MetroPulse Stories: That's Wild by Rikki Hall

Nature Meets Technology

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:11:00 -0000

Bridgeview Grill went out of business, but right now it’s a fun place to visit. Along the water as it flows past the university, the building is home to a thriving colony of barn swallows. Walk the docks that pass under Neyland Drive along the mouth of Second Creek, and these handsome birds will zip past you, showing off the band of white spots atop their forked tails.

Bill Would Remove Some Tennessee Waterway Protections

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:03:00 -0000

Did you know Tennesseans have a right to unpolluted streams and rivers? Title 69 of state law says so, commanding the state to protect and restore waters.

Warming or Not, Carbon Glut is Core Problem

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:15:00 -0000

Arctic sea ice defied predictions this winter and reached its largest extent since 1979, and Tennessee experienced its first normal winter in more than a decade. If you are old enough to remember normal winters, you may recall that in the late 1980s, as year after year of record and near-record global temperatures piled up, global-warming deniers stressed how important it is not to draw long-term conclusions from a single year of data. Or two, or three or five. They were right then and their caution holds true today, but now they are the ones ignoring statistical principles.

Full of Sap

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:32:00 -0000

As I type, my yard is full of robins, up in the trees, down on the ground, flying overhead. Looking over the few acres I can see from my porch, I count at least a thousand birds.

Let TVA Pay Damages

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:14:00 -0000

When TVA spokesman Gil Francis told reporters fly ash spilled in Kingston contained “nothing hazardous,” he was being misleading. The Environmental Protection Agency decided in 2000 that fly ash should be categorized as a hazardous material, but industry lobbyists convinced them instead to define special criteria for coal combustion products. They never did that either.

Change We Hope to Avoid

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:29:00 -0000

Democrats have a weak environmental track record. They are long on lip service but short on action. Republicans tend to be even worse, favoring easier and accelerated exploitation of natural resources. Opposing such efforts is important, but a far cry from actually improving environmental law and policy. Virtually all significant environmental legislation was passed in the 1970s.

Evolutionary Evangelist

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000

You’ve seen the fish medallion, a symbol of Jesus Christ, and you’ve seen the version with legs and “Darwin” on it. Keep your eyes peeled this weekend for a van with the two painted on its side, dolloped with lipstick, kissing. The van belongs to a husband-and-wife team that has spent six years traveling around North America delivering the good news of evolution.

Still Just a Bill

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:00:00 -0000

When you learned how bills become laws, whether from Schoolhouse Rock or in a schoolhouse, the first step was probably a citizen coming up with a great law. The citizen shares the idea with their friendly representative, who immediately recognizes its brilliance and champions the bill. After some singing and dancing, a law is born.

Do the Math

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:00:00 -0000

You most likely know Lou Gross as the mustached man behind the sound board at Laurel Theater, where he has been volunteering for the better part of three decades. He founded and for years hosted Live at the Laurel on WUOT, and his recordings get airplay on radio stations all over the South that play bluegrass and traditional music. He has assembled a musical archive likely to find a home in the Smithsonian some day, or perhaps the Museum of Appalachia.

Renaissance Rush

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:00:00 -0000

That's Wild by Rikki Hall: I only listen to Rush Limbaugh by accident, but when it happens, it is like a four-car pile-up. I cannot turn away. I might hear three segments in a bad week, none if I am living well. As little as I listen, I heard two egregious scientific proclamations in recent months on the man’s show. I wonder how wrong he is, and how often, on matters of science.

Exploiting to Extinction

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:00:00 -0000

That's Wild by Rikki Hall: The phrase “hunted to extinction” applies to many creatures, from whales to birds to plants, but the hunter is always the same. We are the only predator that wipes out its quarry. With Carolina parakeets and passenger pigeons, we did this on purpose because we considered those birds pests. Sometimes we overharvest a resource. Early American naturalists described ginseng as one of the most common plants in eastern forests, but it is now illegal to pick because it has become so rare

Dam Broke

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:00:00 -0000

That's Wild by Rikki Hall: The dam break in Wisconsin last week that cracked open a couple houses and a sewer line generated some spectacular video, but the damage was minor compared to what could happen as aging dams square off against worsening floods.

Living Off the Land

Wed, 21 May 2008 22:00:00 -0000

That's Wild: When food prices rise, living off the land crosses everyone’s mind. It is a healthy thing to keep in mind even when living is easy. In the time it takes to boil noodles, you can make spaghetti sauce that beats anything in a jar, using canned tomatoes, fresh herbs and a sauteed onion. No one is truly rich unless oregano and thyme grow on the porch and an onion sizzles on the stove in olive oil with a few cloves of garlic. If all you have is a porch, a couple of pots of herbs constitute living off the land.

Ancient History

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:00:00 -0000

That's Wild: The relatively flat land atop the Cumberland Plateau was once the bed of an inland sea bordering the young Appalachians. Coal seams are the residue of ancient swamps, and sandstones formed as ancient river sediments piled on top of each other year after millions of years.

Faith of a Mustard Seed

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:56:00 -0000

Viewed with eyes of wonder, any wander in the woods is a pilgrimage. The exuberance of life is plain whether trees are leaf-laden or bare winter sculptures to bending strength. The silence of winter woods lets you hear faint things normally lost in leaf rustle, like a squirrel scraping meat off a hickory nut 40 feet over your head or a nuthatch snapping a flake off bark to get at a grub underneath.

thats_wild (2008-11)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:00:00 -0000

thats_wild (2008-10)

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:00:00 -0000

thats_wild (2008-09)

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0000

thats_wild (2008-08)

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0000

thats_wild (2008-07)

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 05:00:00 -0000