In defense of darkness

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Megan Eaves-Egenes grew up under the very starry skies of rural New Mexico. During those years, she developed a deep appreciation for astronomy. The fascination is, of course, not hers alone. But, a starry sky requires one pretty important ingredient: darkness. One study recently reported that since 2011, the night sky has gotten brighter at about 10% per year. All that light pollution has brought dire consequences to life on planet earth. Crickets can’t tell whether it’s day or night, bird migrations have gone haywire, and our own natural alarm clocks are constantly confused. In a world where switching on a lamp during evening hours is, as Megan writes, “almost as basic as breathing” is there hope for our night skies? Or have we illuminated our way to a point of no return? Featuring Megan Eaves-Egenes. SUPPORT To share your questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly. Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram and BlueSky, or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS You can order a copy of Megan’s book Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness on her website. Want to plan travel around dark sky locations? Dark Sky International offers a variety of guides and tips on how to visit darky sky locations responsibly. There are many popular stargazing apps. Megan uses SkyView, but also recommends Stellarium or SkySafari. Learn more about satellite’s role in light pollution from our 2024 episode, “The new space race.” Made nearly 10 years ago, here is our episode about light pollution emitted from a New Hampshire greenhouse. CREDITS Produced by Marina Henke. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	From NHPR, this is Outside In. I'm Nate Hedgy. When travel writer Megan Eves Eganis was growing up in rural
0:08.5	New Mexico, she had free rain. She'd play hide and go seek and dried out riverbeds or come up
0:14.9	with elaborate make-believe games behind her house. But once the sunset, a pretty important rule kicked in.
0:22.1	During the day, you can go run around, do whatever you want. But at night, we weren't allowed
0:25.9	out at all.
0:30.9	It's not that Megan's parents were super strict. They were just very clear-eyed, that if you're
0:36.4	living in a remote place, it gets dark.
0:40.3	I don't think I was afraid, afraid of it, but I was certainly like, I know why I'm not supposed
0:45.5	to go outside. It wasn't the darkness that was the problem, really, or the fear.
0:50.0	We're talking no streetlights, no neighbors, just a single outdoor light attached to Megan's
0:56.2	front door, which wasn't even turned on most of the time.
1:00.5	With that darkness came danger.
1:03.7	That is the time when you would have scorpions and mountain lions and coyotes.
1:13.5	But to every rule, there is an exception.
1:17.0	And a few times a year, Megan's dad would wheel out a huge telescope and invite her outside.
1:24.4	They'd look through the lens trying to see the moons of Saturn or catch a glimpse of a comet.
1:29.6	We saw, you know, the Milky Way overhead.
1:32.0	I mean, one year I think we even saw the northern lights this far south, which was amazing.
1:37.6	These are some of Megan's favorite childhood memories.
1:41.0	She learned to love the stars.
1:43.0	You know, these stars have been up there shining their light for millennia,
1:48.0	and whatever is happening in my day today that's stressing me out is really not that big a deal.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 13 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NHPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NHPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.