The Wild Idea Podcast
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Jessica Howell-Edwards & Dani Purvis: Fighting for the Wild Soul of Cumberland Island
What makes this Georgia barrier island so extraordinary and what forces are working to reshape it. Cumberland Island National Seashore is one of the most ecologically rich and historically layered landscapes on the American East Coast, and it faces a pivotal moment....
Dr. Erica Smithwick: Fire, Climate, and Forest Resilience in the East
Dr. Erica Smithwick discusses wildfire regimes in eastern forests, the newly formed Eastern Fire Network, and how communities can build climate resilience.
Dr. William Keeton: Carbon, Complexity, and the Future of Old Growth
What matters most is that forests continue to function for people, wildlife, and the climate. Dr. William Keeton is a forest ecologist and silviculturalist at the University of Vermont who has spent most of his career studying old-growth forests in the eastern United...
The Past, Present and Future of The Roadless Rule
In this webinar replay hosted by The Wild Idea Podcast, a panel of leading experts examines the history, science, tribal implications, and future of the 2001 Roadless Rule as the current administration moves toward rescission.
Trust for Public Land: Why Every Child Deserves Green Time
In this episode, Bill and Anders sit down with two researchers and advocates who are reshaping how we think about nature and public health: Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, President and CEO of the Trust for Public Land, and Dr. Pooja Tandon, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children’s Hospital who also serves as a senior scientist with TPL. Together they bring a rare combination of policy reach and clinical grounding to one of the most urgent questions facing American families: how do we make sure every child has meaningful access to the outdoors?
Tim Mahoney: The Irish Wilderness and the Art of Passing a Bill
Conservation strategist Tim Mahoney walks through the Irish Wilderness campaign, revealing how wilderness bills are actually won in Congress.
Terry Tempest Williams: Wildness, Ancestors, and the Holy Ordinary
Terry Tempest Williams joins The Wild Idea to explore hope, grief, ancestors, and the sacred work of loving wild places in uncertain times.
Cole Mannix: Working Land Stewardship and Food Systems
In this milestone 50th episode of The Wild Idea, Bill and Anders sit down in Helena, Montana, with rancher and entrepreneur Cole Mannix to explore the intersection of land stewardship, regenerative agriculture, and food system reform. Cole is a founding member of the rancher-owned Old Salt Co-op, an ambitious effort to create an alternative marketplace that reconnects producers, consumers, and landscapes across the American West. At its core, this episode asks: What would a food system look like if it truly supported stewardship? How do we balance wild lands and working lands? And how can everyday choices help build a more resilient, place-based economy?
Andrew Thoms: The Tongass, America’s Largest National Forest and a Key Roadless Landscape
As The Wild Idea concludes Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds turn their attention north — to Southeast Alaska and the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States and the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.
Covering nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass has become a focal point in national debates over old-growth logging, climate resilience, rural economies, and the future of the Roadless Rule. Joining the conversation is Andrew Thoms, Executive Director of Sitka Conservation Society, who brings decades of experience working at the intersection of community, conservation, and economic transition in Southeast Alaska.
Peter Metcalf and Terry Tatsey: Blackfeet Nation Stewardship and a Living Landscape in the Badger–Two Medicine
As The Wild Idea continues Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds turn their focus to one of the most culturally and ecologically significant landscapes in Montana: the Badger–Two Medicine. Situated along the Rocky Mountain Front, just south of Glacier National Park, the Badger–Two Medicine is a place where roadless protection, wildlife habitat, and deep Indigenous responsibility converge. For generations, it has been central to the lifeways, origin stories, and stewardship practices of the Blackfeet Nation — long before Montana existed as a state. Joining the conversation are Terry Tatsey, a member of the Blackfeet Nation with lifelong ties to the Badger–Two Medicine, and Peter Metcalf, Executive Director of the Glacier–Two Medicine Alliance. Together, they explore why this landscape matters, how decades of advocacy successfully ended oil and gas leasing in 2023, and what is now at stake as the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers rescinding the Roadless Rule.
Bjorn Fredrickson & Raul Turrieta: The Roadless History of the World’s First Designated Wilderness
As The Wild Idea continues Roadless Month, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds travel to the birthplace of the modern wilderness idea: the Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico. Joining the conversation are Bjorn Fredrickson, Conservation Director of New Mexico Wild, and Raul Turrieta, Deputy Chief Assessor for Grant County and longtime Gila neighbor. Together, they explore why the Gila was chosen as the world’s first wilderness, how its roadless character continues to define both the landscape and the surrounding communities, and why it remains central to today’s debates over the Roadless Rule.
Kristin Gendzier: The Roadless Rule’s Southern Roots
As The Wild Idea begins a month-long exploration of America’s most at-risk wild lands, hosts Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds are joined by Kristin Gendzier of the Southern Environmental Law Center to establish the foundation for the series: what the Roadless Rule is, how it protects national forest roadless areas, and why it matters now.
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What is The Wild Idea?
Humans have been part of Earth’s natural cycle for 300,000 years, with brains much the same as ours for the past 100,000 or so. What’s evolved isn’t our biology but how we understand our place in the natural world. As small populations grew into communities and then into societies, we created cultural, religious, and legal frameworks to help explain and define our connection to the rest of life on Earth.
