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This week on National Geographic Weekend host Boyd Matson speaks with guests about looking for ancient undersea treasures, calculating the real cost of a plane ticket, turning waste into profit, the Earth’s expanding waistline, a green rock-and-roll tour, crossing Africa on foot for love, the last shuttle flight, staring down a forest gorilla, and remembering how air travel has changed.

HOUR 1

• From the Titanic to the Lusitania, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard has found many of the iconic shipwrecks of our time. Ballard joins Boyd to talk about his passion for undersea exploration and what he hopes to find next.

• Traveling by air is one of the quickest ways to get around, but it can often include unexpected headaches. It seems to be getting more expensive too. Christopher Elliott, author of the The Insider column for National Geographic Traveler magazine, shares insight on the hidden fees that can nearly double the cost of your ticket.

• Human waste disposal is a growing problem in many under-developed countries. Thankfully, there are people like National Geographic Emerging Explorer Sasha Kramer willing to do the “dirty work” to get the problem under control. Kramer joins Boyd in the studio to talk about her work transforming human waste into a valuable resource.

• This week David Braun, editor of National Geographic Daily News, joins Boyd to talk about why the Earth is getting a little fat around the middle.

HOUR 2

• Musician Jack Johnson stops by the studio to discuss his passion for the environment. Johnson says he tries to make his tours green by doing things such as sourcing food from local producers and providing water-filling stations for reusable bottles.

• In 1898 Ewart “The Leopard” Grogan decided to prove himself to his love (and her skeptical step-father) by walking the length of Africa. A century later, author Julian Smith re-created the trek to prove himself worthy of his fiancée’s love. Smith writes about his adventure in his new book Crossing the Heart of Africa.

• Susan Poulton, vice president of content programming for digital media at National Geographic, is addicted to shuttle launches. With the shuttle program coming to an end, Poulton looks back on the 58 launch attempts and 19 actual launches she has attended.

• World Wildlife Fund expert Angelique Todd has been living with and studying forest gorillas in the Central African Republic since 1998. Boyd travels to Africa to meet Todd, see gorillas and discuss how Todd’s mere presence encourages tourism and brings protection for and awareness of these great apes.

• Boyd recalls how flying used to be quite different. Some things he misses, some he doesn’t.