Season 2 Teaser: Desert Conservation In Southern California & Beyond To The Greater Southwest
Release Date: 08/06/2025
Earth Day 2026: Help Us Bring Our Short Film to Life!
Planet People Podcast
Seed & Spark now LIVE: Happy Earth Day, Planet People 🌍 This is the biggest announcement we’ve ever made. For the first time, Planet People Podcast is stepping beyond audio and into filmmaking with our debut short film: “In Jane’s Footsteps: The Path to Gombe.” In 2024, our host and conservation biologist Natalie traveled to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania—walking the same paths as Jane Goodall, filming chimpanzees, scientists, and the communities continuing her legacy. The footage is real. The story is powerful. Now we need your help to finish it. We’ve launched a...
info_outline
Toad-ly Awesome: Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show & the Puerto Rican Crested Toad
Planet People Podcast
Join us as Coral and Natalie explore how Bad Bunny united the Americas through his historic halftime performance while shining a spotlight on an unlikely cultural icon: the Puerto Rican crested toad (known as coquí guajón or sapo concho). Bad Bunny features this endangered amphibian as a recurring symbol throughout his album DtMF (Debí Tirar Más Fotos), where animated versions of the toad appear in every song, transforming a threatened species into a powerful emblem of Puerto Rican identity and resistance. In an era when both Puerto Rican culture and ecosystems face mounting threats—from...
info_outline
Yuck: A Meditation on Joshua Trees & the Mojave Desert w/ Barret Baumgart
Planet People Podcast
Join us for the second episode of our Planet People Book Club series as we explore Yuck: The Birth & Death of the Weird & Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca Brevifolia by author Barret Baumgart. This contemplative work uses the iconic Joshua tree as a lens to examine our relationship with the Mojave Desert and the American West. Barret shares the personal and creative journey behind this distinctive meditation on desert landscapes, pilgrimage, and the search for meaning in places often dismissed as barren. In an era when the Mojave faces unprecedented threats from climate change and when...
info_outline
The Journey of Water: 112 Mile Hike Through the Desert Basin of Las Vegas Valley w/ Alex Harper
Planet People Podcast
Join us as we journey along the Colorado River with Alex Harper, a naturalist, wildlife conservationist, bird photographer, and guide with Red Rocks Audubon, whose recent survey expedition documents one of the American West’s most urgent environmental crises. Alex shares what it means to witness the dramatic transformation of a river system that sustains millions of people and countless species—from disappearing wetlands and struggling bird populations to the stark reality of a watershed pushed to its limits by climate change, overuse, and outdated water policy. In an era when the Colorado...
info_outline
42. Mojave Desert Land Trust: Protecting Rare Plants, Lands & Animals in the Mojave Desert w/ Kelly Herbinson & Patrick Emblidge
Planet People Podcast
Join us as we venture into the Mojave Desert with Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director of Mojave Desert Land Trust, and Patrick Emblidge, Plant Conservation Program Manager, whose groundbreaking conservation work reveals the urgent need to protect one of North America’s most iconic and misunderstood ecosystems. Kelly and Patrick share what it means to safeguard the desert’s irreplaceable biodiversity from the iconic Joshua tree facing climate-driven extinction to the thousands of acres permanently protected through conservation easements that preserve rare plants and vulnerable desert...
info_outline
41. Jaguars vs. The Wall: The Fight for Wildlife Borderlands, Connectivity, and Conservation w/ Jack Humphrey
Planet People Podcast
In this urgent discussion, we interview Jack Humphrey from The Rewilding Institute to explore what rewilding truly means—and why it's under unprecedented threat right now. As the Trump administration dynamites through Arizona's most critical jaguar habitat to construct border walls, we examine what happens when we sever the very corridors that wildlife has traveled for millennia. The Rewilding Institute was founded on a radical idea: that nature needs more than just protection. It needs restoration, connection, and room to breathe. Their vision is bold—gray wolves and grizzly bears with...
info_outline
40. The Enduring Wild, and Forgotten Lands Project w/ Josh Jackson
Planet People Podcast
In this discussion, we interview Josh Jackson, author of The Enduring Wild and creator of the Forgotten Lands project, which documents and advocates for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands across the American West. Through his writing and photography, Josh has become a leading voice in drawing attention to these vast, often-overlooked landscapes, which represent our largest—and most vulnerable—public land holdings. BLM lands differ significantly from national parks and monuments, lacking the same level of protection and public awareness despite comprising millions of acres of...
info_outline
39. New Year's Special: Mini Wrap-Up and Milestones of 2025
Planet People Podcast
Happy New Year's from Planet People hosts, Natalie & Coral! PLANET PEOPLE SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Planet People on Instagram: Subscribe to us on YouTube:
info_outline
38. Christmas Special: The Season of Sustainable Giving
Planet People Podcast
In this special holiday episode, hosts Natalie and Coral reflect on the season of giving and what it means to give sustainably. As we approach the end of the year, they discuss the importance of shopping small, supporting local businesses, and giving back to the incredible organizations and guests who have shared their knowledge and passion throughout the season. This Christmas episode is a joyous reminder that sustainable giving goes beyond material gifts; it’s about supporting the communities, creators, and changemakers who are working to build a better world. Natalie and Coral emphasize...
info_outline
37. Twelve Days of Thriftmas w/ Jenli Kaylor
Planet People Podcast
In this festive discussion, hosts Coral and Natalie sit down with guest Jenli Kaylor to explore the art of sustainable holiday living through thrifting and upcycling. Together, they dive deep into creative ways to make the holiday season more environmentally conscious while still maintaining the magic and joy of the season. From transforming secondhand finds into meaningful gifts to reimagining holiday decorations with thrifted treasures, this conversation is packed with practical tips for anyone looking to reduce their environmental footprint during the most wonderful—and often most...
info_outlineThe desert is alive, and Season 2 of Planet People is here to prove it. Join founder and conservation biologist Natalie Jane Cibel, alongside newly joined co-host Coral Beth Carson, as we venture deeper into the Mojave Desert of Southern California and beyond, uncovering the hidden stories of life that thrive in one of Earth's most challenging environments.
Our mission remains clear: to protect and celebrate the overlooked creatures that call these ancient landscapes home. From the elusive desert tortoise navigating climate change to the remarkable adaptations of sidewinder rattlesnakes and chuckwalla lizards, this season brings you face-to-face with the incredible animals that have mastered survival in the harshest conditions. Get ready for an unforgettable journey into the wild heart of the desert, where every bit of desert soil tells a story of resilience, adaptation, and the urgent need for conservation.
Stay tuned for an exciting season 2 with desert conservation-themed episodes posted every other week and bonus episodes in between. This is a season you won’t want to miss! We hope you enjoy our first intro episode, dropping next Wednesday with an exciting bonus episode to follow. Let us know in the comments what you think!
Connect with Planet People:
-
Follow @planet.people.pod on Instagram
-
Follow @planet.people.pod on TikTok
-
Follow @planet.people.pod on YouTube
-
Follow @planet.people.pod on LinkedIn
-
Follow Co-host @nat_uralistjane on Instagram and TikTok