The Story

Port Arthur, Texas is a town ringed by petrochemical plants and refineries. Hilton Kelley lives there, and for the past ten years he has made it his business to be a kind of watchdog. And today he collects a major environmental award for his efforts - a 2011 Goldman Prize.

Also in this episode, we’ve asked listeners to call the Open Mic line with stories of dreams coming true. Elizabeth Borowsky called to tell about how she helped Dick Smith realize a lifelong dream.

When actress Angelina Jolie told the world she’d elected to have a preventive double mastectomy, people paid attention. For Nell Boeschenstein, the story was personal. Nell also carries the BRCA-1 gene, and had a preventive double mastectomy at 31 years old. 

Margareta Claesson and her husband, noted physiologist Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, studied the camel and found the key to its survival is in its nose.

Every time he steps on an ant - or more often, saves one - guest host Sean Cole thinks about the time he spent with Stefan Cover. Stefan is an ant researcher and curator who oversees a massive ant collection at Harvard University.