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I got up this morning already with a full plate. I was at my computer typing away at 6AM trying to get a head start on several projects in hopes that I could enjoy a gorgeous weekend outside. With three looming deadlines, including the latest edition of this podcast, the last thing I planned to do today was to watch streaming video online. But I got an email from my friend Audrey Peterman. She and her husband Frank are environmental activists based in Atlanta and the co-authors of the new book “Legacy on the Land.” Frank and Audrey are working to raise awareness for the importance of outdoor recreation especially as it pertains to people of color and the urban poor. The two of them along with a few other friends and colleagues are gathered today in Washington DC to attend the White House Conference on the Great Outdoors. A few hundred dignitaries from around the country were meeting to discuss new initiatives to get more people off the coach and outside. Audrey wrote in her email that the conference would be televised live and included an address from president Barack Obama.

So naturally I dropped everything, set up the computer and plugged in my digital recorder. If you missed it, I’m pleased to bring you the president’s comments. I’m not sure what the White House or the FCC will have to say about broadcast his speech, but until I get busted I hope enjoy what he had to say.

Immediately after the president’s address he signed a memorandum acknowledging his adminstration’s support for a national movement to get more people outdoors and directly involved in environmental conservation. If you’re interested learning more about how you might get involved check first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative. The president and his family are working to help all Americans live a more active, healthy lifestyle. You can too. Visit www.letsmove.gov.

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You might have heard that not everyone agrees when it comes to climate change. While living in New York City, after graduating from college photographer Alan Winslow and journalist Morrigan McCarthy came to realize that across the America people have a difference of opinion.

photo by Meghan Peterson

“Because living in New York City you can kind of feel like you’re in a bubble. Maybe any city is like that,” Morrigan said. “But that everyone around you has the same opinion and is in the same boat, especially when it comes to the environment. You know we should be recycling, we should be taking care of the planet.”

In a community full of liberals Morrigan and Alan believed that everyone would be eager to embrace sustainable practices and a lifestyle to mitigate the damaging effects of climate changes.

“But then we would see these poles and watch the news and it didn’t seem to be that way elsewhere, Morrigan said. “Otherwise every body would just be in the same boat and something would be happening. But we decided to take off and figure out what Americans were actually thinking. And Americans have all sorts of opinions.”

So the two started making plans to travel around the county taking pictures and asking questions. Through their journey, called Project Tandem Alan and Morrigan wanted to connect with everyday Americans across all walks of life to discover what they thought about the planet’s changing climate. Read the rest of this entry »

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An interview with climber and writer Majka Burhardt

If you’re a writer, there are few things better than to combine your passion for storytelling with something else that you truly love. For writer Majka Burhardt climbing has long been the subject of her many articles in adventure magazines. A certified rocking climbing instructor and a member of the American Mountain Guides Association Burhardt blends her love for the outdoors with vivid descriptions of scenic landscapes and literary portraits of the many interesting people she encounters.

But it was on a trip to Africa a few years ago that she discovered a unique opportunity to add one more passion to the mix. On a journey to explore the industry and culture of Ethiopia coffee, Burhardt found that when you least expect it you can find adventure in the most unlikely places. Read the rest of this entry »

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An interview with author John Francis

In 1971 John Francis witnessed a catastrophic oil spill in San Francisco Bay. The greasy black sludge that coated resident sea life and stained nearby beaches left an indelible impression him as well. As a young man at the dawn of the environmental movement he felt compelled to act. But what can one person do to change a society bent on its own destruction?

Left with little do that would make a difference in world Francis abandoned all forms of motorized transport. He started walking. But still hoping to make an impact on his community and himself Francis took his devotion a step future and swore a vow of silence. For 17 years he did not utter a word. And yet he still managed to earn college and graduate degrees in science and environmental studies.

Dr. John Francis went on to become the United Nation’s goodwill ambassador to the world’s grassroots communities and the U.S. Government hired him to help establish policies for the management of oil spills. Read the rest of this entry »

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An interview with Love Hope Strength executive director Shannon Foley

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from my friend Maitri. A friend of hers was in serious trouble and she wanted my help.

“I’d seen her the day before and everything was fine. And she said, ‘I think my husband has leukemia‘.” Maitri said. “And they’ve checked him into the UW cancer ward.”

Here in Madison the University of Wisconsin is home to one of top research facilities in the county the Carbone Cancer Center. With very little notice Maitri’s friend was immediately admitted to the affiliated community hospital.

“I was most surprised with how quickly it happened and how urgently the medical profession had to respond,” Maitri said. “Sunday I was at church with her. She went home after church. Her husband said ‘I have some pain in my legs. I think I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow.’ And she said ‘Let’s give the nurse on call a quick phone call and just make sure this is fine.’ The nurse said you need to go to the emergency room now. We went and they were ready to check him into the hospital that afternoon. So one minute fine, leg cramp, next minute checked into the UW Hospital ward.”

“With leukemia,”I said.

“Correct,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »

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An interview with Time Magazine reporter and author Pico Iyer

From a very young age  Pico Iyer has had a close personal relationship with one of the worlds great spiritual and political leaders. In 1960 his father a professor of philosophy and a student of world religions was among first westerns to seek an audience with the Dalai Lama.  Traveling from his home in England Iyer’s father journeyed  back to his native India to meet the Dalai Lama then around the age of 24.  In their conversations the Tibetan Buddhist ruler in exile and Iyer’s father discussed ancient mystic wisdom that had been unavailable to the outside world for centuries. And with the exchange of a single simple gift, they also established a connection between the Dalai Lama and Iyer that now spans almost 50 years.

“At the end of his conversation with the Dalai Lama in 1960 he said ‘I have this little three year-old boy back in England and he was already quite interested in the story of your dramatic flight from Tibet into India’,” Iyer said.  “And so the Dalai Lama, with his great gift for the perfect gesture found a photo of himself when he was 5 years old and sent it to me. And so from the time I was three I had this photo of this little boy, 5 years old, already ruling 6 million people. I didn’t understand who or what the Dalai Lama was. But I could make a contact with this little boy sitting in this place. And I could see all the responsibility he had. So in that sense I grew up with the image of the Dalai Lama and stories of the Dalai Lama from the time I was a little boy.”

From the gift of that photograph to their first meeting years later Iyer and the Dalai Lama have been become good friends. And through the course of his career as a journalist Iyer has cultivated a deep insight to the philosophy that has guided the Dalai Lama toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict between China and Tibet. In his new book The Open Road: The Global Journey of the 14^th Dalai Lama Iyer shares his view of the spiritual and political path we all take to find peace in our lives and the world in which we live.

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An interview with adventure filmmaker Dominic Gill

I don’t know about you. But I’ve got a hard time getting motivated, especially when it comes to doing something hard, something that might take a lot of time, cost a bit of money or might even be a little scary. Life’s journey can be tough enough just trying to get by making it from day to the next. But every once in a while, someone comes along that prompts you to action. They get you psyched up and excited because you can see they’re going places and the next thing you know it you get swept up in the momentum and just like your own life’s journey heads in a whole new direction. You follow that person right a new road of adventure. Last fall I met a guy just like that.

Now before get the wrong idea, I didn’t get on the back of that bicycle. I can tell you that had I me this guy riding down the coast of California I would have climbed aboard in a second. Dominic Gill was one a one of a few dozen movie producers I met during the 2009 Banff Film Festival. His documentary called Take A Seat follows his two-year journey by tandem bicycle over 20,000 mile of open road. Asking total strangers to pedal behind him on what his calls the stoker seat his travels brought a fresh sense of adventure into hearts and minds of everyone he met or who tagged along for the ride. Read the rest of this entry »

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Even though temperatures across the country are still well below freezing there are still plenty of people out there riding their bikes through the winter. On this blustery day in Madison Wisconsin a small class of avid bikers have gathered together to learn the finer points of riding around town in some pretty rough road conditions

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An interview with Peggy Shepard executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action Inc.

Racism is a word that seldom comes up in a discussion of environmental protection. Clean air, water and soil are universal human values that transcend ethnic identity or the color of one’s skin. But in metropolitan centers around the United States minority communities are being inundated with a disproportionate burden of pollution. Industrial waste, municipal garbage and sewage treatment plants are routinely deposited in areas predominately populated by low income African Americans and Hispanics.

In 1988 a community organizer named Peggy Shepard was asked to help address concerns around the creation of one such sewage treatment plant. A facility built in the New York City burrow of Harlem.

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An interview with adventure filmmaker Bryan Smith

It’s been more than a month since the last podcast. Thanks to everyone for all the emails and Facebook messages asking for the next edition. After an action packed first season of production, the realities of life came crashing down like a devastating wave. The recession of 2009 made times a bit tough. Simply put the project was placed indefinite hold while I scrambled together a few odd writing jobs through the end of December and all of January. I had to work to make enough cash to pay our property tax bill. I’m happy to say that I recently wrote a fat check to city of Madison and now the project is back on track.

Bryan Smith

I’ve learned a lot through that first season. With the collapse of traditional media, as newspapers and magazine continue to fold up under the weight of an antiquated model of communication, I’ve discovered that this form of storytelling, sharing music, art and adventure online is the wave of the future. With many creative souls out there building new high quality content for Internet there’s no shortage of great stories to tell. If you’ve been following along on the blog and on Facebook, you’ll know that I’ve been more than a little busy still traveling and finding new subjects to share with you. And in the process I’ve become thoroughly inspired by the work of many others who are pushing the boundaries of creative expression as they explore the heights and depths of the human spirit.

You’ve heard me mention my friend Fitz Cahall. He’s the creator of my favorite podcast The Dirtbag Diaries. Fitz has new project that recently posted the Internet, a series of short films that depict the lives of adventurers chasing their passion through course of a year, a season.

I connected with Fitz toward the end of last year during the Banff Mountain Film Festival. There I saw the premiere edition of the 22 part film series The Season. It’s an exciting yet, moderately paced thoughtful contemplation on what motivates ordinary people who do exceptional things in the outdoors. At the Banff Centre for mountain culture, in Alberta Canada, I also met Fitz’s partner co-producer and director of the Season Bryan Smith.

Produced exclusively for distribution online, the Season brings Internet adventure storytelling to a new level. Directed by Bryan Smith this new film series illustrates the narrative behind the lives of people like each of us who aspire to lead a rich live in adventure. Read the rest of this entry »