Human Footprint

Jul 5, 2023

Invasive species are reshaping the world’s ecosystems, but who’s to blame? Shane wrestles a python, hunts a wild pig, and gets sucker-punched by a carp to answer the question: in the age of humans, how does our species decide what belongs?

Jul 12, 2023

There’s a killer inside us. Our biology, culture, technology, and economy have transformed our species into the greatest predator the world has ever seen. From Yellowstone to Mozambique, Shane explores our global impact as the planet’s top predator.

Jul 19, 2023

Shane discovers why dogs are more than man’s best friend – they’ve been reshaped by evolution into the perfect partner for our species. And just as we’ve transformed them, dogs have left an unmistakable pawprint on us and the world we both share.

Jul 24, 2023

Shane explores the surprising science and unexpected histories of “The Replacements”: five animal and plant species that made allies of humans, grew to dominate the planet alongside us, and changed their destinies (and our own) forever.

Aug 2, 2023

In "The Urban Jungle," Shane explores the modern city: an ecosystem built by, for us. He encounters three species thriving in the city, reckons with our complex urban history, and envisions a new and wilder urban future.

Aug 9, 2023

Shane explores the history and science of cotton. A prehistoric coastline from North Carolina to Texas laid the foundation for a crop that re-shaped our history, our culture, and even our DNA.

Jun 25, 2025

Shane travels from New York City to rural Thailand to explore the Human Footprint of the supermarket – a 20th-century innovation that transformed our relationship with food, reshaping our bodies, our society, and our planet along the way.

Jul 2, 2025

In humankind’s conquest of planet Earth, we rely on improbable allies – species we’ve recruited from nature to help us defeat our adversaries. But in this brave new world of “biocontrol,” is the enemy of an enemy always a friend?

Jul 9, 2025

Take a look in the mirror… do you like what you see? From biotech labs to beaver ponds, from New York Fashion Week to Chile’s textile graveyards, Shane unravels how the trends we chase to fit in and stand out leave a lasting mark on our planet.

Jul 16, 2025

Everyone knows the honey bee, but it’s just one species – there are 20,000 others! Humans have depended on bees – both wild and managed – for millennia. But as bee populations collapse around the world, can we save them before it’s too late?

Jul 23, 2025

Shane travels from ancient aqueducts to modern mega-dams, following our age-old quest to tame water. On a journey down the Colorado River, he discovers how humanity’s thirst for control has reshaped rivers, ecosystems, and civilization itself.

Jul 30, 2025

From fossils entombed in tar to cells frozen in hope, Shane traces the arc of extinction from prehistory to the present. On an epic global journey, he meets species at the brink of oblivion… and the people who won’t give up on them.