Douglas Brinkley – Exploring the Past to Find Inspiration for the Future
Douglas Brinkley is a world-renowned historian, author, and professor who may be best known to Mountain & Prairie listeners as the author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America and Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, which detailed the first two waves of the United States’ conservation …
Mike McTee & Vince Slabe – Win-Win Solutions in the Fight to Save Eagles
Mike McTee and Vince Slabe are Montana-based researchers who use cutting-edge science, writing, and educational programs to protect eagles in the American West and beyond. Both Mike and Vince are laser-focused on the surprisingly little-known issue of lead poisoning in bald and golden eagles, a problem caused mainly by eagles scavenging the remains of big …
Peter Stark – Tales of Adventure, Exploration, & Epic Battles
If you’re a long-time Mountain & Prairie listener, then I’m sure you’ve heard me reference the author and historian Peter Stark. He’s written some of the most memorable books I’ve ever read, including one of my all-time favorites about the early history of the western United States– a thrilling tale of adventure and exploration called …
10 Must-Read Books about the American West, with Mark Kenyon
Mark Kenyon is an author, podcaster, conservationist, and member of the MeatEater crew. You probably know him from his excellent book That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands, the Wired to Hunt podcast, or his contributions to MeatEater’s Netflix show and other video productions. To learn …
Nate Schweber – A Forgotten Chapter of American Conservation
Nate Schweber is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured in the New York Times, ProPublica, Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, and more. He’s also the author of the new book This America of Ours: Bernard and Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild, which was published in early July 2022. If …
Pete McBride, Part 2: In Search of Silence
Pete McBride is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work is regularly featured by National Geographic, Smithsonian, The Nature Conservancy, and other renowned institutions. His most recent book is titled Seeing Silence: The Beauty of the World’s Most Quiet Places, and it features photographs and stories from more than two decades of his adventures on …
Rick Ridgeway – Purpose-Driven Adventurer
Rick Ridgeway is a world-renowned mountaineer and adventurer who has devoted his life to exploring some of the wildest regions of Planet Earth– from the summit of K2 to the jungles of Borneo to the mountain ranges of the American West and almost everywhere in between. Rick is also a highly regarded author, director, and …
The Life-Changing Magic of Living Strenuously, with Kate Kavanaugh
This episode is a little different– it’s me being interviewed by my friend and past Mountain & Prairie podcast guest Kate Kavanaugh. If you’ve been listening for a while, then I’m sure you remember Kate– she’s a farmer, butcher, and all-around interesting woman who co-founded Western Daughters Butcher Shop in Denver. Kate recently started an …
Betsy Gaines Quammen – A Fascinating History of Public Lands in the West
Betsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and conservationist, and she’s also the author of the excellent book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, & Public Lands in the West. Betsy has enjoyed a long career in the conservation world, working on issues ranging from grizzly bears in the West to fish in Mongolia to wildlife in …
Dylan Tomine – Protecting What He Loves
Dylan Tomine is a conservationist, angler, and author of the excellent new book Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman. Headwaters is a collection of essays and stories from Dylan’s life as a self-proclaimed fly fishing bum, a life that has taken him from his home in the northwest to the far …
Chris Burkard, Part 2 – Seeking Beauty Through Adventure
Chris Burkard is a prolific photographer, filmmaker, and author who is known for diving headfirst into epic adventures, documenting them with his camera, and producing one-of-kind stories that resonate deeply with millions of people around the world. He’s bikepacked across Iceland in winter, scouted cold-water surf breaks in British Columbia, and explored some of the …
Elliott Woods – Stories from Dangerous Places
Elliott Woods is a Montana-based veteran and multimedia journalist who has reported for publications including Outside, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many more. His most recent project is a podcast called Third Squad, which tells the powerful story of “one journalist, 12 Marines and two decades of war.” Back in 2011, …
Heather Hansman, Part 2 – The Fascinating Story of Skiing’s Past, Present & Future
Heather Hansman is a Seattle-based writer and editor, as well as the author of the excellent new book Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow. Longtime listeners will remember Heather’s first appearance on the podcast, when we discussed her book Downriver, one of my favorite books about the complicated subject …
Ryan Busse – Standing His Ground
Ryan Busse is a Montana-based conservationist, public lands advocate, and former top-performing firearms executive. He’s also the author of the new book Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America, which has received advanced praise from everyone from Publishers Weekly to Senator Jon Tester. Ryan is a life-long hunter and angler, as well as …
Hampton Sides, Part 3 – Tales from a Most Excellent Adventure
Hampton Sides is a historian and New York Times bestselling author who is best known for his engaging works of narrative nonfiction, including the books Blood and Thunder, Ghost Soldiers, On Desperate Ground, and more. His latest project is an ebook and audiobook titled The Exotic: Intrigue and Cultural Ruin in the Age of Imperialism, …
Antonia Malchik – Exploring Culture & Complexity
Antonia Malchik is a Montana-based writer and essayist, and she’s also the author of the book A Walking Life: Reclaiming Our Health and Freedom One Step at a Time. She has written for publications including The Atlantic and High Country News, she also writes a regular Substack newsletter titled On the Commons, which I highly …
Nickolas Butler – The Craft of Creativity
Nickolas Butler is an award-winning writer and novelist who has published five books, one of which is the wildly popular, award-winning Shotgun Love Songs. His most recent novel is titled Godspeed— a fast-paced, thriller of a book that is set in and around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While the novel has all of the components that …
John Branch – Seeking the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
John Branch is a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist with the New York Times and the author of the brand new book Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports. He is also the author of The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West, which is one of my favorite books about …
Brendan Leonard, Part 2 – On Running, Creating, and Other Irrational Passions
Brendan Leonard is a prolific writer and artist who is best known as the creator of Semi-Rad.com. He’s also the author of a brand new book titled I Hate Running and You Can Too: How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion. The book offers motivation and witty insights into …
Iris Gardner – Living with Intention
Iris Gardner is a writer, horse wrangler, mother, and former organic farmer who lives with her family on a homestead in northeastern Washington State. After many years of living and farming in southern California, Iris, her husband Jason, and their two children moved to their current home– a rural property located close to the Canadian …
The Ramblings of a “Conquistador of the Useless”
This episode is a little different than normal– it’s me being interviewed on the Off the Couch podcast by my friends Jonathan Ellsworth and Brendan Leonard. Brendan is likely familiar to many of you long-time listeners– he joined me on the podcast a few years ago to discuss his writing career, his film “How to …
Monte Burke – Exploring Obsession
Monte Burke is a journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and contributing editor at Forbes, Garden & Gun, and The Drake. His most recent book is Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World-Record Tarpon, which was one of the best books I read in 2020. He’s also the author of …
Malcolm Brooks – Epic Tales from the American West
Malcolm Brooks is a Montana-based author best known for his epic novel Painted Horses, a sweeping, large-scale tale of life in the American West in the 1950s. Published in 2015, Painted Horses has quickly become a classic among those who love Western literary fiction. Even more impressive, Painted Horses was Malcolm’s first published novel– a …
Steve Casimiro – Voice of Adventure
Steve Casimiro is the founder and editor of Adventure Journal, an online and quarterly print magazine devoted to outdoor adventure in all its forms. AJ began as Steve’s personal blog back in 2008—a project he created on the side while writing for National Geographic Adventure. Steve’s unique perspective and devotion to adventure writing struck a …
Anna Brones – Committed to Creativity
Anna Brones is a freelance journalist, author, artist, and producer who is prolific in all of her creative endeavors– she’s published four books, produced documentary films, is currently publishing a quarterly print journal about food, and much more. One of her most recent projects was the Women’s Wisdom Project, in which she showcased the wisdom …
David Gessner, Part 3 – A Confluence of Conservation Ideals
David Gessner is back for his third appearance on the podcast, and this time we are discussing his brand new book Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness. Most long-time listeners will remember David’s past two episodes– we discussed everything from Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner to his daily writing …
Chris La Tray – Rediscovering His Past, Writing His Future
Chris La Tray is a writer, poet, and musician, as well as the author of the award-winning book One Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large. Chris is also an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe—a Native American tribe that was just recently recognized by the United States government, and …
Callan Wink – A New Voice for the New West
Callan Wink is a writer, novelist, fishing guide, and surfer who currently splits his time between Livingston, Montana and Santa Cruz, California. He’s the author of the newly released novel August, as well as the highly regarded short story collection Dog Run Moon, books that I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. Callan’s writing speaks for …
Peter Heller – Chasing the Flow
Peter Heller is a renowned novelist, as well as an award-winning adventure writer and former contributing editor to Outside, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure. Since age eleven, Peter has been committed to the craft of writing, and his lifelong love of words and stunning prose are the threads that connect all of his work– …
Hal Herring – A Man of Words & Wild Places
Hal Herring is an award-winning journalist and writer whose work has appeared in such notable publications as the Atlantic, the Economist, and Orion. He is also a contributing editor at Field and Stream and a regular contributor to High Country News. Most recently, Hal has made a name for himself in the podcast world as …
