logo
episode-header-image
May 2025
43m 23s

Wildlife Photographer Ami Vitale on Why ...

Atmos
About this episode

In the season finale of The Nature Of, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Ami Vitale joins Willow for a powerful and emotional conversation about witnessing extinction and choosing hope, drawing on her extensive career photographing the most critical conservation stories of our time. Ami takes Willow through her decades-long journey from documenting human conflict to the lives of endangered species—including the final days of Sudan, the last male Northern white rhino—and the people working to protect them. Together, they reflect on what it means to tell stories with reverence, how we find our humanity through connection with the more-than-human world, and why love—not loss—is at the heart of conservation.

For more about Ami Vitale: https://www.amivitale.com/

To see a transcript of this episode: https://atmos.earth/podcast/ami-vitale-on-the-nature-of-wildlife-and-storytelling-to-stop-extinction/


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up next
Oct 7
‘The Nature Of’ Returns Oct. 21
The Nature Of is coming back with even more inspiring conversations. Every other week. All year long.Join us as we continue walking this path towards reconnection with ourselves, each other, and the Earth. New episodes begin on October 21, 2025. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz c ... Show More
1m 54s
Apr 2025
Maggie Baird on the One Thing You Can Do for the Planet Every Day
In this episode, we explore the nature of food as a profound act of care—with the power to transform not only our health and the planet, but the very systems we live within. Maggie Baird, longtime activist, founder of Support + Feed, and mother of artists Billie Eilish and Finnea ... Show More
47m 49s
May 2025
Bayo Akomolafe: How to Move Through Chaos Without Needing Control
What if the rupture of these tumultuous times is not an ending, but an opening? In this episode, Willow speaks with Bayo Akomolafe, philosopher, poet, and thinker whose work challenges us to step beyond binaries and into the fertile, unpredictable space of emergence. They dig int ... Show More
40m 14s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
How Did You Become An Iconic Nature Photographer? with Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen
If you’ve ever picked up a National Geographic and skimmed across the gorgeous images that cover those pages - you’ve probably come across the work of our guest experts. This week, we’re coming to you with a LIVE! Getting Curious episode with THE preeminent nature photographers i ... Show More
1h 21m
Feb 2025
The Dark Side of Conservation
How far will Western powers go for conservation? In 2015, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, guards shot and killed an Indigenous boy searching for herbs with his father. This tragedy spotlights the violence faced by Indigenous communities from international conservation ef ... Show More
31m 40s
Jul 11
Three weeks in a hide to spot one elusive bear: the life of a wildlife film-maker
Vianet Djenguet is an award-winning wildlife film-maker and camera operator whose work has featured in a number of major nature documentaries.In this podcast, Vianet joins us to talk about his career, how wildlife film-making have changed, and his experiences working with local r ... Show More
12m 47s
Apr 2025
Professor Carl Jones, conservation biologist
Professor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, chief scientist at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and an honorary professor in ecology and con ... Show More
52m 52s
Aug 2024
Lions, Coyotes, & Bears: Part 4 - The Eagle Lovebirds
Jackie and Shadow are two beloved bald eagles who live in Big Bear, a ski town a couple hours northeast of L.A. They went viral in 2024, as people tuned in to a livestream of their nest to see if their eggs would hatch. Fans around the world became deeply attached to the lovebird ... Show More
24m 53s
Jul 22
Joanna Macy, In Memoriam — Beauty and Wisdom and Courage (and Rilke) to Sustain Us
This rich, gorgeous conversation will fill your soul. The singular and beloved Joanna Macy died at home at the age of 96 on July 20, 2025. She has left an immense legacy of beauty and wisdom and courage to sustain us. A Buddhist teacher, ecological philosopher, and Rilke translat ... Show More
50m 57s
Jul 2024
adrienne maree brown — On Radical Imagination and Moving Towards Life
The wonderful civil rights elder Vincent Harding liked to look around the world for what he called "live human signposts" — human beings who embody ways of seeing and becoming and who point the way forward to the world we want to inhabit. And adrienne maree brown, who has inspire ... Show More
1h 20m
Sep 2024
Nolwenn Leroy
Rejoignez-nous pour un portrait sonore captivant de Nolwenn Leroy, cette artiste aux multiples facettes. De ses débuts dans le lyrique au succès de son passage dans un télé-crochet, Nolwenn nous raconte son parcours hors du commun, ponctué de choix audacieux qui ont forgé son ide ... Show More
7m 36s
Apr 2024
Facing Death: Stories about confronting one's mortality
Confronting death can lead to personal growth, newfound appreciation for life, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences of grappling with the fragility of life. Part 1: On a flight to St. Lou ... Show More
26m 14s
Sep 13
A Husband's Love: Mrs. Erika Kirk Addresses The Nation After Charlie's Assassination
Beyond Turning Point USA, beyond this show, and beyond politics entirely, Charlie Kirk was a husband, father, and Christian believer. Just two days after her husband's assassination, Erika Kirk tells the world about her husband's Biblical, sacrificial love that led him to lay his ... Show More
18m 3s