Episodes
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Leigha Horton & Travis Norman of Silvae Spiritus dig into the ritual and physiology of thermic cycling: the practice of combining sauna with cold therapy and how it can help us stay close to nature in the winter months as days get colder and darker. For more about Silvae Spiritus visit silvaespiritus.com. For the other sauna experiences mentioned visit openairoutpost.com, cedarandstonesauna.com, www.littleemberco.com. This episode is brought to you by The Open Air Outpost, a nature retreat with tiny cabin just 2 hours from the Twin Cities. Experience winter at the Outpost with a Goodland wood-burning hot tub and a spacious wood-burning sauna (built by SotaSauna). Use the coupon code “podcast” for 10% off your stay.
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Tim Clemens, who goes by the handle mnforager, is known for his educational posts on all things related to harvesting wild foods, be it plants, mushrooms or insects - and often in an urban setting. Today we dig into the practice of urban foraging, the art of eating insects or entomophagy, Tim’s first-ever hunting experience and what happens when you move from observer of nature to participant with nature and how that informs a growing nature ethos.
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Inspired by the conversations with our incredible guests, we’ve created a nature escape to help you put all of the great wisdom and advice shared on this show into action. It’s an 18-acre sanctuary where the woods meet the water on a private, non-motorized lake in western Wisconsin. We’ve just opened a luxury tiny cabin for you to unplug, unwind and restore yourself. Listeners of this podcast can get 10% off a stay using coupon code “podcast” and for July and August 2023, can get 20% off using coupon code “podcastsummer” Learn more and book your nature experience now at openairoutpost.com
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Swedish American writer Linda McGurk is the author The Open-Air Life and There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather. In episode 17, she shares some of the fascinating Scandinavian histories that gave rise to the Nordic concept of Friluftsliv and how it’s practiced today - from troll forests to barefoot walkabouts to forest cemeteries.This episode is brought to you by The Open Air Outpost, a nature escape with luxury tiny home and glamping options just 1.5 hours from the Twin Cities metro and 2 hours from Madison, Wi. Learn more at openairoutpost.com
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Ep 16 is a very special and very musical episode of Open Air Humans! The Okee Dokee Brothers are a Grammy Award-winning bluegrass and American roots children's music duo of Joe Mainlander and Justin Lansing. They’re known for their joyful brand of music that that inspire families to spend more time outside. In 2012, the duo won a Grammy for their adventure album Can You Canoe, which was created during a month-long paddle down the Mississippi River. They followed with two more adventure albums Through the Woods and Saddle Up - also created on wilderness adventures. In March of 2023, they released their new album Brambletown and are currently touring in support of it. In this discussion, we hear about the inspiration behind their music with live performances of songs including The Life That’s In You, Church of the Woods and The Great Grandmother Tree. Themes explored include the interconnection of all living things, how to “lose yourself in the woods to find yourself again” and the need for more spiritual and ritual experiences in modern American society.
You can download the music of the Okee Dokee Brothers including their latest Brambletown from anywhere you stream your music and you can learn more about the band, watch videos and order their latest on vinyl at okeedokee.org.
And for a special treat, Joe is releasing a new Spotify mix called The Church of the Woods, which can be found here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oYoDSKvLxNWpw4ImSPuIl?si=26ea82e4b6664041&nd=1
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In episode 15, Dexter Patterson, who enthusiastically extolls the many benefits of what he calls bird joy through his exuberant online presence, The Wisco Birder, shares how paying closer attention to winged creatures forever changed his life. He’s now on a mission to inspire other people to slow down, look up and let the magic of birding bring all of us the joy it brings him. If you’re ready to get out there and experience all that bird joy has to offer, follow along with Dexters birding adventures and tips on IG at @wiscobirder - and if you’re in the Madison Wisconsin area you can even get out with Dexter by joining up with the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin.
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Can looking closer at the natural world help erase our fear of death? In episode 14, naturalist Emily Stone shares how observing the small miracles of death and renewal in plants, mushrooms and animals has affected her feelings on the subject. We learn how a tree becomes more alive after it has died and get a welcome dose of poetry from Mary Oliver. Emily is the education director at The Cable Natural History Museum in northern Wisconsin and writes a weekly column called Natural Connections, in which she transports readers into a magical world where nature is wilder than fiction. You can find an archive of Emily’s weekly column at: cablemuseumnaturalconnections.blogspot.com/ or you can purchase one or both of her Natural Connections books from any major bookseller. You can also listen to her column in podcast form by searching Natural Connections in Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening now.
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In Episode 13, an invitation to go on a nocturnal excursion and experience the enchantment of night time in the forest. Today’s guest Chris Salisbury is the author of Wild Nights Out - The Magic of Exploring the Outdoors After Dark. It’s an inspiring, hands-on guide for adults and kids of all ages to go adventuring in the dark. In this far-ranging discussion, Chris shares how to attune our senses to the darkness, what we might find in the night and how the dark can act as mental and physical medicine for the modern human.
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In episode 12, naturalist Emily Stone Emily shares stories about the wonderous interconnectedness of plants and animals of the Northwoods, many hidden in plain sight. She also shares a really fun way you can see the natural world in an entirely new way with a UV light when you head out into the field and forest after dark. Emily is the education director at The Cable Natural History Museum in northern Wisconsin and writes a weekly column called Natural Connections, in which she transports readers into a magical world where nature is wilder than fiction. You can find an archive of Emily’s weekly column at: cablemuseumnaturalconnections.blogspot.com/ or you can purchase one or both of her Natural Connections books from any major bookseller. You can also listen to her column in podcast form by searching Natural Connections in Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening now.
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In episode 11, Linda Black Elk shares her transformative experience with and expansive knowledge of indigenous plant medicines and foods. As an indigenous ethnobotanist working at the intersection of plant medicine and food sovereignty, Linda shares her experience regarding the unacknowledged sentience of plants and how they’re always communicating with each other and with us - if we’re open to looking and listening more closely. Follow Linda @linda.black.elk
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In Episode 10, an exploration of how immersion in nature literally changes our physiology and how micro-dosing awe can keep us more resilient against life’s mental and physical challenges. All of this from award winning journalist and author Florence Williams, whose books The Nature Fix and Heartbreak look at the actual science behind how time outside make us happier, healthier and more creative. In the Nature Fix, Florence travels the globe looking at how different cultures use nature experiences as a tonic in modern times and in Heartbreak, she goes into the wild in attempt to heal her own. Find Florence’s books and articles for Outside Magazine, The Atlantic and more at florencewilliams.com Photo courtesy Mikaela Hamilton Steinwedell.
Also today, an Open Air Diary from Marilyn who recounts a powerful memory of a childhood thunderstorm.
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In episode 8, searching for beauty as an emotional & spiritual practice, cold exposure to cure nearly all that ails you and how extended mileage in nature is medicine for the mind heart and body. All of this from author, artist, podcaster and enneagram coach Jim Zartman. Through his work as a coach, mentor, speaker & author, Jim helps individuals grow and self-actualize through the Art of Growth. To read a collection of Jim’s poems and essays visit jimzartman.com or look for his book “And I Would LIft You” on amazon.com - You can learn more about his enneagram coaching, discover your enneagram type and listen Jim’s insightful podcast The Art of Growth at theartofgrowth.org
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In episode 5, an exploration of how Forager Chef Alan Bergo is making forgotten food unforgettable. Having spent more than a decade in some of the best restaurants in the midwest before coming to foraging, Alan brings a unique culinary mindset to gathering wild food and you can feel that in his first book, The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora as well as in the wild food series Field Forest Feast. In today’s discussion, a meditation on how gathering, harvesting and eating wild food with a focus on micro-seasonality can have a profound impact on your physical, mental and spiritual well being.
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In episode 6, poet and Yosemite park ranger @yosemite_shelton on how the raw beauty of our national parks can rearrange your molecules and allow you to live in the miraculous. Shelton is an historian, author and advocate to get more people of all backgrounds into our national parks to discover how these places can return us to the sacred connection we humans once had with the land. Shelton’s likely invited more first-time visitors to our national parks than anyone else in America, including a special invitation to @oprah to camp out in Yosemite. Listen to the end to find out what happened when she received his moving letter.
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In episode 5, a meditation on what happens when we look more closely at the world around us and participate in something humans have been doing since they began walking the Earth: gathering wild food. Author and edible plant expert Sam Thayer discusses how the small miracles you witness while out gathering food reveals the sacredness of the forest and how tending the wild can lead to a spiritually rewarding relationship with nature.
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On March 6th, 2021 Emily Ford made history as the first woman and person of color to thru hike the 1200 mile Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin in the dead of winter, sleeping out in temps as low as -35 for 69 days as she made her way across the state. Emily set out on this journey with a borrowed sled dog named Diggins to challenge herself but also to offer representation to inspire more people of color to spend time in wild places to which they may not have easy access or in which they’ve historically been made to feel unwelcome. In episode 4, a discussion about what happens in your mind during a very long hike, why winter is the most under-appreciated season (including the benefits of cold plunging) and how you can help Emily introduce more young people to the wilderness for the very first time. This episode also includes our first Open Air Diary from Becky in Minneapolis.
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In episode 3, the life-improving qualities of discovering our cosmic insignificance through nature-immersed moments of awe — and what happens when you begin to cook and eat more of your meals outside. All of this from James Beard award-winning chef and television creator Andrew Zimmern. Andrew is well known as the host of the Bizarre Foods franchise but more recently has created shows like What’s Eating America for MSNBC, Family Dinner for Magnolia Network and the forthcoming Wild Game Kitchen for the Outdoor Channel, which we discuss his motivations for making in this wide ranging discussion with a one-of-a-kind culinary adventurer. Don’t be surprised if you leave this episode planning to cook your next meal over an open fire.
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In episode 2, a story about second chances. And how wild things can turn a life right side up - in incredibly profound ways. Rodney Stotts is one of very few black falconers in America. He’s recently written a book about how birds of prey helped to lift him out of a life of dealing drugs after his first encounter with a Eurasian Screech Owl he calls Mr. Hoots. The story of what he’s come through and what he’s building now is one you’ll never forget.
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In episode 1, an understanding of what it feels like to stand on the very top of the world - from the very first woman to do it. Polar explorer Ann Bancroft has forged a path that’s taken her to both poles, 1,700 miles across Antarctica on skis and into the classroom of millions of elementary school children. She made history and lit the world on fire in 1986 when she became the first woman to reach the North Pole and give young women a new kind of role model.
