My Favourite Outdoor Podcasts
I love a good podcast. My work, and the fact I like running, means I spend a fair amount of time outside alone. Whether I’m sitting on a hillside waiting for a lost DofE group (sorry, not lost just, temporarily mislocated), or grinding out another lap of central Glasgow in my (slightly knackered) running shoes, a good podcast never fails to interest, entertain, or inspire.
Below I’ve listed six of my favourite podcasts on a generally outdoorsy theme.
Uphill Athlete Podcast: Training for the Uphill Athlete completely changed my understanding of training, and how I train. I attribute a large part of my success in the Keswick 50K to these guys. Steve House is a great of Alpine Climbing, and Scott Johnston is a coach with decades of experience working with everyone from local youth clubs to Olympic athletes. The Uphill Athlete website has a tonne of information and stories, as well as a thriving forum, and their podcast is equally interesting.
Website: https://uphillathlete.com/podcast/
Completely Arbortrary: “Completely Arbortrary is a podcast about trees and other related topics, hosted by dendrologist Casey Clapp and his tree-skeptic friend Alex Crowson.” I could listen to these guys talk about trees, fungal associates, and everything else, all day long. Each episode focuses on a different tree, discussing things like the; social history, uses, habitat, and the threats that they face. Clapp and Crowson are relaxed, and funny, making what is often a pretty dry subject, very easy to listen to.
Website: https://arbortrarypod.com/
Mountain: Sadly no longer running (but still available to listen to), ‘Mountain’ was the creation of Christopher Sleight. A great collection of interviews and insights into the world of mountaineering, fell running, gravel bike racing, and all sorts of outdoor sports. Part of what made ‘Mountain’ interesting was the fact Sleight recorded much of it from the field. His presentation has an easy, relaxing pace and, taking his microphone out into the mountains, under ground and out to sea, he makes the whole experience feel just that touch more immersive.
Website: http://mountainpodcast.com/
Billy Yang Podcast: Yang is a brilliant adventure film maker. His short film ‘The Why: Running 100 Miles’, has become something of a classic motivational piece, and a brilliant thing to show any friends or family who just don’t get why you like to spend your time slowly plodding around in the cold, wet mountains. Over his career, Yang has become friends with seemingly every professional ultra runner out there. He’s now flicked though his fairly impressive rolodex to put together a series of long interviews with some very cool people.
Website: https://billyyangpodcast.libsyn.com/
There are other rivers: If you’ve met me for more than a few minutes, you probably know I like Al Humphreys. After spending 4 years cycling the world (‘Moods of future Joys’ and ‘Thunder and Sunshine’) are a must read for anyone interested in bike touring, travel, or adventure) Humphreys has gone on to do a whole lot more, including walking and packrafting across Iceland, rowing the Atlantic, and pioneering the idea of the Microadventure.
Al has made a number of podcasts but I’ve chosen '‘There Are Other Rivers’ as it’s an interesting take on adventure story telling. Telling the story of adventure the account of a single day, it reflects on motivation, the draw of challenging journeys and the open road.
Website: https://alastairhumphreys.com/podcasts/
The Dirtbag Diaries: Saving the best for last. No list of outdoor podcasts would be complete without ‘The Dirtbag Diaries’. Telling the self-submitted stories of everyday outdoorsy folk, Dirtbag Diaries shows how adventure can change our lives. There’s the ex-Marine who uses backcountry skiing to cope with his PTSD, and help others do the same, in ‘Above Ground’, the couple who met and fell in love on a company ski trip in ‘Out of Bounds’, and, of course, the annual Halloween ‘Tales of Terror' (which honestly make question whether I should spend so much time outdoors alone!). Fitz and Becca Cahall, along with Cordelia Zars and the rest of the team have created a truly wonderful thing.
website: https://dirtbagdiaries.com/
Comment below to let me know what you think, or if there are any podcasts you love and think we should all check out.
