A wild encounter with cougar cubs in a Snoqualmie backyard is followed by a journey through the once war-torn expanses of eastern Germany in search of wolves. The first episodes of ecologist Chris Morgan’s new podcast, The Wild, highlights these types of rapid human encroachment on nature and the strategies we can adopt to coexist with the creatures who dwell there. The 12-episode KUOW podcast follows Morgan from the snowcapped mountains of Italy to the shores of Seattle in search of the creatures we rarely encounter. Winner of numerous awards and a regular host for National Geographic, BBC and Discovery Channel productions, Bellingham-based Morgan is also an educator and one of the world’s premier bear experts. Conservation, he believes, depends on people grasping the connection between their well-being and that of wildlife. Through its thought-provoking yet humorous content, Morgan’s podcast should encourage listeners to venture into nature and make that connection.