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Ketzel Levine NPR Senior Correspondent Ketzel Levine reports for Morning Edition.
Stories By

Ketzel Levine

Story Archive

Tuesday

American Moxie: How We Get By

Gritting It Out Amid The Dirt In Chicago

The city's Millennium Park is a living reminder of the tough challenges that popped up along the way for Christy Webber's landscaping firm. Now she and one of her employees are both hoping to weather the economic crisis.

Gritting It Out Amid The Dirt In Chicago

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Monday

Looking For Moxie, And Finding It

This is the fourth and last piece in our Morning Edition series, American Moxie. The concept was to have each person Ketzel interviewed lead her to the next. Nevertheless, Ketzel was completely unprepared when Harry Jenkins led her to someone very close to home.

Looking For Moxie, And Finding It

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American Moxie: How We Get By

Days Of Easy Growth Over, A Business Adapts

It's understandable that landscaper Christy Webber's partner would call her the Golden Goose. After all, she often sees opportunities before anyone else. Her biggest work project was on Chicago's Millennium Park. But now, her task is to realign her business so it can survive a slowdown.

Days Of Easy Growth Over, A Business Adapts

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Monday

American Moxie: How We Get By

Illinois Farmer Faces A Hard Choice That Cuts Deep

The costs of raising cattle have gone up in recent years — but the price of cattle has not kept pace. That has put farmer Dave Burt in a bad position in southern Illinois. He says farming expenses are now "so staggeringly high, it's frightening."

Illinois Farmer Faces A Hard Choice That Cuts Deep

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Tuesday

Environment

Snapping Salmon: A Biologist's Underwater Passion

Mary Edwards is a fish biologist who loves salmon — especially if they're running upriver. But her true passion is to take portrait-style photos of fish underwater, in the remote rivers of the Pacific Northwest.

Snapping Salmon: A Biologist's Underwater Passion

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Tuesday

National

A Photo Project's Message: Hello, Neighbor

If you're someone who thinks neighbors and neighborhoods aren't what they used to be, you aren't alone. A sense of community can be hard to come by, even in thriving areas. A public photography project in Oregon is meant to change that, with large banner portraits of residents.

A Photo Project's Message: Hello, Neighbor

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Thursday

Crime In The City

Searching For Bodies In Chelsea Cain's Portland

Crime writer Chelsea Cain sees danger lurking in the most pastoral corners of the polite Northwest city she calls home. Ketzel Levine dares to search for skeletons with the writer.

Searching For Bodies In Chelsea Cain's Portland

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Tuesday

Health

Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It?

A handful of scientists are now culturing meat from animal muscle cells, but don't look for it at the supermarket anytime soon. Costs are high, production models are nonexistent and few carnivores are clamoring for an alternative.

Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It?

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Friday

Music Interviews

Passion in Portland: Oregon Chorus Sings 'Aida'

Thousands of Americans lead double lives, working by day and singing their hearts out at night as members of an operatic chorus. NPR's Ketzel Levine goes behind the scenes of the Portland Opera Chorus as it prepares for a production of Aida.

Passion in Portland: Oregon Chorus Sings 'Aida'

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Sunday

Gardening

Trip to the Amazon Yields Gardening Tips

Spring is here, and plant people everywhere are ready to garden. An intriguing woman from the Caboclo tribe in the Amazon offers inspiration and some unorthodox horticultural advice.

Trip to the Amazon Yields Gardening Tips

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Thursday

Books

A New Novel Breaks Horses — and Stereotypes

Though the female horse-gentlers of the American West have largely gone unsung, author Molly Gloss says they definitely existed. Her new novel, The Hearts of Horses, tells the story of a female broncobuster who uses gentle methods to tame and train wild horses.

A New Novel Breaks Horses — and Stereotypes

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Thursday

National

One Beagle's Win a Loss for Others

Beagle lovers are celebrating the triumph of one of their own this week at the Westminster Dog Show. A beagle named, Uno, made history as the first beagle to win the "Best in Show" crown. The result could be a surge of beagles in animal rescue shelters.

One Beagle's Win a Loss for Others

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Monday

Adaptation

Farming the Amazon with a Machete and Mulch

On jungle land at the mouth of the Amazon River, one resourceful female farmer has become a master of adaptation in a landscape of constant change. Her story offers an example of how individuals might face the challenges of climate change.

Farming the Amazon with a Machete and Mulch

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Monday

In Character

Lassie: The Perfect Dog Sets High Bar for Real Pups

In books, radio, movies and television, the history of the dog Lassie is long and illustrious. In fact, some real-life pet owners expect their collies to perform like Lassie. Lassie lovers, historians and an acclaimed animal behaviorist discuss what it takes to create a great character.

Lassie: The Perfect Dog Sets High Bar for Real Pups

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Wednesday

Solutions

Hawaii Couple Reestablishes Ancient Plant Species

Climate change threatens many of the world's native plant species on Kaua'I, Hawaii's oldest island. But a husband and wife are leasing the land around an ancient cave in hopes of re-creating a lost world.

Hawaii Couple Reestablishes Ancient Plant Species

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Monday

Solutions

Hawaii: Frontline for Conservation

Botanists will go to great lengths to track down and capture their prey. In the first of two reports this week from the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, one botanist battles knee-deep mud and curtains of fog in search of a rare orchid. His goal is to preserve its seed.

Hawaii: Frontline for Conservation

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Monday

Monday

Environment

Xeriscaping: A Hot Topic in Santa Fe

Gardeners in New Mexico are exploring xeriscaping — landscaping that doesn't require a lot of water. Displays have moved well beyond mere cactus and rock, but the practice still stirs controversy in some neighborhoods.

Xeriscaping: A Hot Topic in Santa Fe

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Thursday

Signs

Cheesemakers Taste a Change in the Weather

Alpine cheese is as distinct as the milk it is made from – milk that tastes of the grasses and flowers eaten by alpine cows. But as the weather changes, some makers of alpine cheese worry that they won't be able to continue producing traditional cheeses.

Cheesemakers Taste a Change in the Weather

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Tuesday

Technology

Alter Egos in a Virtual World

As the old New Yorker cartoon said, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." And if you're an online gamer, your opponents may not know that you're a 27-year-old white mother pretending to be a large, black male warrior.

Alter Egos in a Virtual World

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Thursday

Signs

Cold-Adverse Plants Warm Up to a New Home

Only plant nerds used to risk loving the Hebe, native to New Zealand's cliffs and tufted grasslands. But as winters warm up in the U.S., plum pewter and burnt orange hebes are blooming, along with other species formally doomed by cold.

Cold-Adverse Plants Warm Up to a New Home

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Wednesday

Wednesday

Adaptation

Seed Banks Move to Save Threatened Species

Just as regular banks are important to our financial future, seed banks — with vaults containing precious plant DNA — may be key to our planet's future. Those running them say the facilities are in urgent need of preserving species threatened with extinction by climate change.

Seed Banks Move to Save Threatened Species

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Friday

Signs

Beautiful Lilacs Tell a Tale About Climate

The fragrance of a lilac is so powerfully stirring that, within a century of their introduction in the United States, the blooms were synonymous with "home." But these nonnative shrubs have a great deal to say about how our climate is changing.

Beautiful Lilacs Tell a Tale About Climate

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