Red is the warmest color

There’s few certainties in life. But the sun will always rise, the seasons will change, and the Outside/Inbox will forever remain answered.

From lighthouse paint hues to polar bear lovers, this week the team takes up your questions on all things red.

• What makes cardinals red?

• Why do albino animals have red eyes? ⁠ (nhpr.org/environment/2025-12-19/outside-inbox-…)

• ⁠Why are so many lighthouses painted red? ⁠ (nhpr.org/environment/2025-12-05/outside-inbox-…)

• Do our dogs love us?

• ⁠Do some animals have same-sex relationships?⁠ (nhpr.org/environment/2026-01-30/outside-inbox-…)

• ⁠How do environmental changes affect pair-bonding? ⁠ (nhpr.org/environment/2026-02-13/outside-in-ani…)

Featuring Alex Funk, Jeremy D'Entremont, Karyn Anderson, and Francesco Ventura.

Thanks to Outside/In listeners Liz, Tyler, Monica and Lera for their questions.

We’re looking for new submissions to the Outside/Inbox! Give us your weirdest, nichest, most bizarre questions you can think of. Send us those questions by recording yourself on a voice memo, and emailing that to us at outsidein@nhpr.org. Or you can call our hotline: 1-844-GO-OTTER.

SUPPORT

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LINKS

Here’s Karyn’s paper on how ⁠same-sex behavior⁠ (utsc.utoronto.ca/news-events/breaking-research…) in animals is far more common than previously thought.

Olney, Illinois is known as “the home of the white squirrels.” Learn more about ⁠how they’re trying to protect these rare albino animals⁠ (smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-a-small-…) in this small Midwest town.

Here’s the ⁠Northeast District’s 2025 US Light List⁠ (navcen.uscg.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/lightL…), which lists an astounding 40,000 different lights, sound signals, and other visual aids to navigation.

Francesco Ventura’s paper analyzing divorce rates in albatrosses came out in 2021. ⁠You can find it here⁠ (royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/288/19…).

CREDITS

Produced by Marina Henke, Felix Poon and Nate Hegyi. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org

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