A swim alone off Surfside on the Tuesday after Labor Day becomes the starting point for a meditation on scale: how a tiny island and an endless ocean can hold the same feeling as a highway through the desert. The season is turning, and this essay sits in that turn a while before letting it go.

We learn about snowy owls from an expert with 30 years of experience in the field.

Washashore Sandy Corr-Dolby. Produced by Mae Nagusky and Atlantic Public Media.

On The Garden Lady Brittany Clark, Propagator at Polly Hill Arboretum explained about how and why we should save seeds of native plants. Although C.L. Fornari's "dumb luck method" worked, Brittany talked about why cleaning the seeds and storing them properly might work even better. C.L. also answered listener's questions about red bud trees, powdery mildew, Cymbidium orchid flowering and leaf spot on Hydrangeas.

We round up the week's local news with our region's leading journalists.

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Bill Gates, the former Microsoft CEO turned philanthropist, about his contributions to AI equity initiatives -- and his criticisms of an AI-powered future world.

A group of former campaign and Senate staffers for John Fetterman say they will soon begin dropping damaging stories about the Pennsylvania Democrat. Many of his constituents are already fed up.

Residents in Louisiana near SpaceX's next launch site are concerned about the project's impact on the environment and say they were kept in dark about the deal.