Sam Explores Podcast

Sam answers burning questions about ALONE on History

In this episode Sam Larson speaks with the Lebron James of foraging, Samuel Thayer. Sam Thayer is best known for his 3 books, Forager’s Harvest, Nature’s Garden, and Incredible wild edibles. He has sold hundreds of thousands of books, and they were super inspirational to me. I’m going to put links to those books in the show notes as well. Buy them if you can. You won’t regret it! I don’t “hard recommend” that many things, but if you don’t have Sam’s books, what are you waiting for? These books changed my entire worldview on foraging, and what is truly possible regarding plant foods. Buy two of each, and give the other to a friend! They’re available wherever you buy books most likely. Definitely available at foragersharvest.com and amazon.

In this episode I speak with Jordan Jonas about living with reindeer herders in Siberia, winning alone season 6, and more!

Tony Nester has been studying wilderness survival from the north woods of Wisconsin to the deserts of Arizona for decades. Although I think he’s pretty cool based on his educational credentials alone, his claim to fame comes from the time he consulted and trained Emile Hirsch, the actor who played Christopher McCandless in the Oscar nominated movie, Into The Wild. Tony spent years of his life in the bush, teaching from wilderness therapy programs to semester long college level programs. He’s also an accomplished author of many books, including my favorites “the modern hunter gatherer” and “life under open skies” see the show notes on samexplores.com for links to those. As a side note, this interview was done months ago, before I switched over to my current audio setup, so the quality is a bit lower than you’re used to if you’ve been listening to this podcast. That said, Tony provides an enormous amount of value, and this isn’t an episode to miss! During our time together we discussed becoming a survival instructor, how to hone your wilderness skills, and becoming an indie author, but we kick things off by talking about his amazing opportunity to consult on Sean Penn’s film, Into The Wild.

Do you sometimes watch and enjoy videos about bushcraft and survival skills on youtube?Me neither. I’m way too cool for thatI live full time in a debris shelter in the middle of the wilderness that I constructed using 7 or 8 trained beavers. I also have a series of robins that I’ve trained to collect twigs and leaves. It’s all very romantic, with a borderline Disney-princess feel Ha… just kidding.I, like you (most likely) spend some time browsing youtube every once in a while to check if anyone I know has posted new videos. On top of that, one common question I get while I’m out teaching bushcraft is “who do you recommend on youtube.” Sometimes I’ve struggled with this. I know so many great folks making videos, but who will be right for this specific person to learn from, taking their age, and experience level into consideration.Thankfully, we have some people like my buddy Dan Wowak. Dan in a life-long woodsman from Pennsylvania. He runs a bushcraft school for a living, (check out coalcrackerbushcraft.com for more information) he makes leather goods and knives, and of course, he has a great youtube channel. Dan’s videos are fun, and they’re a safe recommendation for beginners, because he keeps them short, informative, and entertaining. You may know Dan from his stint on HISTORY’s hit survival Show “ALONE” where he lasted 51 days solo in the back country of Patagonia. During this interview we discuss the topic of making quality survival videos, his bushcraft courses, as always, it’s a good time. Sit back and enjoy my talk with Dan Wowak

Have you dreamt of living away from the city, in a sustainable, off grid home? Today, I visit my neighbor Cathy Krueger, to discuss just that. Last year Cathy and a team of volunteers embarked on a mission to construct the first earth ship in our region. If you’re not familiar with earthships, you’re in for a real treat. According to earthship international, earthships are designed based off of 6 principles. 1. Thermo-solar heating and cooling2. solar and wind electricity3. self-contained sewage treatment4. building with natural and recycled materials5. water harvesting and long-term storage6. some internal food production capability This particular earthship is heated through an attached greenhouse, cooled through an underground tube, and powered by solar panels. Water is collected from the roof and stored in an underground cistern, food is grown in the greenhouse, and the epicenter of the entire structure is a massive (and surprisingly controversial) recycled tire wall (more on that later in the podcast). It may sound odd, but honestly, it felt cozy and dare I say, normal, on the inside. Thank you so much for listening and enjoy the story of this amazing build.

In episode 1, Sam talks with Jim Shields.Jim Shields is a high school teacher from Pennsylvania, who overcame numerous obstacles to bring bushcraft and outdoor education into his classroom. He did a brief stint on Alone season 3, before returning home earlier than expected to welcome home 3 adopted sons. He’s introduced hundreds of students to the great outdoors, and he’s on track for hundreds more. During our talk we discuss how he went about founding a survival skills class, how he handles the occasional insubordinate or uninterested student, how he managed to get permission to use knives and fire at school, and much more. For more information, check out samexplores.com