Outside Podcast

When you think of heroes in American culture, you probably conjure images of astronauts and Olympians, scientists and social activists, soldiers and ... well, maybe the occasional politician. What you don't picture are a group of dedicated, ingenious innovators who almost never get the credit they deserve: small-town librarians. Working with limited resources and a whole lot of spirit, they find the most creative ways to support their communities. In this installment of our Forces of Good series, we present the story of a very enterprising librarian who came to a struggling town in Maine and took action on a novel idea: What if, in addition to loaning books, we started lending outdoor gear? This episode was brought to you by Hydro Flask, a company that believes every adventure starts with two simple words: let’s go! Shop Hydro Flask products for yourself or the outdoor lovers on your holiday list this season at hydroflask.com.

Ivy Le was an avid indoorswoman with severe allergies and a burning curiosity about wild places. She was obsessed with nature shows but had no relationship with the natural world. So she decided to go camping and, of course, make a podcast about her experience. The result is FOGO: Fear of Going Outside, which chronicles Le’s efforts to understand what’s so great about the outdoors. Because she’s a talented comic, her approach to the most basic questions of how and why we play in the woods is enjoyable, whether you’re a seasoned adventurer or a nature newbie. But she’s doing more than just cracking jokes: her humor might actually be shifting the conversation about who belongs in wild spaces. On this episode of the Outside Podcast, we talk with Le and then listen to the debut of FOGO. This episode was brought to you by Hydro Flask, a company that believes every adventure starts with two simple words: let’s go! Shop Hydro Flask products for yourself or the outdoor lovers on your holiday list this season at hydroflask.com.

When Raquel Vélez caught the skiing bug in her late twenties, she wanted to spend every waking moment on the slopes. But she couldn’t find snow pants that fit. So the Silicon Valley engineer left her tech job and began a yearslong mission to learn to sew her own, which culminated in the launch of Alpine Parrot, a company that recently began selling innovative, adventure-ready pants designed for plus-size bodies. Meanwhile, cyclists Kailey Kornhauser and Marley Blonsky have been on their own quest to create space for plus-size bodies in outdoor sports. Both got into mountain biking as adults, and it was years before they realized that the surprisingly low weight limits on equipment made them unsafe for some riders. Now they run All Bodies on Bikes, a movement to educate cycling brands and the public about how to make the sport safer and more welcoming for people of all sizes. This episode was brought to you by Hydro Flask, a company that believes every adventure starts with two simple words: let’s go! Shop Hydro Flask products for yourself or the outdoor lovers on your holiday list this season at hydroflask.com.

David Kushner always knew that his assignment to write about a mysterious cave in the rainforest of Ecuador would be challenging and a bit risky. Cueva de los Tayos, or Cave of the Oilbirds, has for decades beckoned adventurers and tantalized fans of the occult who believe that it contains artifacts that could rewrite human history. In recent years, though, Tayos has attracted different kinds of seekers—artists and storytellers hoping to capture its energy and bring it out into the world. People like Eileen Hall, daughter of a legendary explorer who helped make the cave famous, and Grammy-nominated British electronic musician Jon Hopkins, who traveled there and came back inspired to create a very unique album. But what Kushner never imagined was that his own experience inside the cave would change him forever. This episode is brought to you by Toyota, a company that wants to help you find joy by exploring America’s scenic byways. No matter what kind of adventure you’re after, there’s a Toyota designed to get you there. Learn more at toyota.com.

When sled-dog musher Blair Braverman first started posting about her team on Twitter, it was just for fun—a distraction from her work as a journalist. But soon she had legions of devoted followers, who couldn’t get enough of her high-energy pups’ and their training routines in Wisconsin. Then there’s ultrarunner Jen Golbeck, who found an enormous fan base for the aging and sickly golden retrievers that she and her husband care for in the Florida Keys. So what is it about looking at other people’s best friends online that makes us feel so good? Is it simply the happy-go-lucky nature of dogs? Or the way that cheering them on brings us together? This episode is brought to you by Toyota, a company that wants to help you find joy by exploring America’s scenic byways. No matter what kind of adventure you’re after, there’s a Toyota designed to get you there. Learn more at toyota.com.

As host of the Emmy Award–winning CNN show United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell travels across the country to learn about the wide variety of challenges we face—and also to show us how we can begin to talk to one another. Which is why we asked him to be on the cover of Outside’s 2021 Best Towns issue: he helped us present a decidedly new take on dream destinations compared to past editions of this annual bestseller. Because Outsiders want more than just exceptional adventure playgrounds in their hometowns. They want things like affordable housing, investment in green initiatives, and a diverse population that has equitable access to parks and open space. In this kickoff episode to our new Forces of Good series, we hear what Kamau and fellow comedian and activist Baratunde Thurston think about the current divisions in our country—and what we learn when we engage with communities very different than our own. This episode was brought to you by Hydro Flask, a company that believes every adventure starts with two simple words: let’s go! Shop Hydro Flask products for yourself or the outdoor lovers on your holiday list this season at hydroflask.com.

Growing up in the urban heart of Los Angeles, the only real connection Maricela Rosales had to wilderness were secondhand adventure magazines. She had boundless energy and loved to climb—as a little girl, she often scrambled on piles of old auto parts her dad used to fix cars—but at age seven was diagnosed with scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine that caused her chronic pain and frequently left her bedridden. So when her doctor recommended climbing as part of a treatment plan while she was in college, she wasn’t immediately convinced. But the sport soon became her passion, and it ended up healing much more than her body. This episode is brought to you by Toyota, a company that wants to help you find joy by exploring America’s scenic byways. No matter what kind of adventure you’re after, there’s a Toyota designed to get you there. Learn more at toyota.com.

For Hollywood stars, there might be nothing harder than staying grounded. Just ask Nick Offerman, who became famous for his portrayal of Ron Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Ever since, Offerman, who was raised on a pig farm in rural Illinois, has strived to stay connected to his roots. He does this through woodworking (he crafts a mean canoe), seeking out discomfort (hiking in the cold, laboring on a sheep farm in England), and reading foundational environmental writers like Wendell Berry and Aldo Leopold. He captures all of that in his new book, Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside. In this episode, Offerman shares stories from his pursuit of a humbler life and offers up some choice lessons for making a deeper connection with the world beyond your door. This episode was brought to you by Avocado Green Brands, maker of the 100 percent organic-certified Avocado Mattress, which helps outdoor athletes get the restful sleep they really need. Learn more at avocadomattress.com.

For many of us, there’s no quicker way to feel good than listening to a song we love. We press play, and the music instantly transports us to a different place. Not surprisingly, many songs that do this have their origins in experiences and emotions connected to wild places. In this third installment of our series exploring pathways to happiness, we talk with two very different artists, indie singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop and British rapper Testament, about the inspirations they’ve taken from nature to create worlds of sound and words that fill us with the same exhilarating energy we get from a walk in the woods. This episode is brought to you by Toyota, a company that wants to help you find joy by exploring America’s scenic byways. No matter what kind of adventure you’re after, there’s a Toyota designed to get you there. Learn more at toyota.com.

Early in her career, wildlife ecologist Rae Wynn-Grant joined an expedition to Madagascar to track the elusive ring-tailed lemur. But the trip had an unexpected personal outcome: it convinced her that this was the work she was meant to do. That was a long time coming for Wynn-Grant, who’d grown up loving TV shows on nature but found herself initially hating her college ecology courses because she felt out of place as a Black woman who’d never been camping and surrounded by people with very different backgrounds. In this episode from the new podcast Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, she shares the story of how an experience with a lemur helped her find her find her confidence and her voice.