© 2026

For assistance accessing the Online Public File for KAXE or KBXE, please contact: Steve Neu, IT Engineer, at 800-662-5799.
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Season Watch Podcast sponsored by Sugar Lake Lodge
Season Watch

In defense of naps and highbush cranberries

By Charlie Mitchell,
Heidi Holtan
Published October 23, 2026 at 12:26 PM CDT
Ways To Subscribe
A snoozy raccoon rests in a tree cavity in Minneapolis on March 8, 2022.
Contributed
/
Annabelle Watts via iNaturalist
A snoozy raccoon rests in a tree cavity in Minneapolis on March 8, 2026.

Co-hosts Heidi Holtan and Charlie Mitchell ponder the importance of rest, the benefits of sugar, and celebrate the first full year of the Season Watch Podcast.

Send us a voice memo through SpeakPipe!

Is there anything that can't be made better by either a nap or a healthy dose of sugar?

Co-hosts Charlie Mitchell (phenology coordinator, frequent napper) and Heidi Holtan (director of content and public affairs, taster of toothsome treats) think about the importance of rest, the use of sugar to make bitter berries palatable, and the spread of earthworms through North America.

We listen to a speakpipe message from Barb, a phenology talkback from Long Lake Conservation Center, John Latimer's phenology report, and an interview on dead and dying trees with David Wilson, an applied forest science coordinator with the Minnesota Forest Resources Council.

Attributions

  1. Bald Eagle call by iNaturalist user kaskiig: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201414977.
  2. Barb near Marine on St. Croix sent in a message via SpeakPipe.
  3. The phenology talkback from Long Lake Conservation Center, John Latimer's phenology report, and the interview on dead and dying trees with David Wilson originally aired on KAXE.
  4. This episode was produced by Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan.

Love the podcast? Have any thoughts on rest? Let us know! Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!

Email us at seasonwatch@kaxe.org.

Tags
Season Watch Season Watch PodcastKAXENorthern MinnesotaPhenologyFall phenology
Stay Connected
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell creates the Season Watch Newsletter and Season Watch Podcast, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
Heidi Holtan
For more than two decades, Heidi Holtan has helped shape the sound of KAXE. Since joining the station in 2002 as a volunteer music programmer, she has worn many hats including the weekly book program, Realgoodwords, hosting the Morning Show, creation and host of the weekly call-in program Between You and Me, serving as Outreach Producer. Program Director, News Director and currently Director of Content and Public Affairs.
See stories by Heidi Holtan
Latest Episodes