© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

These Death-Eating Scavengers Are Real Life-Savers

29m 33s

We look at ecosystems at their largest and smallest scales of time and size from the Serengeti to Andrews Experimental Forestin Oregon. How does the cycling of nutrients and molecules make life possible on Earth? Who are these recyclers and scavengers? Sometimes this recycling happens fast and violently, and sometimes it happens slow and beautifully.

Aired: 08/03/21
Extras
A man dies on a bus and Bea is warned off the case, but she refuses to stop investigating.
A body disappears from the morgue. Patience has a connection to the case.
The competition returns to Nashville as eight home cooks compete to win "The Great American Recipe"!
Sixty million American bison once thundered across the prairies of North America.
A bestselling crime writer is found dead behind locked doors and all is not as it seems.
A body in a museum exhibit leads the team into the shadowy world of fossil smuggling.
Discover Hannah Arendt, one of the most fearless political writers of modern times.
Hannah Arendt came up with ideas for “The Origins of Totalitarianism” while observing Hitler.
Hannah Arendt was teaching at Berkeley when McCarthyism took hold of the United States.
Hannah Arendt became a stateless person in 1933 upon fleeing Germany to France.
Latest Episodes
All
  • All
  • Be Smart Season 13
  • Be Smart Season 12
  • Be Smart Season 11
  • Be Smart Season 10
  • Be Smart Season 9
  • Be Smart Season 8
  • Be Smart Season 7
  • Be Smart Season 6
  • Be Smart Season 5
  • Be Smart Season 4
  • Be Smart Season 3
  • Be Smart Season 2
  • Be Smart Season 1
Just how big would a telescope need to be to actually see an alien world in detail?
Dire wolves are back—sort of.
The key enzyme behind photosynthesis isn’t actually all that great at its job.
The oldest rocks on Earth are more than just ancient—they’re time machines!
This is one of the weirdest mysteries of human evolution: Why do we have grandmas?
Insects and birds have an awesome superpower that repels water and keeps them airborne in the rain.
Why do some people taste music or hear colors? Let’s talk about synesthesia.
How a chemical in lizard spit inspired one of the most important medical advancements.
These diamond makers create one of the most amazing materials on Earth — from dead people.
Learn nature’s ultimate game of hide-and-seek, and the way to win this game is all in the brain.