Season 9 - In The Americas with David Yetman

901 – Lee’s Ferry and into the depths of the Grand Canyon

Boating through the Grand Canyon with a group of water experts provides a setting for reflection on the Colorado River—its power, its accomplishments, and its vulnerabilities. We put in at Lee’s Ferry and immediately are introduced to rapids and the evolution of the world’s greatest geological spectacle.

902 – The depths of the canyon and its offspring

Phantom Ranch, midway through the Grand Canyon and accessible only by trail, is the sole permanent settlement within the canyon. From there west, the canyon narrows and darkens as the Colorado River relentlessly carves its way through rock that is the oldest in the Southwest. From the north and south...

903 -The Lower Colorado River: Dwindling lifeblood of the Southwest

Forty million people rely on water released from Lake Mead, on the Colorado River not far from Las Vegas. That booming city, renowned for vice, is also a world leader in water conservation. Far downstream huge canals de-water the river, as farmers look to technology to maintain their productivity, Californians...

904 – Wrangell-St. Elias National Park: Wilderness of ice, salmon, and human history

It’s our largest national park—larger than New England–and one-third of it is ice. One glacier is 137 miles long. The park contains active volcanoes. Its rivers of icemelt are home to salmon runs that have supported native peoples for thousands of years. Yet the glaciers are melting, and forests are...

905 Snakes and Culture in the Amazon

The abundance of reptiles, especially snakes, in the Amazonian jungle is hardly surprising. Native cultures, far from fearing snakes, view them as spiritually significant elements of nature. From the gigantic anaconda to tiny tree vipers, snakes are part of life—and religion–in Brazil’s Amazon.

906 -The potters of northwest Mexico—past and present

Potters in northwest Mexico have been producing fine ceramics for more than a thousand years. Excavations at Paquimé, Chihuahua reveal a culture renowned for its designs—and exports—500 years before Europeans arrived. Sixty years ago, villagers not far away discovered that they, too could produce fine ceramics. Today their products are...

907 Re-claiming the Gulf in Baja California

Only a few decades ago, Baja California was mostly unknown to the outside world, sparsely populated, and difficult to visit. And most of it is very dry desert. But crowds and developers have discovered the southern part of the peninsula and have arrived in droves, threatening the very features that...

908 Brazil’s Butantan Institute – Where venomous critters find a welcome

Brazil is larger than the contiguous United States, and it is mostly tropical. It is not surprising that it is home to a host of venomous critters, mostly scorpions, spiders, and snakes. Each year many tens of thousands of Brazilians are stung or bitten and require treatment. Many of them...

909 Mexican Carnival

Carnival or Mardi Gras is a time of parades and exuberant partying just before the forty days of Lent, when many Christians must adopt a more austere way of life. Latin America features hundreds of variations on the festivities. Mexico has two sensational parades like no others, in towns that...

910 – Arizona’s volcanic heritage

Arizona is not known for its active volcanoes, but its landscape is dominated by the products of millions of years of volcanic explosions. And the plumbing that funnels molten lava to the surface is still intact and waiting for the opportunity to erupt. The last explosion occurred around the time...