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Outside/In

Why is there so much roadkill?

Outside/In

NHPR

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

4.71.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For humans, roads epitomize freedom. For wildlife, it’s a different story: a million animals are killed by cars every day in the US alone. How did our infrastructure turn so deadly? And what are people trying to do about it? In this episode, we look at how two very different species are impacted by roads. Along the way, we visit a turtle rescue clinic, and hear about a celebrity cougar that was trapped in the Hollywood Hills. This episode was first produced in 2023. Right now, the Trump administration is planning to rescind the Roadless Rule – a regulation that restricts the building of new roads in nearly 60 million acres of US forests. Conservationists warn that this will fragment forests and threaten endangered species. A public comment period on the plan is open until September 19th. Featuring Ben Goldfarb, Alexxia Bell, Natasha Nowick, and Michaela Conder. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.   SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.  Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.   LINKS September 19, 2025 is the deadline to submit a comment about the potential effects of rescinding the Roadless Rule. Check out Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, by Ben Goldfarb. Read more about The Turtle Rescue League in Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell, by Sy Montgomery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

40 years ago, two bodies were discovered inside a barrel near New Hampshire's Bear Brook State Park.

0:10.3

Fifteen years after that, another barrel was found with two more bodies inside.

0:16.4

The Bear Brook murders baffled detectives and internet sleuths for decades.

0:21.6

We are at the final line of what science can do to help us.

0:25.7

So at this point, it really is the public's help that we're looking for.

0:29.8

What grandmother let this happen, or what neighbor or what bus driver, or, you know,

0:34.8

I mean, where were all of you?

0:37.0

But now, there's been a new discovery, bringing the cold case that changed how murders are

0:42.8

investigated to a close.

0:44.7

Oh my God, this is it.

0:46.2

This is it.

0:46.9

This is her.

0:47.7

This is the baby that we have been looking to name.

0:54.4

And revealing a new mystery.

0:56.8

We want to be very clear.

0:58.3

This investigation is not over.

1:01.1

I'm Jason Moon.

1:02.5

From New Hampshire Public Radio,

1:04.4

a new episode of the first season of Bear Brook is out now.

1:09.0

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

1:13.8

This is outside in, a show where curiosity and the natural world collide.

1:18.4

I'm Nate Hedgy.

...

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