The Wild Idea Podcast
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Your Hosts Bill & Anders: You Ask – We Answer
In this special 20th episode of The Wild Idea, Bill and Anders are recording face-to-face for the first time, from the deck of a sailboat in Southeast Alaska. To mark the milestone, they’re answering twenty questions submitted by listeners.
The result is a wide-ranging, often hilarious, occasionally serious, and always thoughtful conversation that covers everything from their dream podcast guests and close calls in the backcountry to artificial intelligence, bipartisan conservation, screen addiction, and the secret behind those corny intro questions.
Josh Jackson: The Forgotten Lands Project
Josh Jackson didn’t set out to become a champion for the Bureau of Land Management. But after stumbling into BLM lands in the deserts of California, he found himself transformed, first by the landscape, and then by the history behind it. In this episode, Josh joins Bill and Anders to talk about The Enduring Wild, his new book exploring California’s public lands, and the path that took him from “drive-by desert” skeptic to devoted pilgrim.
Cristina Eisenberg: Humility as a Tool for Protection and Stewardship
In this wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Cristina Eisenberg shares her perspective on the growing crisis facing our forests and why meeting this moment will take more than science alone. Together with Bill and Anders, she unpacks why both extractive management and strict hands-off protection have fallen short, and how it’s time to rethink what “wilderness” really means.
Tony Bynum: Conservation Through a Photographer’s Lens
Conservation photographer Tony Bynum joins Bill and Anders for a wide-ranging conversation about photography, sovereignty, wild places, and what it means to tell the truth with an image. Whether he’s photographing the oil rigs encroaching on the Rocky Mountain Front or conducting wilderness character surveys in the remote prairies of eastern Montana, Tony brings a rare combination of artistic vision and firsthand experience in land management, tribal sovereignty, and public policy.
Anne Robinson: Good News from the Appalachian Trail
Anne Robinson joins us from Harpers Ferry, the symbolic halfway point of her 2,200-mile thru-hike, to talk about what she’s learning about land, history, community—and herself—along the way.
The Conservation Alliance: Outdoor Brands Make a Stand
What happens when the companies that outfit our adventures decide to stand up for the places that make those adventures possible? This week on The Wild Idea, we’re exploring the growing power of outdoor brands to influence public land policy.
Chris Wood: Roadless Rule Rescinded
Chris Wood – the godfather of the Roadless Rule and President and CEO of Trout Unlimited – joins the show to talk about how the Roadless Rule came to be, what it actually does, and why the Trump Administration’s move to undo it threatens some of the most ecologically and recreationally important backcountry we have. From fire mitigation myths to the politics of rulemaking, Wood offers a clear-eyed and hopeful reminder of what’s worth protecting, and how.
Martin Nie and Monte Mills: Not Just a Box to Check: Tribal Sovereignty and Co-Management
Legal scholar Monte Mills, a leading expert on Federal Indian Law, tribal sovereignty, and Indigenous cultural protection, and public lands policy expert Martin Nie, whose work focuses on the governance of federal lands and collaborative management across tribal, state, and federal lines, unpack the complex, often misunderstood world of tribal co-management.
Tracy Stone-Manning: Promises Worth Defending
Tracy Stone-Manning, the president of The Wilderness Society, joins Bill and Anders for a wide-ranging conversation about what’s really happening inside our land management agencies, what the public lands rule was meant to protect, and why the stakes feel higher than ever.
Randy Newberg: The Host of Fresh Tracks Offers Fresh Ideas on Advocacy and Access
Randy Newberg joins Bill and Anders for a wide-ranging, funny, and deeply personal conversation that moves from his childhood hunting on public lands in northern Minnesota to testifying before Congress and building a media platform to fight for the places that fed and shaped him.
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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.
