{"podcast":{"title":"Nature Signals Podcast","slug":"nature-signals-podcast-7864786","podcast_index_feed_id":7864786,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/6443334.rss","website_url":"https://ruththornton.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/6443334/f512800928c4d97679055ca3bbdff604.jpg","author":"Ruth Thornton","episode_count":20,"summary":"A newsletter about nature, the animals and plants that share the world with us and the human actions affecting it - both good and bad.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-10T08:20:05.702877+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-signals-podcast-7864786"},"episode":{"title":"Podcast: The State of Nature Update #25","slug":"podcast-the-state-of-nature-update-25","published_at":"2026-05-20T21:10:12+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-signals-podcast-7864786/podcast-the-state-of-nature-update-25","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-signals-podcast-7864786","url":"https://ruththornton.substack.com/p/podcast-the-state-of-nature-update","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/198617616/16732d3939f806e0a1351a16e312f8e1.mp3","summary":"Summary: This episode of Nature Signals examines recent biodiversity and environmental news, ranging from bird behavior to wolf-moose dynamics and plastic pollution. You’ll hear about how Hawaiian songbirds steal nesting materials from one another, why European city birds fear women more than men, how wolf reintroduction on Isle Royale has successfully reduced an overabundant moose population, and about the botched rescue attempt of “Timmy” the humpback whale. It concludes with research showing that toxic chemicals and climate change together harm fertility in humans and wildlife, but just one week of reduced plastic exposure can significantly lower hormone-disrupting chemicals in people. Key points: Biodiversity: 0:54 - Some birds steal nesting materials from other nests, adding to their threats 2:37 - City birds appear to be more afraid of women than of men, for unknown reasons 3:42 - More wolves are thriving on Isle Royale than in nearly 50 years 5:00 - The botched rescue attempt of Timmy, the humpback whale stranded in Germany Pollution & Plastics 8:02 - Toxic chemicals and climate change work together to harm fertility across species 8:54 - Seven days without plastic contact slashes chemicals in the body Resources: To read this article, check out my Substack newsletter Nature Signals . Articles & Resources: The New York Times, 5/12/2026, by Sara Novak: Building nests is hard. That’s why some birds steal . Wilson Ranking et al., 2026, Upcycling in the Hawaiian islands: Native forest birds commonly engage in nest material kleptoparasitism . American Naturalist. Scientific American, 4/28/2026, by Blaire Cameron: City birds appear to be more afraid of women than men, and scientists have no idea why . Morelli et al., 2025, Sex matters: European urban birds flee approac…","meta_description":"Summary: This episode of Nature Signals examines recent biodiversity and environmental news, ranging from bird behavior to wolf-moose dynamics and plastic…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":673,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/nature-signals-podcast-7864786/episodes/podcast-the-state-of-nature-update-25/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/nature-signals-podcast-7864786/podcast-the-state-of-nature-update-25.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}