Rick Wood Field is the oldest baseball field in the US.

It's also where comedian Roy Wood Jr spent a lot of time growing up.

Racism was around, but this baseball field somehow was a separate oasis from all of that for blacks and white.

Baseball, Birmingham, and Race in America on the latest episode of a Sunday story from

NPR's Up First Podcast.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hey Shortwaavers, Emily Kwong here.

There is an extinction crisis underway on the planet we call home.

Animals and plant species are rapidly disappearing,

and people all over the world are going to increasing lengths to save them. Doing things like

packing a helicopter full of 250,000 mosquitoes. Not the conservation strategy I had in

mine, but okay. Lauren Summer, you and Ryan Kelman are here from the climate desk to talk about this practice.

What is up with this helicopter full of mosquitoes?

Yeah, don't worry, Emily.

They're not just flying around loose in the cockpit.

They're packed away in little brown tubes that kind of look like toilet paper tubes.

They're actually heading out to the high mountain forests of Hollyakala National Park, where they'll be released to ultimately

help endangered birds.

So that's an EV.

It's got a bright red body with a black tail and black wings and a pink beak that curves downward.

It's a very cool bird. And Lauren and I got to see these birds not too far from where the mosquitoes were dropped.

Yeah and the Yevi is one of Hawaii's honey creepers.

...