Lifelong birder Jordan Rutter co-founded the campaign Bird Names for Birds. The goal? To discontinue the use of honorific names and replace them with names that celebrate the unique attributes, behaviors, and biomes of the birds. “There's a way for us to remember and learn the history of…

Back when he was a bike messenger in downtown Seattle, Gordon Hempton was drawn to the sonic richness of a remote canyon in eastern Washington State. “Pipestone Canyon was my oasis from all the urban din and construction activity,” he says. The canyon walls echo and amplify the sounds of…

In the spring, Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota bursts into song. For nature sound recordist Gordon Hempton, the greatest sound is the arrival of loons. A fond and venerable bit of folklore holds that loons mate for life. In their calls, Gordon hears true love. “It was full of…

Gordon Hempton started a nonprofit that designates “quiet parks” around the world. These special places are to be protected from noise pollution, where you can experience true, profound quiet. On Earth Day 2019, the first Quiet Park was created on the Zabalo River in Ecuador. “There’s no…

Gordon Hempton transports us to some of the most incredible places on Earth through his nature recordings. But Washington State’s Olympic National Park is the source of his sonic inspiration, especially as it comes to life in the spring. Sound Escapes was made possible by the generous…

We’re proud to share a new season of our podcast, Sound Escapes. Host Gordon Hempton transports us to some of the most incredible places on Earth through his nature recordings. Sound Escapes is made possible by the generous support of Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

Students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago took a class trip to the city’s Field Museum for a natural history illustration class. The students had to draw three bird heads and three birds’ feet. Junior Michelle Flitman chose first the Rufous Hornbill, a bird native to the…

In the season finale of Sound Escapes, acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton takes us on a whirlwind tour of nearly every habitat on the planet. From tropical forests to deserts to wetlands, you'll hear what the Earth truly is: music spinning in an otherwise silent space. Thank you for joining…

“By modern standards, Mark Twain was really a switched-on listener,” says our Sound Escapes host, Gordon Hempton. “He brilliantly used sound in the crafting of his novels. Birds would sing at the right time of day and in the right situations. He would use thunderstorms to mark the…

After a long winter in northern Minnesota, everything seems to awaken at once. From the songs of migratory birds to the croaks of frogs and toads, we can witness a wonderful rejuvenation. In this episode of Sound Escapes, paddle a canoe through Voyageurs National Park alongside Gordon…