Outside/In

“Operation Night Cat” is a special series from NHPR’s ⁠Document ⁠team and ⁠Outside/In.

Since we first brought you this series in November 2025, there have been two big updates. Host Nate Hegyi sits down with producer Jason Moon to explain.

Missed it the first time? Check out the original three-part series here.

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Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast.

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, leave a voicemail on our listener hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER, or email outsidein@nhpr.org.

Follow Outside/In on Instagram, TikTok, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.
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On a recent fishing trip, Nate came across a bone-chilling sight. It was a salmon that seemed kind of… dead. Its skin was falling off, it smelled horrible, and it didn’t have any eyes. Turns out, Nate had stumbled onto a (barely) living example of a recent listener question: “Are there any real-life zombies?”

From mutant looking fish to the science behind mysterious lights that flicker in cemeteries, in this Outside/Inbox roundup the team takes on your Halloween curiosities.

Here’s the questions we cover…

Are there any real-life zombies?

Are bone conduction headphones better or worse for preventing hearing loss?

Can you eat those giant decorative pumpkins?

What’s the science behind will o’ the wisp lights?

Featuring Daniel Teske, Rick Neitzel, and Richard Zare. Thanks to Amelia, Shaina, and Meg for their questions.

Our next roundup theme is all about the cold! Send us your questions and you might hear them on the show. Email outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a voicemail at 1-844-GO-OTTER.

Produced by Marina Henke, Felix Poon, and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org

Episode logo artwork adapted from “Will o' the Wisp and the Snake” by Hermann Hendrich (Public Domain).

CONNECT WITH US

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast.

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, leave a voicemail on our listener hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER, or email outsidein@nhpr.org.

Follow Outside/In on Instagram, TikTok, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have a lengthy page detailing the horrors of zombie salmon. You have been warned.

The current pumpkin record-holder we mentioned was a recent upset! Congratulations to Ron Wallace in Greene, Rhode Island.

Hermann Hendrich’s 1901 painting, “Will-o'-the-wisp Dance.”

You can read Richard Zare’s 2025 paper presenting his microlightning theory here. Check out our webpage to see videos of the phenomenon.
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Can you eat a tuna sandwich if it sits in your backpack all day? Is ceviche risky? And, after Hot Cyclospora Summer, are we allowed to eat lettuce yet?

We brought your food safety questions to Don Schaffner and Ben Chapman, scientists and hosts of the podcast Risky or Not?, and they delivered.

Plus, we ask them what they put on their plates — or better yet, what they avoid — and, in a time of big cuts and recalls, if the US food safety system is getting less safe.

Featuring Don Schaffner and Ben Chapman.

Produced by Justine Paradis and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. Episode art adapted from photo by arbyreed on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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Have you ever had something from your past that you just couldn't let go of? A friendship that suddenly ended, a question you never asked, or simply a moment where you've always wondered what really happened? Heavyweight is a podcast that takes those unresolved moments and does something most of us only imagine doing: it goes back and tries to resolve them. I hope you adore it as much as I do!

Last spring, a curious listener called with an unusual question about coyote urine. Is it – as advertised by companies who sell it – an effective, all natural pest deterrent? And more importantly: “Who are the coyotes that are providing this urine?”

Since then, producer Taylor Quimby has been trying to find out… and with literal gallons of the stuff available online, he discovered the answers aren’t pretty.

Today on Outside/In, we peek inside the unregulated Pandora’s box of urine farming. Does it work? Is it ethical? And is anybody willing to actually talk about it?

Featuring Jeannie Bartlett, Caroline Long, Ed Brookmyer, Laura Koivula.

This episode was first published in August 2025.

Produced by Taylor Quimby. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

CONNECT WITH US

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to join our Patreon and get ad-free episodes of the podcast.

To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, leave a voicemail on our listener hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER, or email outsidein@nhpr.org. We answer questions about nature, climate change, sustainability, humans and evolution, and more. No question is too serious or too silly.

Follow Outside/In on Instagram, TikTok, or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

This 1998 study assessed coyote urine as a deterrent for deer, and found (with some caveats) a 15-24% reduction in deer browsing after exposure to the urine.

However, coyote urine had no measurable effect on the deer browsing of yew saplings in this more recent study.

Websites for some coyote urine brands, like PredatorPee.com and Shake-away animal repellents, claim that they source urine from regulated farms that treat animals humanely, but did not provide more information when asked.

This article from Cleveland.com details the conditions at The Grand River Fur Exchange, a fur and urine farm where hundreds of animals were found in poor condition after the owner’s death.

Since we reported this story, Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill in response to what was discovered at the Grand River Fur Exchange. If passed, the bill would require much stricter oversight for commercial breeding facilities in the state.
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