Wild Ideas Worth Living

Editor's note: This episode contains references to sexual violence and may not be suitable for all audiences. After being raped her second night of her freshman year in college, Aspen Matis grew depressed and was shocked at how her school didn’t believe or protect her. She knew that getting into the wilderness could bring her a sense of peace and healing. Instead of returning to school, she dropped out and embarked on a 2,000-mile journey to walk the PCT from Mexico to Canada. 

Beth Rodden is a well known climber who has won competitions and climbed some of the most challenging routes in the world, including many first ascents like her free climb of the Meltdown in Yosemite, where she showed that women can climb as well as men. In 2000 Beth and three climbing partners were captured by a militant group in while on a climbing trip Kyrgyzstan. After is days in captivity, they escaped. Between that and her divorce shortly after, Beth has had to rethink her perfectionist ideals.

Michael Finkel is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, which chronicles a highly intelligent man that lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years without lighting a single fire, or talking to a single soul. An outdoors lover himself, who splits time between Montana and Southern France, Michael has a penchant for stories about those who live on the edges of society, and people who live with less.

Rebecca Rusch has been called a modern day wonder woman and the queen of pain for her ability to not only withstand harsh conditions in endurance racing, but for her well-versed career. This year, Rebecca is about to celebrate her 50th birthday, and she’s had some time to reflect back on her life and her philosophy about how to pave your own path in life and how to make it in a career without a clear road map.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild about her trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. The book was adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. In addition to writing Wild, Cheryl also wrote the New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough, as well as her first novel, Torch. She is the co-host of Dear Sugar, an advice column turned WBUR podcast, and a true force of nature. 

After battling drug addiction, Catra Corbett hit her bottom, finding herself in jail. Soon after she got sober, Catra discovered her love of fitness. She also started running, and running more. To date, Catra, aka “the Dirt Diva” has run over 260 marathons, over 137 100-mile runs, and set numerous records including becoming the first to run the 424-mile round trip of the John Muir trail in just over 12 days.

Karen Ramos and Adriana Garcia are two young women who started movements to encourage diversity and representation in the outdoor industry. Karen founded Get Out, Stay Out, an organization that connects indigenous-migrant children with the outdoors. Adriana is the co-founder LatinX Hikers, a platform to showcase people from diverse backgrounds participating in outdoor activities.

Mark McInnis, is an accomplished photographer who works with a lot of my favorite brands and publications. A lot of his work takes place along the Pacific Northwest, and he loves shooting pictures of freezing cold climates, empty waves and stunning landscapes. Mark has a great personality and a positive outlook on life as well as great advice for those starting out. He shares how he’s made a living as a photographer, and how you can get started today.

Diane Van Deren was a professional tennis player before she had epilepsy, and running helped stave off her seizures. Ten years into her disease, she decided to have a radical surgery where doctors removed a part of her brain. Once she healed, running became her ultimate medicine and a way to raise awareness. She started doing ultramarathons and taking home titles in her races.

REI recently made a video called “Women in Fire” that features Lacey England and some other badass female firefighters and launches April 30th. Lacey was also profiled in the National Forest Foundation series, “Drawn to Flame: Women Forged by Fire.” Lacey shares her story, plus the unglamorous life of her job (it involves Spam and carrying insanely heavy packs), what her day-to-day training entails, and what it’s like to be in a field that is dominated by people that don’t look like her.

Jen Sincero is the author of You are a Badass and You Are a Badass at Making Money. Her latest book is a guide on how to make more money and teaches you how to release negative views about it. Jen shares how to live more wildly, how to make more money, how to get out of your own way, and how to get started today.

Today’s guest has one of the most important jobs you can think of: she’s a farmer and grows the food we eat. Andrea Bemis and her husband, Taylor, own an organic vegetable farm called Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale, near Hood River, Oregon. We talk about how she got into farming, what she would have done if she wasn’t a farmer, what she’s learned from working on the land, and how she turned her passion for cooking her own food into a successful blog, Dishing Up The Dirt, and a cookbook of the same name

REI is now in the podcast game with not just with this show, but also a new 8-episode series called Take it From Me, that launches this week. Nick Mott, the producer of the show, is a fellow journalist, writer, photographer, and a rock climber. Nick talks about the unique format of Take It From Me, shares a quick clip, and talks about the adventurous characters he interviews.

Author Elizabeth Thames, aka Liz Frugalwoods, is the voice behind the blog and new book, Meet the Frugalwoods. Liz and her husband did everything they were supposed to: attended a good state college, graduated, and got jobs. But as millennials working 9-to-5 jobs for non-profits, they knew there was something beyond the daily grind. Instead of just working harder and harder, they instead used extreme frugality and retired in their early thirties.

Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, is an accomplished writer and speaker. Her writing has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to Outside Magazine, and she’s even hosted a few podcasts herself. In The Nature Fix she writes about the science behind that feeling we get when we're outside: being in nature makes us happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.