Letters to Earthlings

Bufo bufo

I’ve been recording the voices of a lot of big, dramatic, eye-and-ear-catching creatures lately — cranes, geese, swans. But on one recent night, when I wandered down to the water’s edge in the darkness, someone a bit more mysterious and shy was making itself heard. Tentatively. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe [https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Swans are Back

Whoop! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe [https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ladybirds Sing Too

Related links: * Threshold Conversations: Feminism in the Wild, with Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer. Listen here [https://www.thresholdpodcast.org/conversations-ambika-kamath-melina-packer]. * One of Michelle Hall’s most important papers: Female song is widespread and ancestral in songbirds [https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4379], Odom, K., Hall, M., Riebel, K. Nature Communications (2014). * A more recent paper Michelle was involved in: Global incidence of female birdsong is predicted by territoriality and biparental care in songbirds [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60810-5], Odom, K.J., Araya-Salas, M., Benedict, L. et al. Nature Communications (2025). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe [https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Fire and Ice

The sounds, images, and stories from Minnesota are crushing. Enraging. Disorienting, heartbreaking, and all of the other descriptors you don’t need me to name because you’re feeling them too. I don’t know what to do, what to say, how to respond, how to be of use, how to even take in that this is reality. I still don’t. This is not a post in which I walk myself or anyone else from despair and confusion into any sort of clarity. All I know is this: I went to bed feeling overwhelmed with feelings about ICE. And I woke up with a clear, simple urge to meditate for a moment on fire. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe [https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Sonic Bubbles in Paris

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit letterstoearthlings.substack.com [https://letterstoearthlings.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] For every minute that makes it into a Threshold episode, there are so many minutes that end up getting cut. Some of them, like this clip I’m sharing today, make it all the way to nearly-final draft. Some get half-developed and then cast aside. And many, many never get past the sketching stage.