The Field Trip podcast tells the stories of America's great national parks. Host Lillian Cunningham explores their past and future. She talks with the people fighting to preserve their pristine beauty and wildlife. Will these parks still be here in 20 or 50 years? What do they mean to the world today?
National parks offer millions of visitors the chance to enter majestic natural environments. Tourists gasp before the Grand Canyon and canoe through Glacier National Park's lakes. People can reach from their car doors to touch wild buffalo in Yellowstone. How did these parks begin? What is happening to them, and who will protect their futures?
Lillian is a longtime journalist. Besides Field Trip, she hosts Constitutional, Moonrise, and Presidential for The Washington Post. She's passionate about finding new ways to understand history.
The inspiration for this podcast comes from a special memory. Lillian was on a field trip with her family. Her dad stopped the car in Grand Teton National Park. She and her sister ran through fields of wildflowers. The peaceful scene lives in her memory. In Field Trip, Lillian wants to learn about the national parks she loves. Many sources threaten them-fires, floods, human intervention, and extinction. She travels through forests, deserts, wetlands, and mountains to understand five national parks.
With Field Trip, Lillian invites listeners to join her journey. It begins at Yosemite National Park and concludes at Arctic National Park. She describes the unique history of each location. Lillian also talks with locals, activists, and park administrators. For example, she learns how the perception of Everglades National Park as a dangerous swamp is destroying its ecosystem. Developers used this myth to their advantage, getting rich from its destruction. Can anyone save it? Scientist Jerry Lorenz and members of local Native American tribes help Lillian answer this question.
This five-episode podcast is compelling. It may forever change the way listeners think of national parks. Field Trip is an expression of love. It's also an urgent reminder to protect and treasure national parks. Listeners learn how they started and how to preserve them for future generations.
Episodes