Episodes
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
For the Love of Birds
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Ted Alvarez thinks birding is boring. But with so much interest in it now, he decides to investigate.
The Pacific Northwest is a haven for thousands of bird species, from sage grouse to bald eagles to common finches. Many impressive migrations take place every year. And the enthusiasts who love spotting all these birds can be very enthusiastic.
Birding draws obsessives; there are bird societies, events and even competitions. But you know who really doesn’t care about all this? Crosscut Escapes host Ted Alvarez. He’d rather spot any other kind of wildlife than a bird. A bird is a disappointment, in his book.
Yet in the past year, birding has exploded as a pastime. A pandemic that forced us to interact with nature first in our homes, and then in the outdoors, meant we all started watching the birds in our backyards and then on the trail, very, very closely.
In this episode of Crosscut Escapes, Alvarez puts aside his skepticism to hear from conservationists and researchers who help open his eyes to the bustling avian world all around us.
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Credits
Host/Co-producer: Ted Alvarez
Co-producer: Sara Bernard
Music: The Explorist
Executive Producer: Mark Baumgarten
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Flower Power
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Professor Steven Clark is on an ongoing quest to find a rare daisy that helps us understand the intricacies of evolution.
Professor Steven Clark spends his days bushwhacking brushy trails until they turn into rocky scrambles, then vertical cliffs. It’s arduous work in service of a unique goal. He’s searching for the Columbia Gorge daisy, a rare flower that only grows in the trickles of water and tiny pockets of dirt in the wet, cliffside crevices of the Columbia River Gorge.
You may or may not be the kind of person who goes to this kind of trouble to find a flower. And this flower is not even particularly beautiful or environmentally consequential, as far as modern science is concerned. But for Steven Clark, this flower is about as special as any in the world.
For this episode of Crosscut Escapes, Clark and Crosscut video producer Sarah Hoffman slog through the woods and scramble up to a ledge in the middle of a waterfall in order to count a few tiny, rare flowers as part of a larger research project documenting rare plants in the Pacific Northwest.
Their journey provides a deeper sense of just how beautifully complex the natural world is — and the importance of each tiny piece of the evolutionary puzzle to make a thriving whole.
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Credits
Host/Co-producer: Ted Alvarez
Co-producer: Sara Bernard
Music: The Explorist
Executive Producer: Mark Baumgarten
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
The Science of Sasquatch
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
To find the mythical beast, members of the Olympic Project first analyze the evidence.
Bigfoot, Sasquatch or whatever your favorite nickname; this giant, apelike cryptid is cemented in the minds of many Americans — and nowhere is that more true than in the Pacific Northwest, where reports of strange things afoot in the woods are relatively common.
The beloved legend has given rise to enthusiasts galore, but it has also helped create a different kind of Bigfoot buff: one that takes a more scientific approach.
For this episode of Crosscut Escapes, we suspend disbelief to join The OIympic Project, a local group of scientists and seekers who collect, vet and analyze the mysterious physical evidence they find, from stray hairs to large footprints to unexplained sounds.
With a particular focus on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the group aims to amass the data that just might, eventually, either prove or disprove Bigfoot’s existence once and for all.
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Credits
Host/Co-producer: Ted Alvarez
Co-producer: Sara Bernard
Music: The Explorist
Executive Producer: Mark Baumgarten
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
The Fungus Among Us
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Wild mushroom foraging can be deadly. But in a region crammed with thousands of edible species, it’s fiercely beloved.
With its plentiful moisture and forest cover, the Pacific Northwest is home to some of the greatest proliferations of wild mushrooms in North America. Many people are inspired to hunt for them, but there’s a fine line between delicious and deadly.
In Northwest forests, for instance, you can stumble upon beloved gourmet varieties, like morels and chanterelles, but also scarier ones, such as the aptly named “death cap” and the “destroying angel,” which can attack your liver and kidneys, killing you within hours of consumption.
Needless to say, learning how to forage on your own can be an intimidating prospect. That’s where the Puget Sound Mycological Society comes in. It’s one of the largest organizations of its kind in the country, and education is its main focus.
In this episode of Crosscut Escapes, we tag along with Marian Maxwell, a mycologist and former president of the Puget Sound Mycological Society, to learn a thing or two about mushroom hunting strategies, obsessions and pitfalls — and the weird and wonderful world of one of the planet’s strangest organisms.
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Credits
Host/Co-producer: Ted Alvarez
Co-producer: Sara Bernard
Music: The Explorist
Executive Producer: Mark Baumgarten
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
To the Rescue!
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
For outdoor adventurers, search and rescue teams provide a critical service, often for free — and it all started in Seattle.
For outdoor adventurers in Washington state, potential trouble can be just a few steps away. The combination of topography, weather, glaciers, avalanches and technical ascents in the state's craggy peaks mean that even the most careful hikers can find themselves in danger.
Most of them are lucky enough to never need outside help. But for those who do, mountain rescue teams are prepared to swoop in on foot or from the air. And Seattle Mountain Rescue is indisputably one of the best wilderness rescue networks in the country because it works in one of the hardest places to do it.
Seattle Mountain Rescue and other teams of trained mountaineers are on call for alpine wilderness rescues in western Washington 365 days a year. But there's something even more remarkable about them: They're made up entirely of volunteers.
The whole idea of rescuing people from dangerous situations in the mountains completely free of charge was born right here in Seattle. For this episode of Crosscut Escapes, we explore the origins of mountain rescue and see what it takes for someone to go from being rescued to becoming a rescuer themselves.
For more information on how to have a safe journey on your next adventure, check out Seattle Mountain Rescue’s handy preparedness guide.
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Credits
Host/Co-producer: Ted Alvarez
Co-producer: Sara Bernard
Music: The Explorist
Executive Producer: Mark Baumgarten