.com/
Michael Strauss, ocularist https://strausseye.com/

(0:00) Meet Dan Roche (and His Eye)
(15:21) History and Structure of Prosthetic Eyes
(22:38) Eye Contact and Confidence
(30:57) Michael Strauss, the Ocularist
(33:30 A Therapist and a Technician
(46:22) Do You Know That Guy?
(52:48) The Power of Empathy 

Photo credit: Dan Roche

Caroline Sanderson grew up surrounded by classical music, but didn't truly fall in love with it until after her father passed away. Now, she remembers him by learning to really listen to the music that he loved.

Beethoven - Symphony No. 6;
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring;
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 23;
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 22;
Chopin - Prelude No. 15, Raindrop;
Brahms - Symphony No. 1, movement 3;
Sibelius - Symphony No. 5;
Schumann - Kinderszenen No. 1;
Chopin - Opus 10, Etude No. 3;
Schumann - Träumerei;

Guest: Caroline Sanderson, a writer and books journalist. Her memoir is titled “Listen With Father: How I Learned to Love Classical Music."