The Wild Idea Podcast
Explore All Our Episodes
Andis Arietta: The Uncertainty Inherent in Wilderness
Evolutionary ecologist Dr. Andis Arietta joins us to explore the deep connections between ecology, evolution, climate change, and how (and whether) we manage wild places.
Jon Jarvis: Are Our National Parks Being Set Up To Fail?
Jon Jarvis, the 18th Director of the National Park Service, joins us in this Bonus Episode for a wide-ranging and urgent conversation about the future of America’s public lands.
Ingrid Lyons: Save the Boundary Waters, Join the National Wilderness Coalition
Executive Director of Save the Boundary Waters, Ingrid Lyons, joins us to talk about defending Minnesota’s beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Senator Tim Kaine: Walk, Ride, Paddle, Protect!
Senator Tim Kaine reflects on his journey across Virginia—on foot, by bike, and by kayak—and how that experience shapes his approach to conservation, policy, and legacy, in today’s Bonus Episode.
Kaitie Schneider: Wolverines Reissued
Kaitie Schneider of Defenders of Wildlife joins us to talk about the long-awaited reintroduction of Gulo gulo, the wolverine, to Colorado.
Jose Gonzalez: Show Up and Be Curious
A conversation with José González, founder of Latino Outdoors and co-founder of The Outdoorist Oath, about identity, community, and redefining what it means to belong in wild spaces.
David Gessner: Roosevelt, Resistance and Reclaiming the Wild
Celebrated author David Gessner joins Anders Reynolds and Bill Hodge on The Wild Idea Podcast to talk about his career, writers who inspired him, and the paradox of land management.
Tim Manley: Grizzlies, Conflict, and Coexistence
Grizzly bear biologist Tim Manley joins Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds on The Wild Idea podcast.
Drew Lanham: The Wild We Inherit, The Wild We Imagine
Dr. J. Drew Lanham—ornithologist, ecologist, naturalist, poet, professor, mentor, author, and all-around Southern sage—joins us for a conversation about what it means to belong to a place, and who gets to decide what counts as “wild”?
Greg Aplet: Forests, Fire, and What is Wild
Greg Aplet joins us to discuss forest fires and how they impact spaces both wild and human. We cover legislation and governmental actions, the costs and benefits of allowing fires to burn, the after-effects of the Smoky Bear campaign, and how we can further the conversation between everyone impacted by logging, forest fires, and the ecology of the wilderness.
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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.
