In 2011, Ann Raiho and Natalie Warren climbed into their canoe and pushed off the banks of the Minnesota River just outside Minneapolis. Their goal was to paddle to Hudson Bay, thousands of miles away in Canada. It was a huge test of physical strength and friendship.

In October 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan visited Chicago for 21 hours. Chicago’s mayor presented the prince with a diplomatic gift: 18 bluegill. What happened next would change the underwater world of Japan forever.

David Exelby was scrolling through Reddit when he came across a mysterious post. This guy had stumbled on a ghost town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The problem was no one could find it. David and producer Max Howard go looking.

Tom Wall is a West Michigan rock star who uses plants as bandmates. He uses a device to harness the electricity in plants, which then turns those impulses into musical notes. Tom insists the plants are talking to us through the music. But can they really do that?

Lane Frame was visiting the Great Lakes for the first time. It was a windy day and the water was rough, but Lane and his brothers headed onto a pier to see a lighthouse. Then a wave crashed over the breakwall and pushed him into the water. Lane drowned, but maybe it didn’t have to be that way.

The Great Lakes region — and the rest of the world — is seeing a huge push for solar power. But what happens when those panels expire?

Matt Parker was just out of college. Unsure of what was next, he got this idea to ride a horse across the country. This is a true American adventure story about one young Michigander’s solo ride from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.

Freshwater jellyfish have been in inland lakes and rivers throughout the Great Lakes region since 1933. But a century after their discovery, we still don’t know much about the elusive creatures. A team of student scientists is trying to change that.

Invasive species often spread by hitching a ride on anglers, especially anglers who don’t clean their gear after fishing. Though this is widely known, research suggests many anglers still don’t clean, even though it protects the very thing they’re after – fish. So, can anything be done to change their minds?

This week we’re featuring an episode from the Outside Podcast from Outside Magazine. It's a story about Greg and Julie Welch's near-death encounter with the 2011 Pagami Creek Wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.