Laura Erickson's For the Birds
"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 5 minutes
- Episodes
- 267
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Year of the Chickadee, Part 1
Fifty years ago, Laura was abysmally ignorant about birds. And then--a miracle!
00:05:32 |
Mon 06 Jan 2025
Empathy: An Innate Quality
Humans aren't the only creatures who have a need to nurture and help others. (This program's transcript is the second half of the linked blogpost.)
00:06:39 |
Fri 20 Dec 2024
Learning Empathy from the Best
More evidence that Laura's fifth grade teacher was the very best. (The transcript for this program is the first half of the linked blogpost.)
00:05:25 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Premature obituaries
Reports of BB's demise were premature. When that happens to human beings, it can sometimes change history.
00:04:44 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
Exit, pursued by a Cooper's Hawk
The banded Pileated Woodpecker who has been visiting Laura's yard for the past four years disappeared after a Cooper's Hawk was hunting in the vicinity. Laura expected the worst. But spoiler alert: h…
00:04:45 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
No Way to Stop It
Laura remembers her fifth grade teacher, who taught her, via Rodgers and Hammerstein's original stage musical *The Sound of Music*, that real heroes stand up against cruel regimes even when there is …
00:05:40 |
Wed 04 Dec 2024
Albatrosses
General facts about albatrosses and good news about a very special one.
00:05:29 |
Mon 02 Dec 2024
Thanksgiving 2024
Laura remembers three Thanksgivings of the past, and how a Pileated Woodpecker keeps those memories alive.
00:04:57 |
Fri 29 Nov 2024
In Retrospect: The BP oil spill. Part 5b--Complicity
Every environmental organization down in the Gulf during the BP oil disaster had to abide by a 5-year moratorium on ALL of their eye-witness information except as BP allowed. National Audubon did way…
00:09:23 |
Tue 26 Nov 2024
In Retrospect: The BP oil spill. Part 5--Staying alive to fight another day
At the time of the BP oil spill, Laura thought some important organizations were complying with BP more than they should have. Now, as she explains, she realizes that most of them weren't cowardly.
00:05:52 |
Mon 25 Nov 2024
In Retrospect: The BP oil spill, Part 4
Who can we trust after a major disaster?
00:05:02 |
Tue 19 Nov 2024
In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 3
Laura visited one of the four rehab centers allowed to treat birds oiled in the Deepwater Horizon spill.
00:06:00 |
Mon 18 Nov 2024
In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 2
Laura talks about the extremely low-tech and ineffective way BP tried to protect beaches and islands after the spill, and the even worse way they approached cleanup. There are many photos and a video…
00:06:55 |
Tue 12 Nov 2024
Look to the Chickadees
As Laura faces her 73rd birthday in what feels like a hopeless time, she looks to chickadees. (This program was reworked from the "For the Birds" program from October 12, 2010.)
00:05:10 |
Mon 11 Nov 2024
In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 1
The BP oil spill was when Laura learned just how much power a corporation has over individuals; well-meaning and well-respected organizations and institutions; and our government.
00:05:22 |
Tue 05 Nov 2024
Standing up to them
Billionaires and corporations have too much power over us, birds, and the environment we need and share.
00:06:21 |
Tue 29 Oct 2024
You're not getting older, you're getting better--oh, wait--you ARE getting older
Birding may keep us young, but not literally.
00:05:11 |
Fri 25 Oct 2024
Transmission Lines, Part 2
Clean energy should be making us less, not more, reliant on huge transmission lines.
00:05:28 |
Wed 23 Oct 2024
Transmission Lines
Power transmission lines can be very harmful for birds and human beings.
00:05:29 |
Tue 22 Oct 2024
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