Hey, it's Empir's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Back when my grandma lived with us,

we would spend hours watching nature shows together. You know, she didn't speak English,

I didn't speak Indonesian, but seeing a lion just go to town on some poor zebra or whatever

just transcends language barriers, you know? And those shows always made nature

seem so far away. Like the very idea of nature implied distance. But the guest on the pod today

dispels that notion. Ray Wynne Grant is an ecologist and host of her own show, a reboot of NBC's

Wild Kingdom.

She's got a memoir out called Wildlife, Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World, about how she fell in love with wildlife.

And she talked to NPR's Aisha Roscoe about getting really up close and falling in love with

bears.

That's ahead.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

So our next guess, let's have her make the introductions.

I'm Raywin Grant, and I'm a wildlife ecologist.

So get this, in 2017, I had a major network executive.

Say, to my face, Ray, you will never host a nature show.

You're not a white guy with a beard.

...