archive
Alaska on the Lookout for First Sign of Bird Flu
April 5, 2006 In the next few weeks, millions of songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl will begin arriving in Alaska to breed. These migratory birds — some of which wintered in Southeast Asia — could bring with them the deadly strain of bird flu known as avian influenza A, or H5N1.
Interviews: Saving the Marco Polo Sheep
March 27, 2006 Some have called George Schaller the globe's greatest living naturalist. He's been tracking and studying the Marco Polo sheep for some 20 years in a quest to create wildlife preserves in some of the world's most dangerous areas along the borders of Afghanistan, China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Himalayan Healing Plants
Saving the Snow Lotus from Extinction
February 22, 2006 A species of Himalayan snow lotus, a cottony white flower, is used in Tibetan medicine and prized by tourists — and it's popularity has already knocked four inches off the plant's height and could be leading to its extinction.
Himalayan Healing Plants
Sacred Protection for Medicinal Plants
February 21, 2006 The second of a three-part report looks at the role of Tibetan medicinal plants in China's Yunnan Province. Global climate change and a growing world market may be threatening the plants.
Himalayan Healing Plants
Breathless Work in the High Himalayas
February 20, 2006 For the latest NPR/National Geographic Radio Expedition report, Elizabeth Arnold begins a journey to China's eastern Himalayas, near the border with Tibet, to profile a team of scientists studying the link between global warming and disappearing plant life high in the mountains.
Reporter's Notebook
In a Foreign Land, Driver Delivers Safe Passage
February 19, 2006 While it may sound lavish, it is a practical and often required practice to hire a driver for foreign reporting assignments. Our driver was a quietly persistent man who personified the stoic determination of the people living at the Tibetan frontier of China's Yunnan Province.
Interviews: Bruce Beehler's Lost World
February 7, 2006 In December 2005, a team of Indonesian, American and Australian scientists studied the mist-shrouded "lost world" atop the isolated Foja Mountains of New Guinea. What they found was a haven for rare wildlife and a host of new species.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo Diaries
October 17: Camping with Fellow Pilgrims
January 24, 2006 While we have tents, a fuel-burning stove, canisters of fuel and seven horses, our neighbors have the clothes on their back, a large bag of barley flower (called tsampa) and utensils to prepare butter tea and possibly barley bread.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo
Mortality and the Gift of the Moment
January 24, 2006 A sound engineer continues his pilgrimage around a sacred mountain in China revered by Tibetan Buddhists, and finds a powerful force guiding his path: an awareness of mortality.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo Diaries
October 13: Karma in Translation
January 23, 2006 He tells me that if I am concerned about the benefits that I will receive from my pilgrimage, I can expect little. He suggests that a better attitude would be to perform the pilgrimage in the hope that it would benefit all beings.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo
The Lessons of the Buddha
January 23, 2006 Three experts on Tibetan Buddhism — a scholar, an anthropologist, and a former monk and translator for the Dalai Lama — talk to Bill McQuay about the finer points of some of the religion's core concepts.
Robert Thurman
January 23, 2006 Robert Thurman
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo
The Mountain Home of a Warrior God
January 23, 2006 Bill McQuay begins his journey to circle the sacred mountain of Kawakarpo with a visit to some of the holiest places in Tibetan Buddhism, where he learns of the religion's core values.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo Diaries
October 31: The Final Mountain Pass
January 19, 2006 Having reached the final pass of the pilgrimage I am excited, delighted and grateful for having had this opportunity to share this amazing journey with so many devout people. It's overwhelming — and frankly indescribable.
Geography of Heaven: Kawakarpo Diaries
October 30: Bracing for the Shula Pass
January 19, 2006 I am tired after five-and-a-half hours of trekking up the spine of this mountain. I'm almost too tired to prepare my recording equipment for our long trek across the snow-covered Shula pass.
