Searching for the Golden Toad with Kyle and Trevor Ritland

Frog and Toad Are Friends, at least according to a venerable children’s book. And so are Jason (Crazy Town’s resident biology nerd) and conservationist brothers, Kyle and Trevor Ritland, authors of The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species. The three eco-explorers connect over wondrous habitats and critters in Costa Rica's cloud forest and swap stories that cover Lazarus species, global pandemics, self-taught naturalists, birding, and even pregnancy tests. Spliced into the nostalgia and stories are reflections on how to cope in a world where biodiversity is declining and how to regain the connections that modernity has severed between humanity and wild nature. Originally recorded on 10/9/25. Sources/Links/Notes: Kyle and Trevor Ritland, The Golden Toad: An Ecological Mystery and the Search for a Lost Species , Diversion Books, 2025. Adventure Term , Kyle and Trevor's nonprofit experiential learning initiative Related episode(s) of Crazy Town: Episode 40 , "Nature Detachment and Ecocide, or… the Story of the Marauding Mountain Lion" Episode 49 , "A Day at the Zoo Is No Walk in the Park: Humanity’s Overexploitation of Animals and Nature"