Deep Look, KQED’s award-winning wildlife video series about small animals and plants, welcomes audio producer and science reporter Margaret Katcher as its new host. Deep Look also bids a fond farewell to former host and science journalist Laura Klivans, who will now focus more on reporting on climate change and what we can do about it for KQED radio.
Katcher kicks off her new role with an episode all about the risky and complicated mating habits of long-jawed orb weaver spiders: Spider Love Is a Battlefield. In order to mate, a male long-jawed orb weaver spider has to hook his huge jaws into those of a larger female. If he doesn’t get it right, he could become her next meal. Other upcoming Deep Look episodes that Katcher is working on include stories about why mosquitoes buzz and why clothes moths love feasting on your wool sweater.
“Deep Look videos inspire me again and again, whether it’s how frog saliva works, how worms procreate, or how a tiny speck of a baby jellyfish finds its way in the vast ocean,” says Katcher. “What a dream to be joining the Deep Look team and to be a part of the magic and wonder of exploring the world’s tiniest beings.”
Besides hosting Deep Look, Katcher works on audio development for Trojan Horse, a documentary production company, and spends lots of time in her garden with her toddler. Her recent podcast productions include a National Geographic show about black markets and underground economies, and an investigative series about a wave of murders in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Margaret has also reported on science for KQED radio, Pacific Standard and The Atlantic. She’s an alum of the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.
About Deep Look
Launched in 2014, Deep Look is an award-winning wildlife video series produced by KQED and presented by PBS Digital Studios. The series has published nearly 200 episodes on YouTube, where it has garnered more than 2 million subscribers and a half-billion views, making it KQED’s most successful web video production. Deep Look’s videos are shot in ultra-HD (4K) using macro cinematography and microscopy to reveal small, hidden worlds in nature. Deep Look produces 17 episodes per year, releasing a new video every three weeks. Deep Look also publishes videos on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, and puts out a weekly newsletter, Nature Unseen