Nocturne

This episode is about the only mammal that can fly, one that's reviled, but actually pretty darned gentle, unlike in the vampire stories that sprung up around it. But it's also about the dogged man who's been working on saving them for the last 65 years.
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Merlin Tuttle Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Find out more about Merlin Tuttle and Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation. I highly recommend his memoir,
The Secret Lives of Bats, My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals.
Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective

There's a lot to be sad, stressed and upset about in the world right now. It's important to give those things our focus and attention and action, but we also need to take the time to appreciate the world around us - the precious, beautiful, strange planet we call home.  There are gifts to be discovered in the darkness.
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Nocturnalia Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Find more info about the book, Nocturnalia, by Charles Hood and Jose´ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca

Learn about the organization, Wide Awake

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective

It's the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere - the longest night of the year. Come along as we gather with a group of strangers and walk through the glowing streets of the Mission District in San Francisco, carrying boomboxes and speakers, creating something unique and beautiful together.
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Season of Night Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Find out more about Unsilent Night and musician, Phil Kline.

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

An unexplained sound at night is like an actor on a stage, or a mystical beast drawing power from the moon. Without all the other noise competing for attention, sound at night stands out, it travels farther, it bends and shimmers in unexpected ways. It can tantalize, mesmerize, terrify or downright destroy you in irritation. At the very least it can capture the imagination.


An unexplained sound at night is like an actor on a stage, or a mystical beast drawing power from the moon. Without all the other noise competing for attention, sound at night stands out, it travels farther, it bends and shimmers in unexpected ways. It can tantalize, mesmerize, terrify or downright destroy you in irritation. At the very least it can capture the imagination.
Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast


Bump in the Night Credits

Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey Foster

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

This episode was brought to you with support from Storyworth. Visit Storyworth.com/Nocturne today to save $10 on your first purchase.

What leads a 21-year-old to leave the college of her dreams and travel clear across the country to live off grid, in the middle of a vast barren desert, surrounded by art made from trash? The answer is East Jesus.
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East of Nowhere Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

 Jeffrey foster // Kent Sparling // Kid Otter

Find out more about East Jesus here.

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

In 2013, Ben Davis had the crazy idea to light up the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for it's 75th birthday, and turn it into a nightly art installation. Ten years later, the Bay Lights went dark, but Davis' mission is brighter than ever.

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The Light that Gives Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

 Jeffrey foster

Find out more about Illuminate here.

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

The U.S. Forest Service defines wilderness as having, "outstanding opportunities for solitude". When Adam Danielson summited Mount Shasta, he got more solitude than he would ever want.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






On the North Face Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey foster // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Many sighted people envision being blind as inhabiting an endless night, but the realities of blindness are often much richer and more varied. Andrew Leland offers glimpses from the Country of the Blind.

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The Nyctalops Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey foster // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Find Andrew Leland, as well as information about his new memoir, The Country of the Blind, here.

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Whether it’s to hear live music, to hang out, or to hook up, bars and clubs are a big part of nightlife for a lot of people. But going out to a bar is not without risk, particularly for women, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people.

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Angel Shot Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Myles Boisen // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Find info about Safe Bars and Lauren Taylor’s other work.

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Until fairly recently, there was no distinct focus on the archeology of the night. Lacking a specific nighttime lens through which to view relics from the past, archeologists had been missing an opportunity to capture a whole complete portrait of ancient people’s lives. It was kind of like painting a picture and filling in only half the canvas.

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Nightways Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey Foster // David Hughes // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Cristina Gil began her career as an architect in Colombia. As she worked and traveled, she started thinking about how lighting could be part of the solution to making cities safer and more inviting, specifically for women at night. An idea began to take form for a project, an initiative really – called The Night-Time Traveller. The mission of the Night-Time Traveller project would be to explore urban night design from a women’s perspective.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






In Shadow Places Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Find out more about The Night-Time Traveller and Christina Gil’s work.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey Foster

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

In most major urban and suburban areas in the U.S., it’s easy to take for granted that the streets are for cars – that’s just the way it is almost all the time. That’s what we expect to see and experience, day and night.

So, when you come across a road taken over by joyful people on bicycles, with cars stuck on the sidelines, it’s kind of a delightful spectacle.  In fact, around where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, that’s called a bike party.

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Hot for Teacher Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Find out more about East Bay Bike Party , and the attacks on riders during the February ride.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Jeffrey Foster

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

This episode was brought to you with support from BetterHelp for supporting this episode. Visit BetterHelp.com/Nocturne today to get 10% off your first month.

This episode was also brought to you with support from Ocusleep. Visit Ocusleep.com and use the code NOCTURNE for $40 off and free shipping.

I have a request! If you have a story about a mysterious sound in the night, let me know! I may use it in an upcoming episode! You can leave a voicemail at (510) 982-6959, or send me a recording in an email at vanessa at nocturnepodcast.org.

In a world where the nutritional needs of sex workers is not given much consideration, Nikeisah Newton feeds strippers the most scrumptious, healthy things she can think of. And she delivers.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






Meals 4 Heels Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Find out more about Meals 4 Heels .

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Jeffrey Foster // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

This episode was brought to you with support from BetterHelp for supporting this episode. Visit BetterHelp.com/Nocturne today to get 10% off your first month.

I have a request! If you have a story about a mysterious sound in the night, let me know! I may use it in an upcoming episode! You can leave a voicemail at (510) 982-6959, or send me a recording in an email at vanessa at nocturnepodcast.org.

From tree surfing to sleeping in trees, Peter Jenkins has done it all. And he’s spent more than half his life teaching others how to do it, too.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






Tree Time Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Find out more about Tree Climbers International

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey Foster // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Thanks to StoryWorth for supporting this episode. Get $10 off your first purchase at StoryWorth.com/nocturne

There are some experiences that, while wonderful at any time, are amplified in their wonderfulness when they happen at night. This is one of them.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast





Colonial Donuts has a great Instagram feed @colonialdonuts. It has MUCH better pictures than the shots below 😉

 



Fresh Out the Grease Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling // Jeffrey Foster // Finn Sparlowe // Kid Otter

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Support Nocturne by donating at Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Dreams are often thought of as windows into the unconscious mind. Charles Mcphee made a career of interpreting people's dreams on the radio as "The Dream Doctor". When Rachel discovered the show as a kid, it became a different kind of window - offering strange and surprising insight into the world of adults.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






Dream Doctor Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe. This episode was produced with Rachel Yang.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kyron (aka JC Mendizbal) // Kent Sparling //

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

Thank you to George Oliva for permission to use clips from "The Dream Doctor" radio show. Find out more and hear more here.

Support Nocturne by donating at Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast

This episode was supported by Inked Gaming.  Visit inkedgaming.com/nocturne and use the code "Nocturne" at checkout to get 10% off.

Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

This show is part of the Pro-Democracy Podcast Coalition, working to protect free and fair elections. Learn more and get involved. Visit Represent.us/pod

Monte Rio is a tiny peaceful Northern California town, nestled in a hilly forest of redwoods, beside a river. Who’s starting all the fires?

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what it would feel like to take a long walk through a dark, dark night, without fear. So, I decided to take myself on a walk like that, with you. This night feels strange and different. The darkness and the glittering bits of light are not as they usually appear, how they usually feel.

You won't find the word "Tenebrisology" in the dictionary - yet. It means, "the study of natural darkness", and it was created by Jane Slade. Working in the lighting industry woke her up to the darkness we're all missing, and her mission to bring it back.

I rarely talk about the fact that I pretty much always feel hyperaware, if not nervous, when I'm out alone at night. I'm embarrassed to admit that. But I'm not alone. Hannah Drake asked the question, "What would you do out at night if you weren't afraid?", and the answers were illuminating.

Amanda and her husband went out on a guided nighttime kayaking tour for their anniversary. What they'd hoped would be a relaxing, romantic excursion into nature turned into something else entirely.

Some things can only really be experienced in a dark theater full of people. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with its midnight shows spanning more than 45 years, is the longest running theatrically released film in history, but it's more than just a movie.

When you're at the Oakland Zoo at night you can see the glow of the city in the sky overhead. But down on the ground, in amongst the animals, it's an entirely different world.

Pedram's dog, KitKat, is the most important thing in his life - their close emotional bond is a source of comfort and delight. But this bond also comes with constant fear, because they live in Iran where dogs are considered "untouchable", and the only truly safe place is in the dark shadows of the night.

Hey there - it's Vanessa. I'm hard at work on a brand new episode of Nocturne to be released in a couple of weeks. But in the mean time, I wanted to let you know about another show that I think you'll really like. So, I decided to feature an episode here in the Nocturne feed.
This story comes from Twenty Thousand Hertz, a lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. The episode is called Sonic Bubbles, and it's about how humans have shaped our sonic environment.
Twenty Thousand Hertz has also done episodes about the music in human speech, spy messages on the radio, and the sounds of other planets. Subscribe to Twenty Thousand Hertz, right here in your podcast player, and enjoy Sonic Bubbles now.
A new episode of Nocturne is coming your way soon.

Astronomer James Lowenthal gave a TEDx talk in 2016 warning that with the availability of cheap LED lights, light pollution around the world was about to get much worse very quickly. Little did he know that there was a much bigger threat to the night sky right around the corner.

Dvora has interacted with elemental spirits since she was a child.  She's learned to set boundaries, so as not to be attacked or taken advantage of. Sometimes the elementals just want to talk, sometimes they need help,  and sometimes they're the ones offering help.
Nocturne is having a 30 day special offer on https://www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast ! Sign up to become a supporter at the $5 level or above and get all the existing benefits (including Night Light bonus episodes), AND I will send you a treat bag with Nocturne stickers and some other cool stuff.

Danny's first skydiving experience set him on course to do something that most people would never dream of doing, something that for most people would actually be seriously terrifying, and for good reason.

This story is about something that is dangerous, illegal, and I don't recommend it, AT ALL.

Nocturne is having a 30 day special offer on https://www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast ! Sign up to become a supporter at the $5 level or above and get all the existing benefits (including Night Light bonus episodes), AND I will send you a treat bag with Nocturne stickers and some other cool stuff.

Clustering around the warmth and power of a campfire, it feels like the edges of people get softened - we speak and listen to each other differently - there's a deepening that doesn't happen in many other settings. What use to be the norm, is now a special treat -  gazing into the embers, listening to the mesmerizing crackle, and telling our own secrets and stories in the night.

There are only 6000 tule elk left in the world, all of them found in California. Some of them roam along the coastal hills of Point Reyes National Seashore, an area that is also occupied by cattle and dairy ranches. To protect grazing land for cows, some of the elk are confined by high fences. But as drought worsens, and the elk are cut off from food and water, large numbers of them are dying. A band of activists have been trekking through the fog, in darkness, to try to help them.
*The initially released version of this episode was revised on the same day of its release.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






Through the Fog Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling 

Find more information about Jack Gescheidt.

Sounds of the nighttime water drop were recorded by Tony Sehgal, for his film, "Dying of Thirst at Point Reyes National Seashore".

More information on the issues related to the tule elk and cattle operations at Point Reyes National Seashore:
www.pacificsun.com/death-by-design-how-the-national-park-service-experiments-on-tule-elk/
www.abc7news.com/tule-elk-deaths-protest-endangered/10838764/

https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/nature/tule_elk.htm

www.sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/09/13/point-reyes-protest-calls-out-park-service-over-tule-elk-water-supply/

www.abc7news.com/tule-elk-deaths-protest-endangered/10860141/
www.ptreyeslight.com/article/elk-activists-stage-protest-ranch-land
www.ptreyeslight.com/article/true-boom-and-bust-fenced-herd-shrinks-drought
www.ForElk.org

www.IDAusa.org

Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka

 

Kim felt an irresistible pull toward life on the road - the traveler's lifestyle, without schedules or responsibilities. Hopping freight trains and searching for places to sleep are now a thing of the past, but she still tries to hold on to the spirit of adventure and surprise she loved from that time.

Grace felt everything deeply from an early age. She was having panic attacks at 9 years old, and separation anxiety in middle school. The anxiety came to a head when she was 12, and nothing she tried helped in any meaningful way. Until one night she looked out her window.

Tonight, as you're lying in bed, take a moment to think about the fact that in the night sky right above you, a massive river of birds is on an epic, death-defying journey of survival.

Zoe and Sarah were young, free explorers on a spontaneous summer road trip. As darkness began to fall, the map on Zoe’s phone directed them to a short cut that would speed up their drive and get them to a safe place to spend the night. But that's not what happened.

Most parents would never consider leaving their kids in the dark woods at night, and letting them find their way back. The Dutch do just that, and they call it Dropping, and the kids mostly have fun.

When Lia Ditton set out from San Francisco to row alone across the Pacific Ocean she was  confident that she would make it to Hawaii. But when you leave land, all you really know is that you're going on an adventure.

I've been thinking about fear, and movement, and exploration, and safety. I've been thinking about barriers, and perimeters - those we create and those that are imposed. Pushing yourself into fear on purpose gives some comfort that maybe you'll be able to navigate life when you really have no control, when your thrown into a darkness bigger and deeper than you would ever choose.

The night represents a slowing, quiet contemplation, autonomy, dreams ... the dominion of rest. But Grind Culture tells us that our worth is in our productivity. The Nap Bishop is here to tell us, "No".  Rest is not a privilege, it's a human right. Sleep deprivation is a social and racial justice issue. And, "Resting is actually going to allow you to wake up."

Alec had spent countless summer days near Mammoth Pool Reservoir, in the Sierra National Forest. His memories were filled with fun and relaxation. As Alec and a friend arrived at the lake the first night of the Labor Day Weekend, there was little to indicate that this weekend would be any different than the trove of happy memories he had of this place.

The challenges of being unhoused are almost too many to count. They take on a distinct flavor at night.

A walk through a park, an urban rooftop, a forest trail - all of these are one experience in broad daylight, and entirely another after nightfall. The river, Aare, in Switzerland transforms into another creature in the darkness.

When Sally lost her brother to suicide, a friend advised her to be open to the possibility that he would try to visit her from beyond. Despite her initial skepticism, what she experienced in the ensuing months changed her mind completely.

What if, out of nowhere, you started hearing a low-frequency rumble, like a truck idling right outside your home, in the middle of the night, every night for weeks and months on end -- and no one else could hear it?

To connect with an owl, even in a small way, is a rare gift. There is no animal more emblematic of the night. Elusive, mysterious and powerful: owls inspire both fear and awe.

While graffiti is seen by some as blight, and by others as art, the act of hiding in the shadows and stealthily scrawling your name on a wall is ultimately about being seen, rather than doing damage. This was definitely the case for a boy who went by the tag, "Zebra" in Philadelphia back in 1975.

In this high tech world, you're never without a camera, and can take a picture anywhere you go. But do these images convey the feelings of awe, excitement, wonder and fear you had while you were in those places? Adam Katseff discovered a way to do this by taking landscape photographs in the dark of night, revealing more by showing less.

If you look closely enough at this seemingly idyllic stretch of road, nestled between a lake and a steep hillside in Northern California, you'll notice it's not so idyllic — at least not for the newts and salamanders determined to cross to the other side.

The black belt test at Studio Naga is a 48-hour ordeal with no sleep. By the second night, students are running on pure adrenaline when they arrive to an unknown location blindfolded in the dark. Then, it's time to fight.

The night is a perfect canvas for the ancient magic of Peruvian shamanism. In the darkness, your mind opens, allowing spirits to find a place to land

Candles were a lifeline until they became merely ornamental. So, how do the candles feel about this?

Comfort turns to horror when the night becomes weaponized - used to terrorize and control. This is the most ominous embodiment of the night. Its most salient symbols are those of burning crosses, and the nightriders delivering their messages of terror.

Getting into character and scaring people silly is one of Campbell Harmon's favorite things in life.  But his relationship to being a monster goes deeper than playing one in a haunted attraction.

Kristin’s daughter was just 16 years old when she began to struggle with drug addiction - methamphetamine, heroin, and more. It brought Kristin to her knees. Of all the painful challenges, the worst was not knowing where her daughter was in the middle of the night.

There is a cave in southern France that contains some of the world’s most deeply hidden secrets. To get there you must crawl on your belly through a long tomb-like passage, with your only light held between your teeth.

There are over 3500 species of crickets and each has a different song. One man fills his apartment in Brooklyn with their music, and then takes them out in public to perform alongside them. And then he eats them.

Ever since he was a child, Clark Strand has awoken in the middle of the night and gone out walking. One night a voice spoke directly in his ear, saying, “Don’t go out tonight. Remain calm and be very very still.” His life has never been the same.

What is it about the night, about what happens in the darkness, when most people are asleep? Vanessa and radio host, Rod Quinn muse about this and much more, on this week's bonus episode. They also chat with callers from across Australia sharing their feelings and observations about the night, in an excerpt of Overnights from ABC Radio in Australia.

There’s really nothing else like late night call in shows on the radio – other humans, in real time, just chatting. It can bring comfort and normalcy to the hours that can feel like anything but comforting or normal.

Katie Nelson is a journalist based in Kenya, where she covers human rights and global health issues. Her work puts her in dangerous and challenging situations, far from home. But not that long ago, Katie could barely get out of bed.

For two months a year, in a small Norwegian city, the sun never goes above the horizon. One researcher visits to find out why its citizens are happy despite the lack of light.

Poetry and the night are some of the last remaining domains of “unknowing”; places where it’s acceptable to digest the world slowly and without conclusion, and where one can linger in, and traverse, experiences like solitude, impermanence, and wonder. Poets Cecily Parks and Tom Harding are both drawn to explore the intersection between the quiet tender moments of night and the act of writing and reading poetry. It’s a space where one can capture fleeting wisps from the darkness, and then send them off for others to hold like fireflies in a jar. Poems from the night are like fragments of dreams forgotten upon waking, reminders of things lost to us in the day.

Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast






Quiet Transmission Credits

Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe. Nick White is our senior editor.

Nocturne is distributed by KCRW, and receives support from KCRW's Independent Producer Project, which provides resources to creative storytellers around the world.

Special thanks to Alex Espinoza, Jeremy Cherfas, Herrin Hopper, David Green, Mary Jo Eyler, Marta Pelrine-Bacon, Tara, Chris Glover, Ashley Cummings, Benjamin Yeamans, Maria Samuelsen, Misty Lytle, Sleep with Me Podcast, Tara, Tim Harincar

More information about the work of Cecily Parks, and her relationship with the moon, can be found here. Find information about the work of Tom Harding here. For more about Robert Macfarlane’s collection of words that should be saved read this .

Music

Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling

Additional music:

Kent Sparling \\ Fieldlines \\ Jeffrey Foster \\ Kid Otter

Episode Artwork: Robin Galante

What makes a place home? Is it a place that feels like a refuge? Is it somewhere you sleep really, really well? What if the place that feels like home is a secret apartment in the bowels of a giant mall?

This crazy thing happens in NYC as night approaches – as rush hour picks up and the streets get evermore hectic than normal, delivery men on bikes start racing through the streets to get people their restaurant food while it’s still hot.  Many New Yorkers expect this service that is intrinsic to the city, yet they often view these men on bikes as a menace and a threat to public safety.   Cesar works 60 hours a week delivering food, mostly for tips.  He says they hate him until they need him.

Our relationship to the darkness can shift over time. One of the main ways that this happens is by walking into the dark, both literally and metaphorically. By walking toward the thing that scares us the most, or causes the most pain, we have the potential to almost magically transform it into something completely different.

There’s a funny thing about Christmas in New York: In a city where most of the living trees are clumped together in just a few areas, right around Thanksgiving new clumps of trees start popping up all over this mostly concrete and asphalt setting. The tree stands sprinkled throughout the city create a festive air, but there’s another dimension to the world of Christmas trees in New York City at night.

Beverly D’Urso is a lucid dreaming celebrity. She was a subject of Stephen LaBerge’s research at the Stanford Sleep Lab in the 1980’s, has written numerous articles and given classes on lucid dreaming, and has been featured in multiple television programs and magazine articles. She’s done pretty much everything you can do in your dreams. But she’s decided to focus on being awake, instead.

The built environment consists of structures that humans make - including spaces where people live, work and play. For the most part, these places are inhabited during the day. But at night, new aspects of the built environment are revealed. Some people are drawn to explore these spaces, not to vandalize or create mischief - just to see and to appreciate. But society has a name for that – it’s called trespassing.

The Sleepless project is two things: It's a voicemail that people can call when they can't sleep, so they can talk about what's on their mind and hopefully get back to sleep. It’s also an art project where the creator of the project makes short videos to accompany the voice messages. She came to the project through her own sleepless nights.

On a beautiful day in April, Matthew Bryce went out to surf by himself off a remote beach in Scotland.  Usually he goes out for 3 or 4 hours, and then goes about his life. This time was different.

In January I left my home for 6 months of wandering, and of course one of the main things I explored were the infinite shades of night in each new place. What I noticed more than ever is that every night is a finger print - each is unique, with no one the same as another. The sounds tell the stories.

Have you every woken up in the wee hours of the night to find that you’re gripped by fears and anxieties that just didn’t exist in the light of day?

You can lie there awake in bed, in your comfortable home, maybe even next to a loved one, and find your thoughts circling like persistent vultures. And then the morning rolls around, and it’s almost impossible to recreate the sense of foreboding that existed just a few hours earlier.

Lots of museums have regular evening hours or events, often lasting until 8 or 9pm. But I wonder - what do these worlds become in the wee hours, when the last visitor has heeded the call to leave, and the doors are locked? What transformations take place when no one is watching?

In that place where darkness and isolation meet, fear can take hold in a particularly visceral way. When you’re alone in the dark, every sense works overtime. It can feel like the darkness and the fear are interchangeable. One comes to represent the other. The darkness can paralyze you. Or you can walk straight into it.

In September 2015 the full moon crossed into the Earth’s shadow and turned redish gold. It was the first blood moon, or total lunar eclipse of a super moon, in over 30 years, and it wouldn’t happen again for almost twenty more. The moon was old and strange, and we were seeing it in a form that occurs only very rarely. It was something we had to show up for, because it wasn’t available on demand. We had to come out of our homes and out of our routines.Also, the moon that night made us look up, away from ourselves and our immediate concerns. It reminded us of the real scale of things, at least for a little while.

The night can be a desperate and lonely place. Fortunately, there’s a group of people who make it their mission to bring comfort and hope to people in the night.

The ethos of randonneuring emphasizes personal challenge and comraderie. Randonneurs share the goal of having everyone make it to the finish line. They take care of each other, because what they’re doing is kind of crazy and a little dangerous.

Picture it. You’re biking along a winding country road, 30 miles from the nearest town. The air is cool, there’s a slight wind, maybe a gentle mist. It’s three o’clock in the morning. You’ve been awake for 23 hours.

The police play an important role in civil society. Their first mandate is to serve and protect - the ultimate goal being the maintenance of social order. Often this is accomplished with out undue assaults on individual liberty. But many factors come into play in the tension between freedom and order. It can be a fine balancing act, without clear edges. And it only takes one dark night to color lasting impressions.

Some surveys suggest that up to a quarter of couples sleep in separate beds. Dave and Sue have both experienced the need to sleep alone, and while they miss things about sharing a bed all night, the arrangement seems tolerable to both of them. This is not the case for another couple I spoke to. Brooke and Bob have been struggling for years to find a solution to what seems like an insurmountable sleep impasse.

The night bus rolls through the city like a small enclosed world. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll see. One night, Helen Zaltzman’s bus ride home from the movies took a dark turn.

Jade Walker hates the daylight so much that most of her neighbors have rarely seen her. The sun is a personal affront to her. But she’s not disconnected from life. In fact, she sees it all. And because of her, so do we.

The stars are always there in the sky, even when we can’t see them. Why should we look? Why should we care? Paul Salazar cares, and he has compelling reasons why you should, too.

Our dreams can allow us to experience things that are – impossible. Yeah, some dreams take us where we’d rather not go. But others invite us into a world filled with joy, and ease, and wonder. They connect us to a forgotten part of ourselves. It feels realer than real, this realm we can only inhabit when we’re sleeping.

Sometimes the world of our dreams can be unsettling; even terrifying. The fear can be like an echo or a shadow of true emotion; or it can be utterly real, even justified. At times the fearful experiences we have at night can introduce questions into the nature of reality, itself. Many explanations have been offered for some of the most terrifying intrusions into sleep, but questions are not always answered, phenomena are left unexplained, there is no resolution. (Please note: This episode includes things that could be triggering for people who have experienced sexual abuse.)

Picture it – It’s dusk. We’re on a small neighborhood corner, with a faint moon starting to peak through branches of trees overhead. Kent and I are sitting behind a large battered folding table, and there’s a jar on top of it. Stop by on this beautiful evening, throw some change in the jar, and enjoy "Johnny Bear", a new piece of music by frequent Nocturne contributors Jeffrey Foster and Kent Sparling, from their upcoming album.

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Music:

Taiga, Kent Sparling

Johnny Bear, Jeffrey Foster and Kent Sparling

 

Artwork: Robin Galante

Lynne Cox has spent her life swimming vast distances and pushing herself to the edges of possibility. Since the beginning, she has thrived on exploring uncharted territories, including the ocean at night.

The night can be like the great frontier to a kid; a forbidden zone; the perfect place to explore autonomy and independence. At first it might be tempting for parents to just lay down the law. But they're up against a lot. They're up against the best feeling in the world.

Sleep can serve as both refuge and captor. That’s the case for Monica, who’s blessed with the enviable ability to consistently sleep through the night, almost without fail, no matter what’s going on. During one of the most difficult times of her life, this gift became a painful liability.

The moon, the stars and the tides are through-lines connecting us to the beginning of life on our planet. These lines can flicker in and out of awareness in the glare of modern culture. But there are ancient creatures living among us, for whom every breath is a reflection of the moon on the water. One in a thousand hatchling sea turtles survive to make it back to the beach of their birth, lay their own eggs, and complete the cycle. There are a hundred ways for things to go wrong.

Things happen sometimes that don’t make sense, that we can’t explain. And would we really want to if we could?

The blurred edges of the night can inspire excitement and transformation. The shroud of darkness emboldens some to reveal hidden aspects of their personality, sometimes with gleeful abandon.

Sometimes the best way out of the darkness is to walk through it. A woman transforms her life through motion.

The darkness of night offers rich opportunities to mine and explore our fears. When you choose to walk straight into the darkness you don’t know what you’ll find; both outside in the shadows, and deep inside yourself.

The stars are disappearing. We're losing natural darkness. It's happened rapidly, but just slowly enough that it's hard to notice. But once your eyes open to the vanishing dark, you see it everywhere. Can we bring back the night sky?

A man, a bird, and a hose. The sounds of night can delight or enrage, in equal parts; and lack of sleep can lead to desperate measures, in some.

Al Wilkinson drove a big rig through the night for 28 years, and it was a new experience each time. The runs offered beautiful scenery and time to think, but one dark rainy night this peaceful solitude fell out from under him.

Amanda Gefter is nocturnal. Really. Being an extreme night owl works for her in a lot of ways, especially since she makes her living as a writer. But her normal patterns are being shaken up by a new love in her life – the first day-dwelling guy she’s ever been with. Since their schedules overlap very little, Amanda needs to figure out how much of her relationship with the night she can keep, and how much she needs to change for love.

While working at night in the wilds of the Marin Headlands, baker Eduardo Morell witnesses the struggle between life and death. This struggle plays out all around us all the time, in ways both large and small.

What happens for a visually oriented person when the darkness of night takes away all of the reference points for making a memory?