Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at [email protected].
Wild eavesdropping
If a wolf howls in Yellowstone National Park and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Of course it does — and in fact, scientists have been monitoring those howls using recording devices, according to a Washington Post story that RTBC Contributing Editor Michaela Haas shared this week.
Michaela says:
A while back I wrote about ecoacoustics as a new way to protect whales and other marine life. Fascinating to read how ecoacoustics is now also used to monitor and protect wolves in Yellowstone.
House rules
Imagine a prison where prisoners design their own units and make their own rules. That’s what’s actually happening in South Carolina as part of a program called Restore Promise, as Maurice Chammah reports in a deep dive published by the Marshall Project. RTBC Editorial Director Rebecca Worby — a friend and fan of Chammah — shared the story.
Becca says:
The program drew on German prisons, where people are able to personalize their cells and officers “act more like counselors.” Back in 2020 we included a story by Maurice Chammah in our We Are Not Divided series — which, interestingly, was also about prison reforms inspired by German prisons.
What else we’re reading
🍃 ‘I think, boy, I’m a part of all this’: how local heroes reforested Rio’s green heart — shared by RTBC founder David Byrne from The Guardian
🗺️ In Romania and Ukraine, the Danube Delta Is Hurting. Can We Do Anything to Heal It? — shared by Rebecca Worby from Scena9
🧑🎨 Dreamtroit, a Low-Cost Bohemia for Artists, Revs Up in Motor City — shared by David Byrne from the New York Times
In other news…
Executive Editor Will Doig was interviewed about RTBC’s five-year anniversary for “The Current,” a show on Canada’s CBC Radio. Listen here.
