Newborn babies are given hearing tests shortly after they are born, to ensure they can hear properly and develop language skills. But it’s tricky to do, as babies can’t speak to tell doctors what they are hearing. Now researchers at the University of Oregon may have found a solution, inspired by owls! Reporter Jess Burns with Oregon Public Broadcasting has more.

In this week’s Beyond the Headlines segment, Environmental Health News Editor Peter Dykstra and Host Jenni Doering cover a new study that suggests some baby lobsters are adapting to ocean warming and acidification. Next, they discuss the life and legacy of the late Paul Crutzen, Dutch atmospheric chemist and Nobel laureate known for his work on the polar ozone holes and coining the term “the Anthropocene”. Finally, they reflect on the first mention of climate change in a State of the Union address, by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

President Biden has signed more executive orders in his first weeks than any president since Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s, and many of those orders focus on protecting the environment and fighting against climate change. Jody Freeman, professor at Harvard Law School and former Counselor for Energy and Climate Change in the Obama White House, joins Host Bobby Bascomb to dive deeper into how these actions lay the groundwork for strong climate policy and green investment.

Author David Gessner discusses with host Steve Curwood the legacies of the two writers he explores in his new book, All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West. Abbey’s fiery, pugnacious attitude towards wilderness preservation departed vastly from Stegner’s more mild-mannered, eloquent persuasion on the cause, yet both Abbey and Stegner were true writers of the Western landscape.

General Motors recently announced a bold plan to phase out gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035. This move signals a major step towards decarbonizing the economy and creating thousands of green jobs and goes hand in hand with moves by the Biden Administration to incentivize EVs. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, joins Host Bobby Bascomb to discuss why GM is going all-in on an all-electric future.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s famous rallying cry to “Leave it as it is” upon seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time continues to inspire conservation today. But his racism casts a shadow over his legacy in a time when conservation is being reimagined with more diversity and inclusivity. In his 2020 book Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness, author David Gessner reevaluates TR’s vision for today, and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss.

In early 2020, the US experienced a biking boom as people turned to cycling for safe mobility during the warmer months of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the biking craze has since lost some steam in parts of the US. Martin Morzynski, the VP of Marketing for Streetlight Data, joined Host Jenni Doering to talk about their report, Autumn COVID Bicycling Trends, and why some cities were able to hang on to their biking gains.