Up From Dust

Box turtles are cute and an absolute delight to spot while walking in the Midwest or Great Plains. But scientist Benjamin Reed wants us to know that these creatures are complex and widely misunderstood. Reed is a box turtle superspy, spending the last 13 years following the animals with radio equipment as they face daunting challenges like roads, lawnmowers, poachers and more. Reed has a laundry list of ways we can all help prairie turtles survive in a difficult world.

A Texas pecan farmer spent years rethinking whether he needed so many chemicals to grow food. He cut back on things like weedkillers, but when it came to ditching insecticides, crop pests posed a challenge. That’s what brought him together with a famous bat scientist — who helped him build an insect-eating army of bats.

As we embark on our third year of Up From Dust, we discuss why we started an environmental podcast in the Midwest — and what we’ve learned along the way. In 2026, stay tuned for stories about farmers, astronomers, turtles, bats and more. We’ll overcome fears and rethink how we grow food and build our cities. And we’ll meet the people in the Heartland who tackle the challenge of climate change with determination and resolve. Thanks for coming along with us.

Trevor Starks is on a mission. He wants to help the humble but powerful creatures that clean the waters of the Neosho River: freshwater mussels. For decades, their populations dwindled due to overharvesting, pollution and dam construction. To right the wrongs of the past, Trevor and his colleagues are releasing rare mussels by the hundreds. Now, the only thing left is to find out if it worked.

Have you ever wondered how much life a tiny patch of land can hold? Nebraska scientist Chris Helzer photographed one square meter of prairie from every angle for two years, getting to know the creatures that call it home. By blending art and science, he hopes to open people's eyes to this underappreciated ecosystem on the Great Plains that is shrinking more and more every year.

For decades, the world’s longest prairie river was treated as a convenient dumping ground by cities and industries. Government regulation dramatically improved water quality here and around the country. Today the Kansas River is a place to scope out beavers and bald eagles. But decades-old garbage and other pollution still plague the river, so a motley crew of kayakers took it upon itself to dig out the trash.

So you’ve been thinking about getting rid of your lawn, or at least having less. You’ll attract birds and bees and you won’t have to mow as much. Nice! But where to start? Master gardener Paula Diaz gives us the scoop on how to kill grass, where to look for the right native plant species to replace it, and how to start laying out your flower beds. Come learn from someone who’s been winning over her neighbors to give native plants a shot.

In 1978, a young scientist “brazenly trespassed” around a Chicago building in search of dead birds. He unwittingly began a 40-year journey that could help save countless warblers, thrushes and more. Most of America’s 10 riskiest cities for migrating birds lie in the middle of the country. We’ll find out why — and how every resident from Texas to the Canadian border can help reduce the death toll.

Have you ever wondered about the eco-story behind your daily brew? Join us as we spill the beans on the environmental impact of tea and coffee, from cultivation to consumption. (This episode comes to us from the podcast Living Planet.)

After Europeans colonized America, their descendants plowed their way across the continent, seeking prosperity through farming. But breaking up the soil – that had built up over many thousands of years – made it wash away. So some farmers are retiring their tilling equipment. Amble through Kansas prairies and cornfields as we learn how treasuring the ground beneath our feet can lead to farms that better withstand climate change, use less fertilizer and suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

A vast ocean of grass and wildflowers once covered one-third of North America. But that diverse prairie biome is collapsing, partly due to greenhouse gases and to our obsession with trees. Humans have unleashed an aggressive canopy that’s swallowing the Great Plains. For ranchers, saving the environment means being a tree killer — not a tree hugger.

Trees are swallowing prairies. Bees are starving for food. Farmland is washing away in the rain. Humans broke the environment — but we can heal it, too. Up From Dust is a new podcast about the price of trying to shape the world around our needs, as seen from America’s breadbasket: Kansas. Hosts Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos wander across prairies, farm fields and suburbia to find the folks who are finding less damaging, more sustainable ways to fix our generational mistakes. Coming soon from the Kansas News Service, KCUR Studios, and the NPR Network.