Show Notes
Join us for a game of hide and seek. Imagine trying to track down an uncollared tiger in a vast, dense jungle in India… You’d need the help of experienced local trackers who have spent years perfecting the art of tracking animals through the language of surrounding species. To them, simply listening to the wall of sound around them paints the perfect audio map of what’s going on in the dense undergrowth. Speaking of maps, we hear the tale of a man who used satellite technology and imagery to discover an unmapped forest, uncovering a brand-new ecosystem. From forest to cities, expect unexpected stories, hidden truths and unwelcome surprises (like a python in your toilet…) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from BBC Earth Podcast
The show takes a spooky turn as we go on a ghost hunt through the natural world. Sebastian shares his adventures finding fossils – the traces of animals that once lived, and Rutendo talks about her experiences in The Cradle of Humankind, the South African UNESCO World Heritage site containing early human fossils.
The difference between order and chaos can depend on your perspective. The systems and processes that drive the natural world might seem random in close-up, whether it’s an ant wandering around near its nest, or a wildebeest charging through the water. But if you zoom out, you can see how these small activities combine to form part of a bigger picture.
Sebastian is not afraid to admit that he lacks natural rhythm. But Rutendo thinks he’s too hard on himself – perhaps the world is just out of sync with him. Besides, every living thing is built upon natural rhythms, from our response to night and day, to the beating of our hearts.
In an age of individualism, sometimes we are more connected than we think. And the same is true for everything on the planet. Rutendo and Sebastian explore the question of how and why we define an individual, a colony, or a group, across the animal kingdom.
It’s a scary world out there, as we explore how everything on the planet – from humankind to glaciers – must be able to respond to threat in order to survive. Sebastian surprises Rutendo with a story of the time he lived in Japan and took up fencing, occasionally finding himself at the wrong end of a sword.