"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers, and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum," writes our guest, author Eric Garcia in We're Not Broken. "It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.”

Garcia, who is autistic, is senior Washington correspondent for The Independent. He has worked as a writer and reporter covering politics at The Washington Post, The Hill, and the National Journal.

"My main point is autistic people are fine as they are," Eric tells us in this episode. “The idea that they are fundamentally flawed and failed human beings is simply not true... Instead of trying to cure autistic people, society should help them live fulfilling lives.”

The line between our “civilized” lives and wild, unpredictable nature seems to have gotten a little thinner lately. Nature is great, but it can also be dangerous if we don’t show proper respect.

This show is about awkward encounters with bears, mountain lines, gulls and other wild creatures. We also discuss "killer trees" with best-selling science writer, Mary Roach, author of the new book, "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law".

Mary is widely known for her funny, smart and sometimes gross writing and reporting in a series of books with one-word titles. Previously, we spoke with her about "Grunt", which looks at the surprising science of war. She also wrote "Stiff" about — you guessed it — dead people, "Gulp" on the digestive tract, and "Bonk" where we learn all about sex.