The cover of "Sea of Grass" and authors Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Chris Bentley/Here & Now) Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on Sept. 1, 2025.

Illinois, nicknamed the Prairie State by early settlers, was once dominated by a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Prairies are characterized by deep, fertile soils that are the result of thousands of ...

A pocket prairie is a small garden in a landscape that includes native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Folks in a suburban or urban setting can have a natural area in their yard while providing ...

As settlers moved west in the United States they came across a wide span of land that had no trees or mountains to stop the strong winds. The vegetation was mainly grasses with flowering perennials ...

There is a field next to my office. It’s set apart from the campus by an old split rail fence, and beyond it most of what you can see is a footpath, disappearing into tall grasses. It’s been there ...

Editor’s note: This segment was rebroadcast on Sept. 1, 2025. Click here for that audio. The North American prairie rivals the Amazon rainforest in its biological diversity, and it’s disappearing even ...