Podcasts about upper peninsula

Michigan's Upper Peninsula might not be the first spot you think of when someone says "volcano," but maybe it should be! Around 1.1 billion years ago, a rift volcano started producing massive amounts of lava. That volcano (with the help of some glaciers around 10,000 years ago) formed some of the Upper Peninsula's most iconic landscapes--including Lake Superior! GUESTS: Erika Vye, geosciences research scientist at the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech University Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson, geospatial research scientist at Michigan Tech University Want to submit a question to On Hand? Do it here: Online Submission Form Call us: 734-764-7840 Email us: onhand@michiganpublic.org See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We played Joel Skousen's Exit & Build 2 keynote a while back and the response was huge. In that talk, Joel mentions a workshop he was giving the next day. A lot of you wrote in asking to hear it. It was an exclusive Sunday session. Never released publicly until now. This is Joel getting into the mechanics of Strategic Relocation. How to read the threat maps and narrow the whole country down to two or three states. What his state ratings actually measure: population density, private land availability, building permits, statewide land use planning, growing season, water quality, taxes, corruption, crime, personal liberty, gun rights, alternative medicine freedom, homeschooling freedom, and proximity to military targets. Then he gets into basements, which turns into one of the most practical stretches of the session. Which states actually build them, why most of the South doesn't, and how to get one poured anyway without paying ten times what it should cost. Then he opens the floor. Real people with real properties asking about their actual situations. Alaska. The Upper Peninsula. Northern British Columbia. Georgia. Kentucky. West Virginia. A woman living off grid in a yurt in California asking whether there's any way to stay. A doctor asking where a physician can still practice freely. Somebody asking about burying a shipping container as a shelter. He also names which news sources he trusts and which ones he thinks are compromised, and he doesn't spare anybody, including some names this audience holds dear. About Joel Skousen Former Navy and Marine Corps fighter pilot turned architect. He began writing The Secure Home in 1979, making him one of the genuine pioneers of the modern preparedness movement. Author of Strategic Relocation: North American Guide to Safe Places, still the definitive reference on threat-based relocation, and co-author of The High Security Shelter Book with his son, a structural engineer. He has published the World Affairs Brief weekly for decades and has designed high security residences and retreats across North America, Canada, and Latin America. Joel is speaking at Exit & Build 6 November 5-8, 2026 at Mollie Engelhart's Sovereignty Ranch in Bandera, Texas. He's giving a full talk plus an in-depth workshop, and he'll be around the whole event to talk relocation, preparedness, and whatever else you bring him. You can walk up and ask him about your own property. Four days on a working regenerative ranch with hands-on implementation zones where you leave having actually done the thing. Also speaking: David Avocado Wolfe, Curtis Stone, Doug and Stacy, Alec Zeck, Glenn and Eric Meder, Mollie Engelhart, the Sacred Honor crew, and more. Get your ticket: https://exitandbuild.com 

Last week, we took a crash course on the history of the pasty: a savory pocket of dough filled with beef, potato, and rutabaga. The dish has become distinctly regional food in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Today, we shared the story of one particular recipe that made its way into thousands of homes, and the writer that helped make it happen. Cover image: The emerald ring gifted to writer Kathy Gibbons by the owner of Lehto's Pasties. Photo courtesy of Kathy Gibbons. GUEST: Kathy Gibbons, Traverse City-based writer Want to submit a question to On Hand? Do it here: Online Submission Form Call us: 734-764-7840 Email us: onhand@michiganpublic.org If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work: michiganpublic.org/podfundSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After years of traveling almost entirely in fifth wheels, Mike and Jennifer added a second rig: a new-to-us 2026 Winnebago View, 25 feet long. They took it to Michigan's Upper Peninsula last week, and it changed how they traveled. The Brinkley isn't going anywhere. But somewhere in those years of towing 35 feet, they quietly stopped wandering, and never noticed they'd stopped. In this conversation they walk through the five things the small motorhome gave back, from pulling over anywhere to nap, to parking at Kitch-iti-kipi on a busy day, to taking the turn when you see a sign and wonder what's down there. Plus two listener questions: needing an hour to yourself when a spouse retires, and how to tell when RV tires are too old even though the tread looks fine.LINKS Michigan Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula guides, both for $29.99: https://rvlifestyle.com/uplp Free daily newsletter: https://rvlifestyle.com/newsletter Show notes and full transcript: https://rvpodcast.com RV Overnights, 40% off with code RVLDEAL: https://rvlifestyle.com/rvovernights The RV Lifestyle Community: https://rvcommunity.com 

Welcome to the Storm's short-form, news-focused podcast. Don't worry, I will still write newsletters too. To browse a podcast transcript, click the “transcript” button above - click on any block of text and the audio will jump to that point in the conversation. Paid subscribers can leave a comment below - I'll respond to some in the next episode. Thank you for supporting independent ski journalism./:The Zoom transcript (click “transcript” above for the Substack transcript, which will zoom to any point in the video when you click on the associated text block; timestamps below DO NOT MATCH THE VIDEO)00:01:51.000 --> 00:02:02.000Stuart Winchester: Welcome to the Storm! It is September 8th, 2026, and if you are a Storm regular, you are probably wondering what in the heck is going on here.00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:09.000Stuart Winchester: Today, we are launching an all-new format for the Storm Skiing Podcast.00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:22.000Stuart Winchester: It is shorter, it is news-focused, it will be more frequent, and it will publish the same day that I record it in just about every instance.00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.000Stuart Winchester: So.00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000Stuart Winchester: It's gonna have a lot of different elements. Uh, takes just…00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.000Stuart Winchester: on whatever's happening in the news.00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, let's scrap that and let's start again.00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, starting from the top.00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:42.000Stuart Winchester: 3.00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.000Stuart Winchester: Q.00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.000Stuart Winchester: One.00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:59.000Stuart Winchester: Welcome to the Storm! I'm your host, Stuart Winchester. It is September 8th, 2026, and I would like to welcome you all to a brand new version of the Storm Skiing Podcast.00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:02.000Stuart Winchester: So, the long-form podcast…00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:09.000Stuart Winchester: has been the default of the Storm Skiing Podcast since I launched in 2019.00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.000Stuart Winchester: Very proud of the Storm Skiing podcast.00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000Stuart Winchester: We're at episode 227.00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:26.000Stuart Winchester: I have interviewed the leaders of nearly every large ski area in America, and the leaders of most of the large ski companies in America.00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.000Stuart Winchester: But something started to feel a little bit off.00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:35.000Stuart Winchester: And, you know, I started to think about the kind of podcasts that I consume.00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:44.000Stuart Winchester: And those are mostly, frankly, around Michigan football, uh, which is my other obsession besides ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-ski-s.00:03:44.000 --> 00:04:02.000Stuart Winchester: tend to be much more news-focused. They tend to be much shorter than the Storm Skiing Podcast. They tend to publish the same day that they record them, and they tend to break down current events. For example, I just went to a Michigan football game.00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:21.000Stuart Winchester: on Saturday in Ann Arbor. If you're even remotely a sports fan, you probably saw the controversial ending to that game when Michigan got an extra second added on, and Bryce Underwood, the quarterback, tossed a Hail Mary to win the game when JJ Buchanan, our transfer receiver, came down with the ball.00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:36.000Stuart Winchester: That's never happened in the history of Michigan football, to have a Hail Mary ending that Michigan wins. So, on the way home, it's a 10-hour drive back to New York, my wife and I listened to all the different Michigan podcasts that were breaking down that moment. And I realized that…00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:54.000Stuart Winchester: as much as I like the Storm Skiing Podcast, and as much as a lot of other people like it, I was not really making the kind of podcast that I actually listen to. And that's a problem, because in our current media environment, people have a lot of choice.00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.000Stuart Winchester: They have a lot of of.00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:13.000Stuart Winchester: different things they can give their attention to, and it's hard to get and keep their attention. So, I want to say right off, I am not killing the long-form storm skiing podcast. It will not end with episode 227. In fact, I have about 5 or 6 in the can that I've been sitting on.00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:30.000Stuart Winchester: for this news, and I will release those soon, and my thanks to the folks who participated in those podcasts for their everlasting patience as I got this together. So, I'm still gonna make the Storm Skiing Podcast. The frequency will go from about 45 a year at its peak.00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:47.000Stuart Winchester: It's probably about a dozen a year or so, and sometimes there will just be a time when the long form is the more appropriate form for telling the story of a mountain. If I have someone new on, for example, so for example, I've never had.00:05:47.000 --> 00:06:02.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, the GM or owner of Sierra at Tahoe in California, an important mountain on the podcast. Never had Wolf Creek on the podcast, never had Mount Baker. If I were to get one of those folks, I would want to do a long form, tell the story of the ski area. But it's not always necessary to.00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:18.000Stuart Winchester: Tell the entire story of the ski area and its history and its culture when you just want to talk about a new lift or you just want to talk about the fact that it joined a new pass. So this shorter podcast will be more frequent.00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:35.000Stuart Winchester: It will have different segments, segments with takes when I just talk about what's going on. It will still have interviews, much shorter interviews. Today we have an interview with an awesome guest, Snow Partner CEO Joe Heschen, one of the smartest guys in skiing.00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:45.000Stuart Winchester: But before, Joe and I went on for two hours. This time, we'll be able to condense it down. And then at the end of each episode, my intent.00:06:45.000 --> 00:07:02.000Stuart Winchester: and hope is to have reader interaction, and this will be a feature available only to paid supporters of the Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast, and you can upgrade to a paid subscription at stormskiing.com anytime. The podcast will be for everyone, as it's always been.00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:18.000Stuart Winchester: But only paid subscribers will be able to interact with the podcast. And the way that they will be able to do that is that they will be able to write a comment on the article that accompanies the newsletter on stormskiing.com.00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:32.000Stuart Winchester: And the next day, I will read some of those comments and react to them as appropriate. And I'll talk a little bit more about that later and why I'm doing it that way. But for now, I want to assure you.00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:48.000Stuart Winchester: This podcast is going to come to you the same way your podcasts always have. Now, there is a video version. You can watch that on YouTube, will be our primary channel, as well as Substack, which is where the newsletter is published. There will always, always, always be an audio version.00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:58.000Stuart Winchester: And it will always come to the same places that you have always gotten the podcast. If that's Apple, if that's Spotify, there's some that I don't even know.00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:11.000Stuart Winchester: how the podcast got on there, or why it's on there. There's an RSS feed that spits this out from Substack. That will not change. The storm will be… when you go looking for it, you're going to find the storm.00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000Stuart Winchester: So.00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:24.000Stuart Winchester: This is something I'm super excited about because I think it will allow me to have a lot more guests a lot more often.00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:35.000Stuart Winchester: there are so many great minds in skiing right now, and I feel like there's a lot of negative sentiment around skiing and the way it's evolving. There's a lot of talk of a duopoly.00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.000Stuart Winchester: But from my point of view.00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:54.000Stuart Winchester: there's not a duopoly in a way that is dominating all consumer choice. And the reason I have that point of view is I'm having conversations every single day with smart people.00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:10.000Stuart Winchester: thinking far ahead and doing great things to change skiing in ways that make skiing better, that make skiing access better. People like Joe Hesham, my guest today, people like Eric Mogenson, who runs the Indy Pass, people like John Schaefer, who runs a handful of mountains.00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:28.000Stuart Winchester: in the East, people like Rick Schmitz, who runs three ski areas in the Midwest. Small ski area operators like Tim Meyer at Caber Fay in Michigan, who we'll talk about a little bit later. So, I'm talking to these people all the time, and I'm seeing the independent ski areas are really, for the most part, doing fine. I'm seeing.00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.000Stuart Winchester: Huge investment. I'm seeing huge innovation and.00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:43.000Stuart Winchester: Because of the frequency of the podcast, and because of the laborious nature of turning interviews into written content.00:09:43.000 --> 00:10:00.000Stuart Winchester: I don't think that I'm getting that to you in the way that I would like, in, in, in the way that you deserve. I want you to be part of this conversation. I want you to see why I'm so optimistic about skiing right now. I want you to know why I feel that skiing is in its best.00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.000Stuart Winchester: place, historically, that it has ever been, at least in America.00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:10.000Stuart Winchester: Now, it certainly has problems, and we will get into those as well.00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:21.000Stuart Winchester: I don't answer to anyone. I don't answer to the operators. I don't have a boss. I answer to my subscribers, and that's it. The only thing I care about is the truth.00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:28.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, and my optimism does not come from any desire to have access or anything else. My… my…00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.000Stuart Winchester: My content and my commitment to the truth.00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:50.000Stuart Winchester: comes from wanting to deliver a great journalistic product. Uh, and there's gonna be opinion and analysis. You're not always going to agree with what I say, and that's good! I wanna remind people that. That's good. If you agree with everything I say, I have no value. I can tell you that all of my guests.00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.000Stuart Winchester: disagree with things I say, but the reason they keep coming back.00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:03.000Stuart Winchester: And the reason that I hope they will keep coming back is because I'm trying to be fair, I'm trying to work within the bounds of the truth, and I'm not…00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:08.000Stuart Winchester: Jumping to these huge accusatory.00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:25.000Stuart Winchester: narratives that we see so often with the Mega Passes and with the big consolidators, Vale and Altera. So, I want to give a different perspective, I want to give it more frequently. The newsletter, one more point, the newsletter will stay the same. There will always be written content.00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:34.000Stuart Winchester: I am still a writer with a podcast, not a podcaster with a newsletter, though I kind of have to admit at this point that I am.00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:42.000Stuart Winchester: a podcaster, even though that sounds… I don't know, it sounds a little… pretentious, or juvenile, or uh… like I'm…00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:58.000Stuart Winchester: you know, doing this as a side hustle while I drive for Uber, but… but no, this is my full-time job. The Storm is and has been my full-time job for a couple of years. Now, the reason I want to switch to a news-based podcast is for days like today, because today we have.00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000Stuart Winchester: Huge news.00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000Stuart Winchester: One of my favorite ski areas.00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:09.000Stuart Winchester: One of the best ski areas in the eastern United States.00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:14.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, depending on your point of view, maybe one of the best ski areas in the United States.00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:20.000Stuart Winchester: is joining a Malta Mountain Pass for the first time.00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:27.000Stuart Winchester: That is Smuggler's Notch, Vermont. Smuggs is an incredible place.00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:40.000Stuart Winchester: For a lot of reasons. Number one, if you don't live in the East, and you're under the impression that the East is an ice ball, and the vertical drops are short, and the mountains are small.00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:56.000Stuart Winchester: You're wrong. You're just wrong. And there is a snow. There's plenty of big mountains in the east. First of all, there's plenty of good snow pockets in the east. One of the best snow pockets is in northern Vermont, and you have a line of resorts.00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:12.000Stuart Winchester: We call it the spine of the Green Mountains. Starts at Killington Pico, goes up to Sugarbush, which is in Alterra Mountain. Right next door is Mad River Glen, the famous Indy with the single chair. North of that is Bolton Valley, which is on Indy Pass. North of that is Stowe, which is owned by V.00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:23.000Stuart Winchester: On the backside of Stowe is Smuggler's Notch, and then north of that is Jay Peak. Smuggler's Notch joins IndyPass today, and here are the stats.00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:39.000Stuart Winchester: It is a 2610 foot vertical drop that is the fourth tallest in the east. It has one smug says 1060 skiable acres that they claim there's actually more in the woods. If you count the back bowls and some of the secret stashes.00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:54.000Stuart Winchester: Off of the Sterling lift. So that makes it the fourth largest ski area in the east. It is the second snowiest ski area in the east after Jay Peak, which is also an IndyPass partner with 322in of snowfall.00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:10.000Stuart Winchester: On average per winter. Yes, that's a lot. That's those are Vail numbers. Those are Colorado numbers. No, it's not Cottonwoods, but it's deep enough that those ski areas almost always have tree skiing from the beginning.00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:22.000Stuart Winchester: from around Christmas through the end of the season. I've skied Glades at Stowe in April many times. I've done the same at Jay Peak. So, the snow coverage really.00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:38.000Stuart Winchester: comes and it really falls. Mount Mansfield, which is where Stowe is, right next to Smuggs, is the tallest mountain in Vermont, and they have a snow stake there that consistently builds up to around 60 inches or so for the season. So, Smuggs joins Indy Pass.00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:56.000Stuart Winchester: today. It is the… and, and, and, and… No Blackouts on Indie Bass Pass, which goes on sale today to the general public, or actually maybe tomorrow it goes on sale, for… $419.00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:57.000Stuart Winchester: The ND…00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:13.000Stuart Winchester: Plus is 469. So I'll give you a few stats here. So Indy with adding smugs, that is the 43rd Alpine lift serve ski area that Indy has added for the 2026 to 2027.00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:14.000Stuart Winchester: Winter.00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:30.000Stuart Winchester: That gives them a total. Now, my totals are going to be a little different than Indy's because they're counting cross-country ski areas. And I'm leaving those off. And I also count sometimes two ski areas, as one when they're when they're separate entities. But but they share days.00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:45.000Stuart Winchester: So Indy now has 256 ski areas, lift-served alpine downhill ski areas, which get two days each. So they have more than you could possibly use. That includes 148 ski areas in the United States.00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:57.000Stuart Winchester: 32 in Canada, 39 in Europe, and 32 in Japan. You can ski 30% of all ski areas in America on Indy.00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:14.000Stuart Winchester: Now, on the flip side, Indy also had some important losses this winter. They lost, and they're all in the Midwest, and Indy's lost mountains before, and with a roster that big, you're gonna have some turnover. Uh, but the first wave of losses came back.00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:24.000Stuart Winchester: in past release season in March, when the three areas owned by Midwest Family Ski Resorts, some of the best operators in the country, uh, they own Lutzen Mountain in Minnesota.00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:39.000Stuart Winchester: one of the largest ski areas in the Midwest, uh, Granite Peak in Wisconsin, which has 3 high-speed lifts, and Snow River, which is really 2 side-by-side ski areas and a nice snow belt in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They left for Icon Pass.00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:53.000Stuart Winchester: Now, there's a little bit of a historical precedent there, because those three ski areas had been on the Max Pass, which had been the immediate predecessor, along with the Rocky Mountain Super Pass, to the Icon Pass. Uh, the…00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:10.000Stuart Winchester: Icon Pass, when it debuted in 2018, left off Snow River, Granite Peak, and Lutzen. And I always thought, well, Snow River wasn't a part of Midwest Family at the time, but I always thought that was a mistake. So I'm not surprised to see them go, but those were big drivers of Indy Pass sales.00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:16.000Stuart Winchester: Because those are marquee mountains in the Midwest. They also recently lost…00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:34.000Stuart Winchester: Another three mountains run by another great operator in Wisconsin, Little Switzerland, Crystal Ridge, and Nordic Mountain. Now, these are small ski areas. They're feeder ski areas, but they're important ski areas because Rick is a very smart guy. He's very influential.00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:50.000Stuart Winchester: And he has a lot of influence in the ski business, including being part of the board of directors of the National Skiers Association. Everyone respects him. They also lost Cabar Fay, one of my favorite mountains in Michigan. It was my pseudo-home mountain when I lived in Michigan as a teenager.00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:57.000Stuart Winchester: I have a lot of respect for Tim and Pete Meyer, who run that over there. So, I'll talk a little bit more…00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:10.000Stuart Winchester: about that with Joe, because I think there's going to be some crossover with the snow pass. So, quickly, before we get to our guest, I want to tell you about Profile Search International.00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:15.000Stuart Winchester: A lot of you come to this podcast to hear from the best minds in skiing.00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:20.000Stuart Winchester: But what if you want to find one of these great leaders for your own mountain team?00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:35.000Stuart Winchester: Well, let me introduce you to the folks at Profile Search International. They are the ski industry talent acquisition experts, and are the only executive search and recruitment firm in the world that is 100% focused on the ski industry.00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:48.000Stuart Winchester: They have used their intimate understanding of skiing and related industries and available candidates worldwide to place hundreds of transformational leaders at the best and most progressive ski areas over the past 30 years.00:18:48.000 --> 00:19:04.000Stuart Winchester: With offices in the US and Canada, Profile Search finds and negotiates with the right leaders for your team. You can reach out to them directly at profilesearch.com or contact them by email or phone, or send me a note and I will connect you directly with their expert team.00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000Stuart Winchester: We are joined.00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.000Stuart Winchester: As soon as we get a video.00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:33.000Stuart Winchester: We are joined today by the founder and CEO of Snow Partners, which owns and operates the Mountain Creek Outdoor Ski Area and the Big Snow American Dream Indoor Ski Areas in New Jersey. Snow Partners' terrain-based learning program has been used by more than 80 ski resorts worldwide.00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:50.000Stuart Winchester: And the company has rolled out its SnowCloud all-in-one resort management software with at least 15 clients, including Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Last year, the company launched the Snow Triple Play Pass, which was good for 3 days, total across 16 ski areas in eastern North America.00:19:50.000 --> 00:20:01.000Stuart Winchester: Ahead of Winter 2026-27, Triple Play adds 7 additional mountains, for a total of 23, at a price of $179.00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:18.000Stuart Winchester: Snow Partners has also launched the Snow Pass, which is loaded with two days each at 14 ski areas for $339.99. My guest to break all this down for us today is a good friend of the Storm Skiing Podcast, Joe Heschen. Joe, welcome back to the storm. Always good to track you down.00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:18.000Joe Hession: Thanks.00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000Stuart Winchester: How are you feeling on Snow Pass launch day?00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:36.000Joe Hession: You know, it's launch day for Snow Pass. It's launch day for Mountain Creek Seasons Passes. So winter's in the air. Things are happening. It's really exciting. This is probably my favorite time of year. So thanks for having me on such a special day. Winter's coming.00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.000Stuart Winchester: I'll do it.00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:53.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, and it's the first day of the new platform for the Storm. So I wanted to get you on first. I'll admit, I want to do a little bit of a flex because I know you're a hard guy to track down and you're doing a lot of cool, interesting things. I want to start with the Snowpass, Joe, because you came on the podcast last year to talk about Snow Triple Play.00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000Stuart Winchester: And your launch, and you were pretty…00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:09.000Stuart Winchester: adamant, you know, this is not a pass. I don't want to do a pass. And, you know, we talked about it a lot, and I probably harassed you about it a little bit, and now we have a pass!00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:17.000Stuart Winchester: So, so tell us about that journey. How did, how did we get from TriplePlay to SnowPass, and, and why do you have the two different products?00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:10.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:32.000Joe Hession: Yeah. And, and, you know, you might be very responsible for it because you, you pushed it early on of, you know, why, why would this not be a pass? And, you know, originally we were really following the data and the data we were really focused on was 73% of people ski between one and five days.00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:50.000Joe Hession: the price point for that, and we were looking at the data for Mountain Creek with our triple play, and saying, you know, there's really not a lot of triple plays for multi-resort. That's kind of a cool, unique concept. So we were really stuck on the data. Obviously, we heard feedback from folks like yourself, and also your other… all your listeners and subscribers, and…00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:43.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:21:50.000 --> 00:22:05.000Joe Hession: And… but then, it was really our past partners. The people that bought the Triple Play were like, if we had this option, we'd be really happy. They hit us that in our post-survey, they said, we really would like this. Um, and then the resorts. We had great partners on the Triple Play program, and…00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000Joe Hession: they came in and said, we would like this as well. So, you know, the model's been done, and we made the leap to do it. So we're really excited about it.00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:28.000Stuart Winchester: You have a great network to launch, and I think especially if you live in New York Metro, and I want to talk about — I do want to talk about Triple Play, but let's focus on Snowpass for a minute. The three key mountains here are Bel Air, Gore, and Whiteface.00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:43.000Stuart Winchester: These mountains, for those of us who are in the area, we know they're state subsidized. They've gotten a half billion dollars in investment. That's a whole different subject. We're going to leave that alone because the result of that for your pass holders is these are awesome ski areas. Bel Air is essentially a brand new ski area.00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:58.000Stuart Winchester: And if you're in New York Metro, you get two days at Mountain Creek, and you get two days at Big Snow, then there's some little ones. You get up in Connecticut, you have Mount Southington. So you have a really nice network of.00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:10.000Stuart Winchester: 14 ski areas, 12 of them are in the east. Talk about that network, Joe, and how deliberate it was that they kind of worked together to create a compelling pass product.00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:27.000Joe Hession: Yeah, that's a great question because that is, you know, we probably look at the world a little differently than people looking at different passes and different programs. And I think you nailed it. Like, you know, with the news last week, you know, sometimes people from Colorado chirp and they, this pass doesn't make sense for me. I'm like, yeah.00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:44.000Joe Hession: Yeah, congratulations. You can read and understand basic logic. So we love our friends in Colorado, we love our friends out west, but this is a pass that's very regional. It makes so much sense if you live in this area and you're planning to have those trips and, and, and you might remember this, but years ago.00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:32.000Stuart Winchester: Right.00:23:44.000 --> 00:24:00.000Joe Hession: at the NSA show, which is the National Ski Association. I was on stage with a bunch of different groups, talking about Epic Pass and ICOM Pass, and this is before we had a Pass product. And I was saying, and I was a little critical too.00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:18.000Joe Hession: you know, listen, I think the high-level past products that exist, which just throw out big numbers, like, you know, 40 of these resorts, these resorts, or 300 resorts, like, it's cool, but the reality is, is I'm really focused on how does someone actually use it? So if we go back to the skier.00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:35.000Joe Hession: and the snowboarder, and how do they actually use this pass? And, you know, back in the day, and I love, you know, the industry is much smaller than people, especially your listeners might realize, like, I have a ton of respect for almost everybody. If anyone's in this business, I respect them, because it's a really hard business.00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:36.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:51.000Joe Hession: And so for us, I've always looked at it and said these big pass products that are kind of like overwhelming with the options, like how do people actually use them and where does it drive traffic and traffic to the right places at the right time and stuff like that. So we're very deliberate.00:24:51.000 --> 00:25:02.000Joe Hession: very deliberate in, if you live in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Long Island, um, upstate New York, parts of Pennsylvania, this is a very compelling pass that not only takes you from the city.00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:18.000Joe Hession: Because for us, what's really critical is that kind of warm handshake from, we're teaching a hundred thousand new people a year to ski at Big Snow. Where do they then go to? And obviously we want them to come to Mountain Creek, but I also want them to go to Whiteface and Bel Air and Gore and Platic Hill.00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:34.000Joe Hession: Um, because things like that, that's kind of how this industry can work together to take people who are new to the sport, or people who are, maybe have never gone. Maybe they always go to Vermont, and we love Vermont, but maybe this is their chance to go up to Whiteface and realize, oh, wow.00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:41.000Joe Hession: That's, you know, you can see JP from there, right? So it's kind of it's people don't realize how far north Whiteface is.00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:49.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, so you have a really nice network, and I think it's gonna sell really well. I mean, just even if… even if you just launched.00:25:49.000 --> 00:26:05.000Stuart Winchester: a Bel Air Gore Whiteface pass at that price point, I think it would probably sell really well. Uh, but the reality is you're going up against a very competitive market. So, uh, you look at Epic Pass, not maybe so competitive, you're doing something different, they don't have as many mountains in the market. Indy Pass.00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:20.000Stuart Winchester: I'm not even sure if you know this yet, because the embargo literally lifted when we started this at 10 a.m. eastern. A smuggler's notch today announced they are joining the Indy Pass. So the Indy Pass gives you a really nice network of resorts in your neighborhood.00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:34.000Stuart Winchester: In New England, it has Waterville Valley, Cannon, Jay Peak, Saddleback, and now Smug, some of the best ski areas in the region. It has ski areas all over New York. That goes on sale to the public.00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:50.000Stuart Winchester: Today or tomorrow, the Indy Pass, they do a fall sale for $419. They have 256 alpine ski areas as of today, including 61 in the western US. They have a big head start, right? They started in 2019, so.00:26:50.000 --> 00:27:04.000Stuart Winchester: you're offering a different product, but it works in the same way, right? SnowPass. Uh, little lower price point, $340 as opposed to $419. What's your pitch for someone considering SnowPass or IndyPass?00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:20.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so, well, well, first let me hit that because it's, it's, what's interesting is, and, and it's important to kind of explain our background and where we come from. I probably see the world differently than almost everyone involved in this past world. I, I kind of look at it as.00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:35.000Joe Hession: you know, the pitch is, if you live in this area and you want to visit the resorts on our pass, it's a no-brainer. Not only that, I don't think we're going to live in a world where there's Epic, Icon, Indy, Snow Pass, Mountain Collective.00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:53.000Joe Hession: I think we should be trying to live in a world where we democratize skiing back to the skiers and snowboarders, and allow them to make choices in their price points where they want to go, vastly different than it is today. I think these programs, um, really exist because lack of good technology.00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:08.000Joe Hession: Like, like, basically, we would have reciprocal programs back years ago with, uh, like, Mound Creek and Killington. And to get that to actually make sense to the guests, where they show up, and it's seamless, and the money's able to be traded the right way, wasn't possible years ago.00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:24.000Joe Hession: So, for us, you know, and I'll get to the question of what the pitch directly to Indy, but I see the world so dramatically different than IndyPass. I see a world where independent ski resorts should be working with each other.00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:43.000Joe Hession: for the betterment of their guests to share people to different locations that people find interesting. A real-life example is Martok in Nova Scotia and Cape Smoky have a reciprocal program that they're actually allowed to have… they have one pass that's able to work at both places and can split the revenue and funding between it.00:28:43.000 --> 00:29:00.000Joe Hession: between them. They have common ownership. But they're both on SnowCloud. So really, you know, our software platform, SnowCloud, which really operates all the things that is involved with Snowpass and Snow TriplePlay, our real pitch long-term, our real pitch of what we're trying to do with Snowpass.00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:46.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:17.000Joe Hession: is open up the door to give resort leaders and operators tools where they take out the middleman. And what I mean by the middleman is Wachusett and a resort up in Vermont doesn't need a third party to organize their pass benefits.00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:33.000Joe Hession: They should be doing it directly themselves, using better technology. So, I am calling for a shift, a big shift, in the way that people think of this, of, let's get away from these big, pillar, clunky things that are these big, like.00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:46.000Joe Hession: big, like, kind of ego plays of passes, and let's take skiing back to the skiers and snowboarders, and let them have direct relationships with the resorts they love, and give these operators great tools to allow that to happen.00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:38.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:50.000Joe Hession: Um, so that that's our long term pitch. Yeah.00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:56.000Stuart Winchester: So let me jump in there. I just want to ask now, I want to follow up on that. So are you saying this snow pass, your goal is to…00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:01.000Stuart Winchester: make it extinct at some point? It's a building block to the next level, is that what you're saying?00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:01.000Joe Hession: You…00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:17.000Joe Hession: Yeah, what's interesting is Snowpass, we have no upside in Snowpass. So we've been very open and clear about this. And I just want to make sure the goal of Snowpass is secure. We share all of our books openly with all of our resort partners. They can see every transaction, every dollar flow.00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:33.000Joe Hession: There's overhead in some of the expenses. They get a clear, like, this is the piece that we do that. We originally said it was estimated at 5%. If it ends up becoming 3%, we'll distribute the rest of that to the resorts. We have no profit margin built into our plan for Snowpass.00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:43.000Joe Hession: Snowpass to us is the first step in trying to prove the theory of could we remove the middleman from the equation?00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:58.000Joe Hession: And we applaud the idea that if you're on Snowpass, and let's say that Whiteface wants to now work with Platykill directly, we would celebrate that and see that as a huge win.00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:14.000Joe Hession: Because we want resorts to collaborate. If people are real fans of skiing and snowboarding, and they've been buying passes for years, and part of it, they know that the beauty of the ski industry is when the ski industry, skiers, snowboarders, the people that operate these resorts, work together.00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:26.000Joe Hession: they create beautiful things. So we need to give them tools to work together, and also the ability to work together, because some companies restrict people from being able to work with each other, which goes against the spirit of the whole ski industry in the first place.00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:32.000Stuart Winchester: So if you were… So let's think of… Let's do a thought experiment here. So let's take some…00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:32.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:53.000Stuart Winchester: some resorts that share your operating software, right? So you have Mountain Creek, so you can do whatever you want with it, and you have big snow. I know that, for example, Greek Peak up in upstate New York uses, it's up near Cornell, sort of central New York for folks who aren't familiar. It would be a great feeder from Mountain Creek because it has.00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:45.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:31:53.000 --> 00:32:09.000Stuart Winchester: a resort feel, and it's a big mountain, and it has a nice hotel across the street with a water park and everything. So you have, uh, Greek Beak, and then you signed Jackson Hole, right? So would an example be that if you were a…00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:13.000Stuart Winchester: Mountain Creek Passholder, you could somehow…00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:25.000Stuart Winchester: Mountain Creek could sign a deal with Greek Peak for shorter-term visits and Jackson Hole for longer-term. Is that the goal, and how would that be different from a pass we have now?00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:40.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so, yeah, well, because it could be priced exactly to the price, it would make sense to the consumer. Because right now, and remember, when people buy an IndiePass or a pass like that, there's an idea that all these resorts, like, I'm a big fan of IndiePass.00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:57.000Joe Hession: Pareto charts, the 80/20 rule. I will guess, not knowing anything about their business, that 80% of the revenue is made up of 20% of the resorts and the visits. I will almost guarantee it because that's how statistics works. So when you have huge numbers, it starts to cloud the efficiency of it, right?00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:53.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:17.000Joe Hession: So to me, I look at and say, yeah, so a program where it's like if Mountain Creek went to Greek Peak and said, we want to have a reciprocal program where if someone uses this, it seamlessly just works at the lift. So imagine someone took their Mountain Creek pass, went and rode the lift at Greek Peak and boom, the transaction happened. The guests never even knew it happened.00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:32.000Joe Hession: the business relationship worked, and then we shared data to basically say, oh, this is a Mountain Creek and Greek Peak guest. Now you guys can market directly to them and hopefully get them to come for a longer stay next time. That's where I… that's where I would love to have it, and Greek Peak's a great example.00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:40.000Joe Hession: We're great partners with them. We love that resort. They've been great early adopters of SnowCloud. We're not allowed to have a reciprocal program with them at Mountain Creek or Big.00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:58.000Joe Hession: They're, they're contractly obligated not to work with anyone other than who they work with, which is, which to me is just wild. And I think most people don't realize that that's how it works. And, you know, the last thing we need is, is the middleman kind of inserting themselves into controlling how people operate. It's just.00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:10.000Joe Hession: So… so I would love… I see a future like that. Currently, unfortunately, with a place like Repeat, we're not allowed to work with them. We're… we're… and… and I mean not on Snowpass. We can't have a reciprocal…00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.000Joe Hession: We can't give someone a discount if they're a Mountain Creek holder to go to Greek Peak. It's.00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, and great.00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.000Joe Hession: Less rules. We need less rules.00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:29.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, Greek Peak has worked with IndiePass since 2019. They've been an original partner over there. I want to get to that in a second. You know, I…00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:20.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:44.000Stuart Winchester: I don't know if I see a post-pass world, because I like a menu, I like the big passes. However, what I think you're describing could solve is the free visit problem.00:34:44.000 --> 00:35:02.000Stuart Winchester: because I know Indian Ski Cooper, for example, had a dust-up a few years ago because Ski Cooper was essentially… India accused him of essentially creating a national pass, and that was probably my fault because I wrote an article that said, hey, look at this secret national pass for 300 bucks in Colorado. Nonetheless, it's a lot of…00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:56.000Joe Hession: Mm-hmm.00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:19.000Stuart Winchester: Free visits and you have mountains like Bogus Basin in, in Idaho that are still giving away a lot of free visits. Now, Bogus is a great business and, and it's doing well and they have a surplus and, and they've evolved great in the past decade or so. Uh, but, but it seems like that could really solve that.00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:26.000Stuart Winchester: free visits problem, where there is some revenue sharing. Is that part of what you're trying to solve here?00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:41.000Joe Hession: 100%. And you see the big players do it, right? Like a big thing about us too is I'm not against anything. I think Indie is fantastic. And it's very important to point this out. I think that is, but I also think Epic and Icon are great.00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:35.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:57.000Joe Hession: Like, I'll put it this way, operating a small resort here in New Jersey, Mountain Creek, or Big Snow, there are things that Vail does so much better than us that we wish we had the resources they have. Now, with that said, we do things way better than Vail does, and they wish they had the resources.00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:35:57.000 --> 00:36:14.000Joe Hession: Or the ability to do what we can do, right? And, you know, there's an old commercial years ago that there was, like, a big boardroom, and the boardroom, they're like, I wonder what the little guys are doing. And then all of a sudden, it showed the people in, like, the startup, and they're like, I wonder what the big guys are doing. So, we're all in the same business, and we're.00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:00.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:06.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:32.000Joe Hession: some of the things they've done to try to cure their own things. They own most of their resorts on their program, so they're gonna do things the way that benefits them, because they own all those resorts together. And they've tried to solve these problems in similar ways, and I think learning from them on that stuff, same thing with Icon is doing similar stuff to that.00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:35.000Joe Hession: Um, but yeah, I think…00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:44.000Joe Hession: that's exactly what we're trying to solve. We're trying to solve… we want resorts to have relationships that make sense to the consumer. Like, for example.00:36:44.000 --> 00:37:00.000Joe Hession: Who is going to go, and I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll focus on someone else for a minute. Who's gonna, who's gonna go to 40 resorts in a year on a certain pass? Nobody. Nobody. Skiers are smarter than that. No one's doing that. What they're doing, if you buy an Epic or Icon.00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:57.000Stuart Winchester: Right.00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:08.000Joe Hession: in the real world, the conversation goes, um, oh, I live in New York? Great. What pass are my friends buying?00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:24.000Joe Hession: Because where are they going to go this year? Where do we want to take our family trip? Oh, and it just happened. My wife and I, our family, we have a place in Snowmass. So every year, we have some friends who are like, I want to come out to Snowmass. Well, they buy an IconPass. Their decision is made based on, oh.00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:18.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:43.000Joe Hession: your condo's available, I can go, I'm gonna lock in an Icon Pass. That's how consumers actually work. So, to me, it's like, I agree with you, I love the big passes, I don't think they should go away. I think there's a great place for India, I think there's a great place for Icon, I think there's a great place for Epic Pass. There might be a great place for Snowpass.00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:59.000Joe Hession: But I also get really excited about other options. And I feel like we're at this disruptive time where we're seeing the results of these passes and kind of the rubs that are rubbing people the wrong way. And I think it might be time with technology that we can kind of.00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:57.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:06.000Joe Hession: take it to the next level. Like, you know, we're talking about the evolution of, you know, major.00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:21.000Joe Hession: uh, success has been done, and there's been some learnings, right? Like… like, the pictures of the long lines and stuff, uh, that we see every holiday or powder day, like, is a result of the PASS program. It's a result of this, it's an output of that, and I think there's ways we can maybe.00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:37.000Joe Hession: Make it better where the skier gets a better choice, a better experience, and then the resorts get to share in different ways. So really, at the end of the day, I think it's a technology driven way to better collaborate for the betterment of the ski experience to democratize.00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:35.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:42.000Joe Hession: It's kind of the price and take out the middleman is really, is really my pitch.00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:44.000Stuart Winchester: So, Joy, I appreciate…00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.000Joe Hession: I'd like to remove myself from the equation eventually.00:38:44.000 --> 00:39:01.000Stuart Winchester: You know, the problem with you removing yourself from the equation, Joe, is that everyone I talk to really likes working with Snow Partners, your team. They like the train-based learning, they like your operating software.00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:55.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:16.000Stuart Winchester: And I appreciate that spirit of Bonhomie, and you're right, the ski industry is small, and it was smaller than I would have imagined, and it was more welcoming than I would have imagined. I'm not sure if you read the lawsuit.00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:25.000Stuart Winchester: The most recent one filed against Veil Altera, Boyne Powder, the National Skier Association and and RRC. And it's built.00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:21.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:34.000Stuart Winchester: the case for the lawsuit is built on accusations of collusion. Using a lot of.00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:33.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:50.000Stuart Winchester: kind of fluffy evidence of people getting together at NSAA shows and basically sharing data and sharing best practices. I think all industries do this. Now, I'm going somewhere with this.00:39:50.000 --> 00:40:07.000Stuart Winchester: I appreciate that, and I think IndyPass, a lot of people love working with them. However, maybe a little more conflict would be good for the ski industry, because one thing I've seen as I've been reading old newspaper clippings is ski operators used to talk a lot more junk to each other, like, oh, Summit County, Colorado does.00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:17.000Stuart Winchester: more skier visits to the whole state of Utah. Obviously, those days are over, but there used to be a little more smack talk. So let me get into a little controversy here, and you can address this as you want.00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:34.000Stuart Winchester: As you said, Indy Pass does not share. You have been willing to share and and the snow triple or snow pass shares two mountains, Bromance in Quebec and Whiteface with Mountain Collective and three.00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:45.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, Butternut, Jiminy Peak, and Cranmore with the Icon today. You and Indy are both claiming Snow King, you're both telling me it's locked in, uh, and…00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:55.000Stuart Winchester: Indy's telling me it's only gonna be on Indy, so… there's a little conflict for ya. Uh, how are you approaching that, and what do you think about the scenario?00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:52.000Joe Hession: Yeah, yeah.00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:00.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so we're talking about Snow King specifically?00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.000Stuart Winchester: Yes, Snow King specifically.00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:10.000Joe Hession: Yeah, so specifically Snow King, we have a signed agreement with Snow King. We're very excited to work with Snow King.00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:08.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:23.000Joe Hession: Uh, Snow King would love to have visits, uh, come from us, and they are on our website, and we launched with Snow King. Um, that's where we're at. Um, you know, as far as what's going on with them in Indy.00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:39.000Joe Hession: Um, I'll kind of let them speak to that to themselves, but from what I understand, which I'll take some liberties and say what I think is going on, is there is a clause in an IndyPass that if someone leaves the IndyPass program.00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:55.000Joe Hession: They have to not work with anyone for another year. And it's kind of buried in the fine details. So I think what happened is I think they were off that pass, planned to be off that pass, maybe wasn't familiar with that clause, and then signed an agreement with us.00:41:55.000 --> 00:42:10.000Joe Hession: So for me, so the big question is, hey, so here's the choices as we sit today. We have a signed agreement. We've told Snow King, if this is going to hurt you, we never want to hurt you. So we are 100% willing to do whatever that takes.00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.000Joe Hession: to do it.00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:17.000Joe Hession: But, you know, we're not gonna just, like, bow down, because at the end of the day.00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:31.000Joe Hession: It's also on Indy, and maybe they… maybe they signed an agreement that wasn't… that was not the right thing to do. We have a signed agreement. They're on our paths, right? Um, at the end of the day, there's one person who can make a big choice here.00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:37.000Joe Hession: Is Indy gonna sue Snow King because of this clause in the piece?00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:54.000Joe Hession: I read in the Boston Globe that Eric Mogensen is going to, like, change and save skiing. Is he going to sue a small ski resort? Like, and I know that's blunt, but I would put the ball right back in his court. I would love to, you know, if he sues Snow King.00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:45.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:54.000 --> 00:43:12.000Joe Hession: That would be an insane thing. And I think he should go out to everyone and say, you know what, we're not going to litigate. You know, I know he hasn't been operating a ski resort long, and I have a ton of respect because of the fact that the fact that he's a GM of a ski resort, the fact that he's operating a ski resort, there's not a single person. And I respect him.00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:27.000Joe Hession: I really do. I really do. There's just one piece that we don't see eye to eye on. And it's… he's told me he's the anti-collaborator, and I am the ultimate collaborator. So when you get us in the ring together, it's one is super collaboration and one isn't. And so to me.00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:39.000Joe Hession: I think, you know, the more he operates a ski resort, he's gonna realize that litigation is one of the hardest things we have to deal with in the ski business. We have realities of things that happen at ski resorts that involve litigation.00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:49.000Joe Hession: suing each other is just a waste of time. Like, what are we doing? Like, we should be, like, we need… we should be talking about skiing and snowboarding, and we should be thinking.00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:43.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:43:49.000 --> 00:44:09.000Joe Hession: how many visits can Indy give Snow King? I would love for them to get a ton of visits. How many visits can Snow Pass give Snow King? Let's get Snow King visits. Let's give people options. And just because of, like, some, uh, you know, red tape in a contract, we're then gonna threaten and clause, like.00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:53.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:28.000Joe Hession: So that's… so here's… so I gave you probably more than I should have, but… and I'm sure Hugh is no longer looking at me, so he… but he didn't give me the hook, so I'm still talking, right, Hugh? We're good? So, I'm sure… you know, but you'll definitely… you wanted to have, you know, for this inaugural session, you wanted to have some stories. This is a story.00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:39.000Joe Hession: The story is, the reality is, the truth is, that they were under contract, Indy, from what I understand, which they've told me, they wrote they are no longer to work, they gave them the right.00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:53.000Joe Hession: I'm out. This is the time you're supposed to be out. They were unaware of this one clause, which we were also unaware of. We signed, we moved forward, we announced. After announcement, it was, no, you can't do that. So, really, right now, I think Snow King would gladly take visits from both.00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:54.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:56.000Joe Hession: We would gladly take visits from both.00:44:56.000 --> 00:45:02.000Joe Hession: Ball's in Mogensen's court, we'll see what he does. I guess the best way to approach this is publicly. So, here.00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:00.000Stuart Winchester: And he…00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:16.000Stuart Winchester: I agree, and Eric is scheduled to be on this podcast on Thursday, so he will have his chance to respond. And you know what, Joe, you're welcome back anytime to respond. But before you go out the door, I do want… I did promise to keep these short, and I know for you and I.00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:07.000Joe Hession: Perfect!00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:12.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:16.000Joe Hession: Yep.00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:31.000Stuart Winchester: Both, that's a challenge. I do want to call out some of these awesome new triple play partners, uh, Jiminy Peak and Cramore, especially. I have a ton of respect for the Fairbanks and, and, uh, what, and what they do. Uh, Bromont is, is an excellent.00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:28.000Joe Hession: Yeah.00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:51.000Stuart Winchester: edition, and Hallamont. Actually, Hallamont is on Snow Pass as well, which is a terrific skier. I never realized until I went there this year. It's just because it's private on the weekends and in public during the week. What do you have to do to convince some of these folks, especially Jiminy Cranmore Bromont, to jump over to Snow Pass? Do you think there's a path there?00:45:52.000 --> 00:46:10.000Joe Hession: Yeah, you know, I do. I think it's kind of proving it out over time, but also making, you know, going back to what I said earlier, maybe the right product for them is a relationship with different resorts, right? Maybe it's a whole new version of what happens, but I think we're very lucky to have them on the program.00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:25.000Joe Hession: Both operators are fantastic. Brian and Tyler Fairbank, we go back really far. Like, they were early adopters of us with snow operating and train-based learning. Brian Fairbank, if people don't know, is one of the godfathers of snowmaking in the industry.00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:16.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:40.000Joe Hession: He's still at it. He's in his 80s. He's out there making snow. I mean, he's an absolute legend. So anytime we get to work with him and his resort partners, we're really happy. Tyler, we've obviously known for well over a decade and a half as well.00:46:40.000 --> 00:47:00.000Joe Hession: great resorts, we've loved visiting them, and I think they're great operators, so I think people are going to love discovering them. And that's, you know, one thing I'll give a lot of credit to Indy for, which has opened our eyes, is the fact that there's so many passes on the program, there's the fact that there's all these different options. People learn new places they've never learned before, right? And I think Epic and I kind of have done the same.00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:15.000Joe Hession: You know, I never thought of going to Crested Butte, but because it's on the Epic Pass, I'm going to go to Crested Butte, or I never thought of going to this resort, but because of it. And I think that's been a huge success. And it's great to hear you say, like, Hollymont, like, oh, I didn't know that much about the.00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:05.000Stuart Winchester: Yep.00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:29.000Joe Hession: I think that's the spirit. The spirit is, how do you take skiers from different regions and inspire them to want to go to somewhere else and make that transaction seamless and easy for the operators to navigate, is really our goal.00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:49.000Stuart Winchester: It's such a rich world, and I love how you're helping folks explore it. Leave us with this, Joe. Where can we buy Snowpass? And I believe you said you're selling a limited number. You probably won't tell me that number, but how soon should folks go to where you're going to tell us to go before they're going to lose this special price of, I believe, 340 for Snowpass and 179?00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:52.000Stuart Winchester: For the triple play.00:47:52.000 --> 00:48:05.000Joe Hession: Correct. So, so 4pm today, mysnowpass.com, uh, it's gonna be a limited release. Uh, if you know the Mound Creek world, and you know how we do it, it's actually Mound Creek's on the clock right now.00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:22.000Joe Hession: Um, we've been selling for 31 minutes, so I'm gonna get an update when we get off the call here, but at 4 o'clock, we will have our watch party with our group in the kind of war room. We're watching the transactions live. We have a number that we have promised ourselves we will not exceed, and it'll shut itself down at that number.00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:40.000Joe Hession: Um, so 4PM today will be, uh… will be the birth of a new product in the industry, which hopefully will inspire other new products down the road, and… and hopefully start to change the relationship between resorts and… and the skiers, because that's what it's about. It's about getting skiers the best price for the best mountains, new… doing new things, and working together.00:48:40.000 --> 00:49:00.000Joe Hession: And we have a beautiful industry of resorts, but we have great customers. People who are skiers and snowboarders are so passionate. Like, I read everything they post on your stuff. You know, the comments have been just amazing. And, you know, we're looking forward to, over time, I want to make that person in Colorado that keeps saying, this pass stinks, has nothing to do for me.00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:51.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, thank you.00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:09.000Joe Hession: I want to eventually win them over by giving them a product that does make sense for them or allowing resorts there to find a product that works for them. So it's really exciting day.00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:17.000Stuart Winchester: Colorado bro is very proud of Colorado. Uh, last year, Joe, you sold Snow Triple Play, I believe, until Christmas Eve. You have a similar schedule in mind for these two passes this year?00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:11.000Joe Hession: Yes.00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:32.000Joe Hession: Yeah, exactly the same schedule. So they'll be… the best price will be the launches. So today will be the lowest possible price, it'll scale up in another drop, and then it'll be on sale for a little bit at its full retail price, and then it'll turn off at that time. Exactly.00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:20.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:51.000Stuart Winchester: Joe, so good to run you down. Good luck with the launch. I can't wait to see how it goes, and how this thing grows, and frankly, how this little controversy between Snowpass and Indypass resolves itself, because I'm sure that you will find a way through it. So, thank you so much for being my first guest on the new platform. I really appreciate it.00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:35.000Joe Hession: Yes.00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:51.000Joe Hession: Okay.00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:54.000Stuart Winchester: You're welcome on anytime. We'll talk to you really soon.00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:56.000Joe Hession: Great. Thanks for having me.00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:57.000Stuart Winchester: All right, take care, Joe. Bye now.00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:00.000Stuart Winchester: Alright, so…00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:03.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, what do you…00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:23.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, so that was Joe Heschen, the CEO of Snow Partners and the founder. Quick update from another partner before I wrap up the show today. If you run a ski area or outdoor brand, I want to tell you about my friends at Bonfire Collective.00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:35.000Stuart Winchester: They are a fractional marketing team that collaborates with ski areas and outdoor brands, and they will give your marketing a fresh perspective and better storytelling to supercharge your rebranding or advertising.00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:41.000Stuart Winchester: Bonfire can help you rethink your approach in ways that can turbocharge your business.00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:49.000Stuart Winchester: For example, Bonfire took on the marketing at one New Hampshire ski area and doubled revenue in just three years.00:50:49.000 --> 00:51:04.000Stuart Winchester: When the storm was ready to invest in its first ever digital marketing campaign last year, I worked with Bonfire to make it happen. I could not be happier with the results, and I think you will love working with them as well. To get started, you'll want to talk to Eric.00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:21.000Stuart Winchester: over at Bonfire Collective. He was a co-founder of Bluebird Backcountry Colorado, the first human-powered ski area, so he knows the ski business. You can actually listen to his podcast episode on the Storm Skiing Podcast, long form. Visit bonfirecollective.com.00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:25.000Stuart Winchester: Or I will be happy to make that connection for you.00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:28.000Stuart Winchester: All right, how great was Joe?00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:45.000Stuart Winchester: This is why I love the new pod, because I can have guys like that on all the time. I have dozens of relationships like that throughout the ski industry. Anytime you've listened to a podcast and you've heard someone on there and you enjoyed the conversation.00:51:45.000 --> 00:52:01.000Stuart Winchester: Whether it was Carl Kapczynski, who runs California Mountain Resorts, or… and owns Mountain High, and Bear Valley, and China Peak, and Dodge Ridge out in California. Or if it was…00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:15.000Stuart Winchester: Dustin, who… the president at Copper Mountain, uh, or it was Rob Katz, you know, the Vale CEO. I'm interacting with these people, or… or the folks who represent them, all the time.00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:31.000Stuart Winchester: I talk to Carl Kabasinski all the time, but I haven't had him on the podcast in four years. He's already agreed to come on the new shorter form to talk about all the things going on in his mountains. And that's what's great about it. And, you know, one of the concerns that I heard from people when I announced a shorter form pod was.00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:47.000Stuart Winchester: Oh, well, I really like when you covered small mountains. Well, this will allow me to do that much more, because I don't have to commit an entire hour and a half long episode to it, and it doesn't have to be the whole history of the area. I can just, for example, ask.00:52:47.000 --> 00:53:02.000Stuart Winchester: Rick Schmitz from Little Switzerland in Wisconsin to come onto the show and talk about the new quad chairlift that he's putting up or two new quads put

In this episode, Coach Loretta and Coach Lindsay sit down with special guest David Clark—avid backpacker, hiker, and professor at Grand Valley State University. Having spent years in Michigan's Upper Peninsula while attending Michigan Tech, David developed a deep passion for the Porcupine Mountains and has hiked every single trail throughout the Wilderness State Park. He joins the show to provide an incredibly detailed, step-by-step breakdown of both the 50-mile and half marathon courses. Whether you are aiming to fine-tune your pacing strategy, prepare for specific technical terrain, or simply visualize the route ahead of race day, this is an essential preview you will want to keep on repeat.

The podcast is making its second visit to Michigan. UIAAA Connection #296 – Kevin Guzzo, CMAA, Director of Athletics – St. Josephs H S – is now available. Kevin proudly shared his roots as a "Yooper," growing up in the small Upper Peninsula community of Bessemer, Michigan. After earning a mathematics degree from Western Michigan University, he built a career dedicated to educational athletics and leadership. Kevin emphasizes the importance of maintaining ahealthy work-life balance while reminding listeners that high school athletics never truly pauses during the summer months. He reflects on lessons learned from respected Michigan mentors and experiences gained at the recent conference in Tampa. His advice encouraged athletic directors to leave their desks, build genuine relationships with student-athletes, remember their purpose, and prioritize personal well-being because effective leadership begins with taking care of yourself.https://open.spotify.com/show/2L2ERXOxQcuHl5GE1vjOiHThis podcast is also available on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube.

Chad Stewart from the Michigan DNR is back on the Terrible Outdoorsman Podcast—and after 99 episodes away, there's plenty to talk about.Ryan and Bob sit down with Chad, Michigan DNR Cervid Supervisor covering deer, elk, and moose, for an in-depth conversation about the current state of Michigan's whitetail herd, why deer management looks completely different depending on where you hunt, and some of the biggest regulation changes Michigan hunters have seen in years.Chad breaks down why deer numbers remain a concern in much of the Upper Peninsula, including the effects of habitat, increasingly severe winters, predators, and declining hunter participation. Meanwhile, southern Michigan faces almost the opposite problem: areas with extremely high deer numbers and a need to increase antlerless harvest.Then we get into the meat and potatoes—the new deer regulations.We talk about Michigan moving toward a one-buck limit in the Lower Peninsula, earn-a-second-buck counties, antler point restrictions, changes to the December firearm season, and whether limiting hunters to one buck will actually encourage more hunters to put does in the freezer.We also discuss what the one-buck rule could mean for hunting culture in Michigan, whether hunters will become more selective, changes to firearm regulations in southern Michigan, the difference between DNR recommendations, NRC decisions and laws passed by the legislature, the return of recreational deer feeding, baiting confusion, and of course…the topic we couldn't let Chad leave without discussing: CWD.This is a must-listen episode for Michigan deer hunters heading into hunting season.Grab a cold one, settle in, and hear the conversation straight from one of the people helping oversee Michigan's deer, elk, and moose management.Get outdoors and don't be terrible.Michigan Operation Freedom Outdoors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wes Point Shores FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WesPointShores.Com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠VanGuard VEO HD Bundle⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vanguard Outdoors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Use Code TERRIBLE20 to save 20%!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Terrible Swag⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Terrible Outdoorsman Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#TerribleOutdoorsman #MichiganDNR #MichiganHunting #MichiganDeer #DeerHunting #WhitetailHunting #MichiganWhitetail #DeerManagement #OneBuckRule #HuntingRegulations #MichiganOutdoors #UPHunting #CWD #DeerCamp #HuntingPodcast

Join Polaris Adventures Content Manager Jared Christie on a trip into the heart of Michigan's Upper Peninsula with Carol Renze, owner of Renze's Power Sport Rental. Carol's journey from aspiring biochemical engineer to off-road rental business owner is as inspiring as the breathtaking landscapes of the UP that she now calls home.Book your next adventure @ www.adventures.polaris.com Unless noted, trademarks are the property of Polaris Industries Inc. © 2026 Polaris Industries Inc.

From Superman in southeast Michigan to a Jersey Mud sundae in the Upper Peninsula, Michiganders know how to enjoy a scoop. GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE: Mary Jean Raab, Washtenaw Dairy Nate and Nova Wilson Dale Iverson Want to submit a story or a question to On Hand? Do it here!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travels With Randy Route 66 In The Fall of '26 Episode 1 is here! Finally Back On The Road Again! Road Trip and Business Updates Randy and Bubba discussed Randy's current road trip across the country, where he is pursuing genealogy research while traveling. Randy explained his decision to change plans from visiting the Upper Peninsula to doing a Lake Michigan loop, specifically targeting lighthouses along the route Angels Baseball Team Performance Discussion Bubba and Randy discussed the poor performance of the Angels baseball team, which is in danger of losing 100 games for the first time in their history. Randy expressed frustration with the team's owner, who prioritizes profit over winning, and they compared baseball's lack of promotion/relegation system to soccer's more flexible league structure. The conversation concluded with a discussion about innovative sports entertainment like the Savannah Bananas and the challenges of getting funding for new business ventures. Entrepreneurial Experiences and Business Financing Bubba and Randy discussed their experiences starting businesses 25 years ago, comparing the easier access to credit and financing during that period to the more restrictive current environment. They reflected on how their children, including Randy's son Jamison, have been influenced by their entrepreneurial experiences, with Jamison choosing stable employment over business ownership after witnessing both the successes and failures of Randy's business. Randy mentioned he is 14 months away from paying off his vehicle "Snuffy" after financing half the purchase price and using cash for the rest, following a $145,000 renovation. Car Mileage and Maintenance Discussion Bubba and Randy discussed their car mileage and maintenance issues. Bubba shared that his car Satan's Anus had reached 417,000 miles and had recently lost its bumper and back window due to an incident where he tried to push a tree off the road. Randy mentioned that his car Stuffy had reached 110,000 miles and he drives about 25,000 miles annually, with the mechanic indicating the engine could go up to 250,000 miles without issue. Historical Mining and Modern Parallels Bubba and Randy discussed the challenges of home ownership and the relentless nature of maintenance issues. Randy shared his recent road trip through South Dakota's Black Hills and Montana, including a visit to the ghost town of Garnett, which highlighted the difficult circumstances faced by early miners seeking fortune. They reflected on how people 200 years ago would have been gold miners if they lived then, and discussed the historical pattern where those who supplied the miners (like pick and shovel sellers) often fared better than those doing the mining, drawing a parallel to modern internet businesses like Google. Wealth Concentration and Travel Discussion Bubba and Randy discussed the dramatic increase in wealth concentration, noting how companies like Nvidia now generate billions daily while individual financial opportunities have shrunk. They explored the implications of AI market consolidation and discussed Randy's current retirement lifestyle of traveling across different states, including his upcoming Route 66 journey where he plans to focus more on experiencing the route rather than just documenting it. Randy mentioned his routine of trading until market open and staying at various locations including Harvest Hosts and occasional hotels during his travels. Route 66 Trip Planning Discussion Randy discussed his upcoming Route 66 trip back to the western United States, planning to visit places he missed during his spring journey and interview businesses along the route to see how they fared during the summer. He noted that many locations are preparing for the centennial celebration in November, with Disney planning a Cars reissue in September. Bubba mentioned that Randy's Route 66 photos have been popular on Facebook, with over 6,000 pictures taken and featured in a new 16-month calendar available for purchase. The discussion also covered Randy's plans to create more video content and adapt to Facebook's preference for vertical formats, with the podcast continuing weekly coverage of Randy's travels.   SO. MANY. PHOTOS - Come join the conversation on Facebook with our 37,000 friends! https://www.facebook.com/travelswithrandypodcast Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want us to sell something National Park or Route 66 related? Want to be a guest? Want to pay for both of us to go to Alaska? Want me to stop asking questions?   bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com !! LISTEN TO THE OFFICIAL TRAVELS WITH RANDY SOUNDTRACK! Available on all streaming music platforms such as Apple:  TWR Full Soundtrack GET YOUR COPY OF THE TWR OFFICIAL ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL 16 MONTH CALENDAR! ONLY $19.99 Now Shipping!   https://travelswithrandy.com/  

Marge Wakefield grew up in Lake Linden, Michigan, a small town in the Upper Peninsula, where she came to know herself as a “Yooper” and, from a very young age, came to know something else she called “the shadow.” At nineteen, while studying piano in Philadelphia, she was hospitalized for the first time and saw the word “schizophrenia” written on her chart. What might have frightened someone else brought Marge a sense of hope, because for the first time, what she had carried had a name, and if it had a name, she believed something could be done.Featured in 'The Humanity Edition' of AwareNow Magazine: www.awarenowmagazine.comGuest: Marge WakefieldHost: Allié McGuireMusic by: OkayaProduced by: AwareNow Media

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 4132: Jay and Heather Harrington explain why decades of behavioral research keep pointing the same direction: experiences improve in memory while possessions lose their shine. They recount a rained-out hike through Michigan's Upper Peninsula that was miserable in the moment and a favorite story by the time they reached the car. They close with four traits the most memorable experiences share, from first moments to time outdoors in every season. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.lifeandwhim.com/first-moments-blog/2018/why-experiences-over-things-get-better-with-time Quotes to ponder: "In short, while we quickly adapt to new material possessions and they lose their 'shine,' experiences get better with time." "The most lasting and positive memories don't come from acquiring something new, they come from doing something new." "Happiness. Contentment. Balance. These are all qualities that we aspire to. Often we overcomplicate how to achieve them." Optimal Living Daily is a daily personal development and self-improvement podcast where we narrate the best self-help articles on minimalism, productivity, and intentional living, read to you by a professional narrator so you can live your best life a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 4132: Jay and Heather Harrington explain why decades of behavioral research keep pointing the same direction: experiences improve in memory while possessions lose their shine. They recount a rained-out hike through Michigan's Upper Peninsula that was miserable in the moment and a favorite story by the time they reached the car. They close with four traits the most memorable experiences share, from first moments to time outdoors in every season. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.lifeandwhim.com/first-moments-blog/2018/why-experiences-over-things-get-better-with-time Quotes to ponder: "In short, while we quickly adapt to new material possessions and they lose their 'shine,' experiences get better with time." "The most lasting and positive memories don't come from acquiring something new, they come from doing something new." "Happiness. Contentment. Balance. These are all qualities that we aspire to. Often we overcomplicate how to achieve them." Optimal Living Daily is a daily personal development and self-improvement podcast where we narrate the best self-help articles on minimalism, productivity, and intentional living, read to you by a professional narrator so you can live your best life a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) - Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com Episode 4132: Jay and Heather Harrington explain why decades of behavioral research keep pointing the same direction: experiences improve in memory while possessions lose their shine. They recount a rained-out hike through Michigan's Upper Peninsula that was miserable in the moment and a favorite story by the time they reached the car. They close with four traits the most memorable experiences share, from first moments to time outdoors in every season. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.lifeandwhim.com/first-moments-blog/2018/why-experiences-over-things-get-better-with-time Quotes to ponder: "In short, while we quickly adapt to new material possessions and they lose their 'shine,' experiences get better with time." "The most lasting and positive memories don't come from acquiring something new, they come from doing something new." "Happiness. Contentment. Balance. These are all qualities that we aspire to. Often we overcomplicate how to achieve them." Optimal Living Daily is a daily personal development and self-improvement podcast where we narrate the best self-help articles on minimalism, productivity, and intentional living, read to you by a professional narrator so you can live your best life a little more every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#968 Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/968Presented by: Stonefly Nets, Montana Fly Fishing Lodge, Togiak River Lodge, TroutRoutesSponsors: https://www.wetflyswing.com/sponsors Pat Ehlers has been fly fishing since he was a kid exploring trout streams in Wisconsin's Upper Peninsula. Over the years, his curiosity expanded far beyond trout, leading him to become one of the leading voices in warmwater fly fishing and innovative fly design.We dug into bass behavior, fly line selection, fly tying materials, electronics, and how lessons from conventional bass fishing continue to improve fly fishing techniques.Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/968

What happens when you stop treating the diagnosis and start treating the person? In this special back-to-back episode of the Health Fix Podcast, Dr. Jannine Krause sits down with two fellow naturopathic doctors to explore the power of personalized, integrative medicine. First, Dr. Jannine talks with Dr. Kerry Niebrzydowski, a naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist, about the unique ways naturopathic medicine and Chinese medicine can work together to support the body. Then, in the second half of the episode, Dr. Jannine sits down with Dr. Sara Norris, ND, a naturopathic doctor specializing in women's health, pediatrics, skin health, digestive health, and hormonal health. Together, these conversations explore why there is no one-size-fits-all approach to health, how acupuncture can influence the body's patterns of imbalance, the importance of nervous system regulation, and why collaboration between conventional and naturopathic providers can give patients more comprehensive care. From Lyme disease, mold exposure, chronic pain, hormones, PCOS, menopause, allergies and immune health to sleep, nutrition, stress, movement, and nervous system regulation, this episode offers a fascinating look at what personalized naturopathic care can look like. If you've ever wondered what naturopathic doctors actually do, how acupuncture fits into modern healthcare, or what it means to truly treat the whole person, you'll want to listen to both conversations. Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome 07:25 — Dr. Kerry: Acupuncture & Natural Medicine 12:12 — Blending Chinese Medicine and Naturopathy 19:14 — Integrative Care and Community Referrals 23:25 — Northwoods Health, Lyme, and Herbal Care 25:34 — Immune Support and Allergy Tips 29:34 — Beadwork, Breathing, and Martial Arts 34:02 — Dr. Sara: From Finance to Naturopathic Medicine 37:23 — Inside an Integrative Health Clinic 43:10 — Root-Cause Care for Adults and Kids 50:25 — Sleep, Weight, and Blood Sugar 57:22 — Vitamin D, Sunlight, and Daily Health Habits 60:49 — Dr. Sara's Foundational Health Advice In This Episode You'll Learn ✔️ How naturopathic medicine and acupuncture can work together ✔️ Why personalized healthcare is so important ✔️ How acupuncture may help communicate signals to the body ✔️ The role of Chinese medicine in addressing underlying patterns of imbalance ✔️ How nervous system regulation can influence your overall health ✔️ The connection between mold exposure, stress and the nervous system ✔️ How naturopathic doctors approach complex conditions like Lyme disease ✔️ Natural strategies for supporting immune health and seasonal allergies ✔️ Why collaboration between conventional and naturopathic providers matters ✔️ Dr. Sara's perspective on women's health, hormones and integrative care ✔️ Why sleep deserves more attention when you're struggling with your health ✔️ How blood sugar, nutrition and lifestyle can influence energy and wellbeing ✔️ Why environmental exposures deserve consideration in a comprehensive health approach ✔️ How movement, breathing, creativity, laughter and community can support nervous system health Key Takeaways Your diagnosis is not your entire health story. Whether you're dealing with chronic illness, hormone changes, Lyme disease, digestive problems, sleep issues, or simply trying to optimize your health, these conversations highlight one important principle: Your care should be as individual as you are. Dr. Kerry and Dr. Sara approach naturopathic medicine from different perspectives and areas of expertise, but both conversations come back to the importance of looking at the whole person rather than reducing someone to a symptom or diagnosis. From acupuncture and Chinese medicine to functional testing, nutrition, lifestyle, nervous system support, and collaboration with conventional medicine, there are many pieces that can contribute to a more complete picture of health. Sometimes the most important question isn't "What should I take?" It's: "What is my body trying to tell me?" Connect with Dr. Kerry Niebrzydowski Dr. Kerry Niebrzydowski is a naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist practicing at Radiant Natural Health Clinic, serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin. Her practice includes naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and Chinese herbalism, with a focus on conditions including chronic pain, Lyme disease, mycotoxicity, digestive concerns, neurological conditions, allergies, hormones, menopause, and more.

National bestselling novelist Diane Les Becquets joins Stories from Real Life for an unforgettable conversation about survival, faith, creativity, and the remarkable healing power of nature.Known for literary novels that immerse readers in America's wild landscapes, Diane has earned acclaim for Breaking Wild, The Last Woman in the Forest, and her newest novel, Where the Water Meets the Sky. Her latest work is a moving coming-of-age story set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that explores grief, memory, forgiveness, and the restorative power of community and the natural world.But during the writing of this novel, Diane faced a life-changing challenge of her own.Diagnosed with five brain aneurysms, she underwent complex surgery and emerged with a transformed perspective on writing, faith, family, and purpose. Following her recovery, she returned to Michigan's Upper Peninsula—traveling to the very locations that inspired her novel—as both a celebration of life and a pilgrimage of gratitude.In this deeply personal episode, Diane shares how beauty, wonder, and wilderness continue to shape both her stories and her life.In This Episode* The inspiration behind Where the Water Meets the Sky* Why Michigan's Upper Peninsula became the heart of the novel* Surviving five brain aneurysms* Finding peace after trauma* Faith, surrender, and creativity* Nature as a source of healing* Why place can become a character* Living with gratitude after facing mortality* What she hopes readers carry with them long after finishing her booksAbout Diane Les BecquetsDiane Les Becquets is the award-winning, national bestselling author of Breaking Wild, The Last Woman in the Forest, and Where the Water Meets the Sky.Her novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews, been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, and earned numerous literary honors, including the Colorado Book Award and the New Hampshire Outstanding Work of Fiction.Drawing from years spent exploring wilderness alongside archaeologists, wildlife biologists, conservationists, and foresters, Diane creates stories where landscape becomes as important as the people who inhabit it. She now lives in New Hampshire and continues to write from her backyard writing studio, “Wild Spaces.”Books Mentioned* Where the Water Meets the Sky* Breaking Wild* The Last Woman in the Forest* Nuremberg, MississippiConnect with Diane Les Becquets

Travels With Randy Summer Of '26 Episode 6 is here! TWR Summer of '26 Ep 6: How Is Summer Almost Over Already? Big Fall Plans Ahead! AI Tools in Book Business Bubba discussed how AI tools have significantly improved his book business by automating processes like purchasing decisions and market analysis, allowing him to act as an effective CFO, purchasing manager, and analyst. He explained that while used books have gained value and are now sold at higher prices in local bookstores, the online market fees make selling used books unprofitable. Bubba shared that his youngest son Luke is an avid reader, while his other two children read sporadically. Family Updates and Movie Discussion Bubba shared updates about his family, including his son Logan starting his senior year as a marketing major at NC State and his oldest son moving back to Greenville with his fiancée who is becoming a teacher. Bubba also discussed helping his son Connor move into his dorm at Clemson and the family's excitement about being closer together in the Greenville area. The conversation concluded with a discussion about recent successful movies, particularly Spider-Man and The Odyssey, and their impressive box office performance. Alaska Travel Planning Discussion Randy discussed upcoming travel plans, revealing he will be leaving in two weeks for a trip that will last until spring. He decided not to take his vehicle on an Alaska trip, instead planning to fly to Anchorage and rent a truck, and discussed specific tours including one to the Arctic Circle for $2,500 and another to see bears in Katmai. Due to wildfires in Washington affecting Highway 2, which runs through the affected areas, Randy is considering alternative routes including Highway 20, which goes through Yellowstone, and may visit the Upper Peninsula before meeting his cousin in Milwaukee. Route 66 and Baseball Plans Randy discussed his upcoming baseball plans, including watching the Cubs play in Milwaukee and Chicago, before officially resuming his Route 66 journey on September 10-11. He explained that his current approach to Route 66 will focus on visiting and documenting the towns along the route rather than just driving through, including visiting museums and talking to storekeepers about the impact of World Cup travelers. Bubba mentioned their new Travels with Randy calendar featuring 16 photos selected by Randy from over 6,000 pictures, which is currently available for purchase and represents their first e-commerce venture selling Randy's own work.   SO. MANY. PHOTOS - Come join the conversation on Facebook with our 37,000 friends! https://www.facebook.com/travelswithrandypodcast Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want us to sell something National Park or Route 66 related? Want to be a guest? Want to pay for both of us to go to Alaska? Want me to stop asking questions?   bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com !! LISTEN TO THE OFFICIAL TRAVELS WITH RANDY SOUNDTRACK! Available on all streaming music platforms such as Apple:  TWR Full Soundtrack GET YOUR COPY OF THE TWR OFFICIAL ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL 16 MONTH CALENDAR! ONLY $19.99 Now Shipping!   https://travelswithrandy.com/

Welcome back to the Outdoor Adventure Series! In today's episode, Howard sits down with Cathy Trebatoski, Marketing Communications Director for the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau in Wisconsin. Representing 19 vibrant communities—including Appleton, Menasha, and Neenah—the Fox Cities boasts something for everyone: from world-class sports facilities and scenic trails, to unique festivals, thriving arts and culture, and a dynamic food scene. Cathy shares insider tips on outdoor adventures, family vacations, local gems like High Cliff State Park, and how the region's commitment to conservation shapes visitor experiences year-round. Whether you're planning a getaway, a conference, or simply a day exploring, discover why Wisconsin's Fox Cities truly “check all the boxes” for travelers seeking memorable moments—no matter the season.DISCUSSION1. Introduction and WelcomeBrief background on the Outdoor Adventure Series and current episode facilitation by Travel Wisconsin and Destination Madison 00:49Introduction of Cathy Trebatoski, her role with the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau 01:182. Regional Identification and Conference DiscussionComparing hand-shaped state location maps for Michigan and Wisconsin 01:43Fox Cities' proximity to Green Bay and use as a locator 02:10Cathy's participation in the upcoming Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) conference 02:54Explanation of the Speed Connection event and excitement about meeting writers/content creators 02:56, 03:123. Overview of Fox Cities Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB)Difference between CVB and Chamber of Commerce 04:27CVB's focus areas: leisure, sports tournaments, meetings/conventions 04:36Fox Cities' size, populations, and communities represented 04:444. Major Attractions and FacilitiesDescription of the Community First Champion Center (sports complex): features, functions, and economic impact 05:15Types of sports/tournament travelers: club sports, local high school/club teams 06:06The facility's year-round usage including camps and practices 06:125. Tourism as an Economic DriverImportance of tourism to regional economy and stability during economic fluctuations 06:30Value of unique offerings not found everywhere 07:076. Leisure Travel and Visitor ImpressionsFront-facing visitor center and visitor reactions 07:21Examples of visitors staying longer after discovering the area's unexpected attractions 07:437. Visitor Geography and AccessibilityTypical visitor origin: 5-6 hour drive radius from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Upper Peninsula, Minneapolis, and Iowa 08:52Notable influx from warmer states (Texas, Florida, Arizona, etc.) seeking cooler summer conditions 09:18Advice on packing for layered weather; variable morning/evening temps 10:178. Activities for OWAA Conference Attendees and Other VisitorsOverview of pre-fam tour in collaboration with Oshkosh: fishing, tiki boat ride, meals, kayaking, catamaran sailing, breakfast 12:04High Cliff State Park: hiking, observation, horseback riding, camping, part of Niagara Escarpment 13:08Three major nature centers and their unique events (e.g., "mosquitoes and mojitos," "ales on the trails") 14:25Nearly 60 parks across 19 Fox Cities communities; opportunities for walks, disc golf, wildlife viewing 14:569. Personal Favorite Outdoor ActivitiesCathy shares her love for biking and walking, especially on the Waiwash Trail 15:4510. Four-Season Destination and Winter ActivitiesRange of summer and winter outdoor activities: snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing 17:1011. Conservation and Environmental StewardshipLocal stewardship led by Fox Cities Greenways - https://www.foxcitiesgreenways.org/, and the 31 Trails initiative 19:00Thousand Islands Environmental Center and Eagle Days event 19:4912. Website Tour and New Travel TrendsNavigation of CVB website; key site sections (things to do, food and drink, events) 21:21Rising interest in festivals, notably Mile of Music Festival (200 artists, 700 sets, free, unique support for artists) 22:02Ease of music festival navigation via event app, venue variety 26:1013. Food, Drink, and Local FavoritesBreakfast recommendations: Weathervane (Menasha), Sap 27:53Coffee shop highlights: Acoca, Copper Rock Coffee, Lawless, The Globe, Chilates 28:38Range from “mom-and-pop” to James Beard finalist restaurants 28:55Friday fish fry culture: restaurant suggestions, menu staples 29:54Local NFL connections: visiting teams stay in Appleton, game day shuttles to Green Bay 30:4714. Arts, Culture, and ShoppingPerforming Arts Center (early Broadway releases), symphony, Lawrence University music programs 31:52Museums: Trout Museum of Art, History Museum at the Castle (Harry Houdini), Hearthstone House (hydroelectric), Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass (glass paperweights), Grignon Mansion (fur trade history) 32:44Free museum admissions (Trout and Bergstrom-Mahler) 33:51Extensive farmers markets (four communities, live music, food trucks) 34:44Shopping reputation: large mall attracts regional/northern shoppers 35:2615. Requesting a Destination Guide and Visitor AssistanceInvitation to request and receive a free destination guide 37:1816. Trends in Traveler PreferencesGrowth in health, wellness, and “quiet adventure” travel 38:45Experiences like foraging, cooking classes, outdoor saunas at Givens Farm 39:11Emphasis on nature immersion, wellness, healthy eating options 39:5817. Memorable Moments and Community ImpactCathy's aha moment: hosting Jessica Cox (pilot without arms), meeting with Limitless Wisconsin disability group 41:12Significance of inclusive, meaningful events for the community 42:5518. Role of Volunteers and Brand AmbassadorsVolunteers assist at conventions, major events, and airport welcome tables 45:22Highlight of interacting with international visitors, especially during AirVenture 46:5019. Social Media and Additional ResourcesOverview of Fox Cities CVB's social media presence: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn (Fox Cities WI) 47:1920. Show Wrap-upLEARN MORETo learn more about the Fox Cities region, visit their website at www.foxcities.org or on these social sites:Facebook: www.facebook.com/FoxCitiesWiInstagram: www.instagram.com/FoxCitiesWiOWAA 2026 Conference HostsTravel Wisconsin: https://www.travelwisconsin.com/Destination Madison: https://www.visitmadison.com/NEXT STEPSVisit us at https://outdooradventureseries.com to like, comment, and share our episodes.KEYWORDSCathy Trebatoski, Fox Cities, Travel Wisconsin, Destination Madison, OWAA, Outdoor Adventure Series, Podcast Interview#CathyTrebatoski #FoxCities #TravelWisconsin #DestinationMadison #OWAA2026 #OutdoorAdventureSeries #PodcastInterviewMy Favorite Podcast Tools:  Production by DescriptHosting BuzzsproutShow Notes by CastmagicWebsite powered by PodpageBe a Podcast Guest by PodMatchBanner Customization by Nano Banana & Canva

On a cold November morning in 1926, fifty-one miners descended into the Barnes-Hecker Mine near Ishpeming expecting another ordinary shift. Minutes later, a violent collapse sent water, mud, and thousands of tons of earth crashing into the underground workings.Only one miner escaped.Forty-one men were never recovered and remain buried beneath Michigan's Upper Peninsula nearly a century later.In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we reconstruct the disaster minute by minute using historical records, eyewitness accounts, and modern research. You'll hear the remarkable story of Wilfred Wills, the lone survivor who climbed nearly 800 feet to safety, the families who waited at the mine entrance for news that never came and the questions that still surround Michigan's deadliest mining disaster.This is more than the story of a mine collapse. It is a story about courage, sacrifice, and a community forever changed by one of the worst industrial tragedies in American history.Join us as we remember the fifty-one men of the Barnes-Hecker Mine.The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications

He bought two Happy Meals. He wasn't meeting an adult. 62-year-old John Coughlin walked up a quiet driveway in Iron Mountain, Michigan carrying kids' meals and a jar of marijuana for what he believed was a 14-year-old girl. What he found instead was Chris and the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office.  In this episode, Chris takes you inside his sting operation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that netted seven predators, and Coughlin's case is the one that rattled him. A laundromat manager and one-time country club cook, Coughlin sent explicit videos to the decoy, asked if she was "420 friendly," and showed up ready. And here's the chilling part: he'd ALREADY been caught once. A live warrant from a Shelby Township sting was sitting in the system while he trolled other underage girls' photos online. His excuse? "Bored and lonely." His admission? "I knew better than this." He did. He came anyway. Sponsored by: Home Title Lock: Go to https://hometitlelock.com/chrishansen  and use promo code HANSEN to get a FREE title history report and a FREE TRIAL of their Triple Lock Protection! For details visit https://hometitlelock.com/warranty   AquaTru: Head to https://AquaTru.com  & use code HANSEN for 20% off your purifier and a 30-day best-tasting water guarantee.   TruthFinder.com. To get the answers you're looking for about the new people in your life, and to discover information on potential predators, go to www.TruthFinder.com/predators   Have A Seat merchandise at https://haveaseat.dashery.com/ Two Happy Meals and a Jar of Weed: The 62-Year-Old Who Knew Better He bought two Happy Meals. He wasn't meeting an adult. 62-year-old John Coughlin walked up a quiet driveway in Iron Mountain, Michigan carrying kids' meals and a jar of marijuana for what he believed was a 14-year-old girl. What he found instead was Chris and the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office.  In this episode, Chris takes you inside his sting operation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that netted seven predators, and Coughlin's case is the one that rattled him. A laundromat manager and one-time country club cook, Coughlin sent explicit videos to the decoy, asked if she was "420 friendly," and showed up ready. And here's the chilling part: he'd ALREADY been caught once. A live warrant from a Shelby Township sting was sitting in the system while he trolled other underage girls' photos online.  His excuse? "Bored and lonely." His admission? "I knew better than this." He did. He came anyway. Sponsored by: Home Title Lock: Go to https://hometitlelock.com/chrishansen  and use promo code HANSEN to get a FREE title history report and a FREE TRIAL of their Triple Lock Protection! For details visit https://hometitlelock.com/warranty   AquaTru: Head to https://AquaTru.com  & use code HANSEN for 20% off your purifier and a 30-day best-tasting water guarantee.   TruthFinder.com. To get the answers you're looking for about the new people in your life, and to discover information on potential predators, go to www.TruthFinder.com/predators   Have A Seat merchandise at https://haveaseat.dashery.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight we're pulling off the road and opening the mailbag. Over the past few months the inbox has been filling up with encounter stories, and when I sat down to sort through them, one thing stood out: over and over again, they were coming from hunters.That makes sense when you think about it. Hunters are in the woods before dawn and after dark, sitting still in country most people never see, and they know exactly what belongs in the timber and what doesn't.In this episode I've got six of those stories, from six different men, in six different states, across six different decades. We start in western Montana in nineteen sixty-eight, where two elk hunters packed seven miles into a basin that something had already emptied.From there it's the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas in nineteen seventy-seven, where a young deer hunter learned why the old-timers on his uncle's lease quietly hunted around forty acres of the best ground on the place. Then we go back to the oldest account in the bag, a logger on the west slope of the Washington Cascades in nineteen fifty-four, four years before America even had the word Bigfoot. After that it's Michigan's Upper Peninsula in nineteen eighty-nine, where a bear hunter's bait station started getting cleaned out by something that didn't leave bear tracks. Then down to a Georgia river bottom in nineteen ninety-six, where two cousins hunting hogs at night followed a hole in the frog sound and found out what had moved the hogs. And we close in the Colorado high country in two thousand eight, with a skeptic of an archery elk hunter, a wrong-sounding bugle in the dark, and a line of sixteen-inch tracks through an elk wallow.Six men, most of whom never planned on telling anybody. The stories came to me, and now they've come to you. Keep your eyes on the tree line.Have you experienced a Bigfoot sighting, Sasquatch encounter, Dogman experience, UFO sighting, or any unexplained cryptid or paranormal event deep in the woods? We want to hear your story.Email your encounter to brian@paranormalworldproductions.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode of Backwoods Bigfoot Stories.Backwoods Bigfoot Stories is a paranormal storytelling podcast featuring real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch sightings, Dogman reports, cryptid experiences, and true scary stories from the backwoods.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss a chilling encounter from the forest. Listen with the lights off… if you dare.

Inspired by Finland's student-first approach, Copper Island Academy in Michigan's Upper Peninsula prioritizes inclusion, early intervention, and teacher autonomy to create a learning environment where support is built into the classroom rather than siloed in separate rooms. This episode explores how Copper Island blends Finnish pedagogy with local culture, showing what's possible when schools design systems around people, not paperwork.

Exploring Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula: Hidden Gems & Local Heritage with Brad BarnettWelcome back to the Outdoor Adventure Series! In this episode, Howard Fox sits down with Brad Barnett, the executive director of Visit Keweenaw, the destination marketing organization for Michigan's picturesque Keweenaw Peninsula. Known for its breathtaking natural landscapes, vibrant Finnish-American heritage, and abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, the Keweenaw Peninsula is a hidden gem at the northernmost tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Together, Howard and Brad explore what makes this region a true four-season destination, from its cool summer escapes and dazzling fall colors to epic lake-effect snowfalls and stunning dark skies perfect for viewing the northern lights. Tune in to discover how Visit Keweenaw is redefining sustainable tourism, supporting the local community, and inviting adventurers far and wide to experience the magic of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Whether you're craving scenic trails, historic charm, or a place to simply slow down and reconnect with nature, this episode will have you planning your trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula.DISCUSSION1. Introduction and WelcomeHoward introduces the Outdoor Adventure Series and welcomes Brad Barnett as the guest 00:06Brad's role as Executive Director of Visit Keweenaw 00:14Personal reflections from Howard Fox regarding visits to the Keweenaw Peninsula and Michigan 00:592. Geographic Overview of the Keweenaw PeninsulaExplanation of Michigan's geography ("the hand" method) and Keweenaw's position 02:29Proximity to Lake Superior and its significance 02:44Fun fact about the latitude being north of most of Canada's population 03:163. Weather and ClimateComparison between Nevada (Boulder City) heat and Keweenaw's cooler temperatures 03:57Lake Superior's moderating effect on summer and winter climate 04:08Introduction of the term "coolcation" 04:14Keweenaw as a destination for beating the heat 04:304. Brad Barnett's Journey to Keweenaw and Role as Executive DirectorPersonal background and move from Kentucky for a doctoral program at Michigan Technological University 04:53Family experiences and attractions to outdoor recreation 05:19Discussion of the region's small population and initial economic development work 06:00Path to working with the Destination Marketing Organization 06:125. Keweenaw Peninsula as a Four-Season DestinationDiscussion on the tourism "seasons" and what each offers 06:56Summer: beaches, hiking, biking, access to nature 07:29Winter: 300 inches of lake effect snow, snow sports, warmer winter temps due to Lake Superior 07:45Spring: waterfalls, dark skies, fewer bugs and crowds 08:43Fall: vibrant autumn colors aided by location and climate 09:166. Dark Skies and Northern LightsHoward shares personal desire to experience dark skies in Keweenaw 10:27Discussion of minimal light pollution and visibility of northern lights 10:55Importance of Lake Superior's geography to stargazing experiences 11:247. Evolution of Visit Keweenaw as a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO)Historical focus of the DMO and its small initial scope 12:38Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DMO's approach and responsibilities 13:21Broadening focus to stewardship, economic development, and community engagement 13:42Emphasis on responsible tourism and intentional branding 15:018. Community Response and EngagementImpact of visitation on residents and their new role as brand ambassadors 15:38Change in visitor demographics: new, younger, and more affluent travelers post-pandemic 16:50Increased pride among residents and new entrepreneurial opportunities 17:52Recognition of the value of Keweenaw as a destination and readiness to cater to a broader audience 18:479. Website Tour: Visit KeweenawHoward and Brad conduct a virtual walkthrough of the Visit Keweenaw website 20:10Site highlights: activities, events, Finnish American heritage 21:02Destination development and reinvestment in communities 21:45Transparency on how tourism dollars fund local projects and grants 22:14New focus on sustainability and stewardship resources for visitors 23:0510. Stewardship, Sustainability, and Global EngagementParticipation in global tourism think tank (the "Collective") 24:12Keweenaw's approach to balancing tourism with community sustainability 24:39Elevating local organizations and creating opportunities for visitors to volunteer 25:49Encouraging stewardship among visitors and positive customer experiences 26:1011. Economic Impact and Support for Local LodgingImportance of staying with local lodging partners to support DMO efforts 27:32Revenue sources for Visit Keweenaw (bed tax, grants) 28:04Visitor spending helps fund responsible recreation and economic development 28:2312. Storytelling and The Power of Small CommunitiesFeatures on the website such as “The Crossing Place” web series 30:02Importance of sharing stories of volunteers and local community members 30:13Social media presence and connection channels 30:3813. Personal Fulfillment and Aha Moments in Destination WorkHoward and Brad discuss the personal rewards of working in tourism 31:27Creating impactful moments for visitors and the satisfaction of seeing community projects succeed 31:57Example: Opening of Houghton Douglas Falls site and visitor reactions 32:4914. Travel's Broader Impact and ReflectionsDeeper message: importance of simple travel moments and connection to nature 35:01Tourism's power to unite, inspire, and foster empathy in a polarized world 35:54Anecdotes connecting travel to well-being, self-discovery, and community 36:1915. Closing RemarksRecap of Brad Barnett's passion and Keweenaw's uniqueness 39:47Encouragement to visit Keweenaw Peninsula and connect with it as a destination 40:08How to follow and contact Visit Keweenaw via their website and social media 40:14MEDIAhttps://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/keweenaw-peninsula-becomes-the-epicenter-of-sustainable-tourism-in-2026-michigan-summit-will-lead-the-world/https://estonianworld.com/culture/a-michigan-city-named-the-finno-ugric-capital-of-culture-2026/https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2026/04/28/city-houghton-receives-first-ever-bird-city-designation-up/LEARN MORETo learn more about Visit Keweenaw, visit their website at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com or on these social sites:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisitKeweenawInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/visit_keweenawNEXT STEPSVisit us at https://outdooradventureseries.com to like, comment, and share our episodes.KeywordsBrad Barnett, Visit Keweenaw, Lake Superior, Michigan History, UP Travel, Copper Country, Michigan Festivals, Pure Michigan, Outdoor Adventure Series, Podcast Interview#VisitKeweenaw #LakeSuperior #MichiganHistory #UPTravel #CopperCountry #MichiganFestivals #PureMichigan #OutdoorAdventureSeries #PodcastInterviewMy Favorite Podcast Tools:  Production by DescriptHosting BuzzsproutShow Notes by CastmagicWebsite powered by PodpageBe a Podcast Guest by PodMatchBanner Customization by Nano Banana & Canva

Iron Mountain, Michigan. The Upper Peninsula. Postcard country: pine trees, quiet streets, the kind of place where nothing bad is supposed to happen. But in three days, seven men came knocking at one unassuming sting house. This is the story of one of them.  Kelsey Burbank is 29. He coordinates online orders at the local Walmart. By day, he's just another face in a small town. By night, he's "Two Googly Eyes" on Grindr, and he's been messaging someone he believes is a 15-year-old boy. He knows the age. He says he wishes he didn't. He keeps typing anyway. On the other end of his explicit two-hour chat? An undersheriff. What follows is a raw confrontation with Chris: the excuses, the deflection, the claim he was "just looking for friends." From first message to handcuffs to an 18-month sentence, this is the predatornext door - exposed. Sponsored by: Home Title Lock: Go to https://hometitlelock.com/chrishansen  and use promo code HANSEN to get a FREE title history report and a FREE TRIAL of their Triple Lock Protection! For details visit https://hometitlelock.com/warranty   OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code HANSEN at https://www.oneskin.co/HANSEN #oneskinpod   TruthFinder.com. To get the answers you're looking for about the new people in your life, and to discover information on potential predators, go to www.TruthFinder.com/predators Have A Seat merchandise at https://haveaseat.dashery.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight's video features two terrifying driving at night horror stories about lonely highways, no cell service, and the things that wait in the dark. In one story, a nurse driving home through Michigan's Upper Peninsula notices the same dead deer being staged along the road, and in the other, a medical worker traveling through Idaho's Salmon River Canyon is followed by something massive in the trees. If you enjoy the show, leaving a rating or review helps a lot.Linktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepyStory Credits:►Sent in to https://www.justcreepy.net/Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:01:48 Story 100:54:05 Story 2Music by:►'Decoherence' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au►'Shadows and Dust' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.auBusiness inquiries:►creepydc13@gmail.com#scarystories #horrorstories

Season 7: Episode 6 --The UP Notable Book Club presents Helen Raica-Klotz speaking about her book "Superior Stories." The Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) presents author events with winners of the UP Notable Book List. Make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss any future UP Notable Book Club speakers! For more information, please visit the links below www.UPPAA.org www.UPNotable.com https://raica-klotz.com/ HELEN RAICA-KLOTZ has a Masters in English from Central Michigan University, and she teaches composition courses at Saginaw Valley State University. She's also taught writing at a regional prison, a homeless shelter, an alternative high school, and other places where she can find people with stories to tell. Her fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in various publications, including The MacGuffin, Porcupine Literary, Dunes Review, Literary Mama, and Great Lakes Review. Helen lives in northern Michigan with her husband, Steve, and their large black lab, Atticus. Here, she spends much of her time walking through the woods - and avoiding grading papers and cooking.

My conversation with Christy starts at 29 minutes Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete In July of 2025 Christy McGillivray joined Voters Not Politicians as the Executive Director. She has over twenty years of experience across the fields of education and non-partisan political and policy advocacy. Her past roles as an advocate include working as the Legislative and Political Director for Sierra Club Michigan; Organizer with the American Federation of Teachers, Michigan; and Campaigns Director and Field Manager for Michigan Clean Water Action. Christy taught Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics at Eastpointe Highschool, outdoor STEM education at the Farmington Hills Nature Center, Early American History and Literature at Lawrence Technological University, and Comparative Education Policy at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Christy is committed to spending the rest of her life ensuring the people most affected by policies have a voice in shaping those policies, and preserving an accountability pathway for elected officials based on the policy decisions they make. In short, Christy is here to fight for our democracy. Decades of experience have made it clear to her that a healthy, functioning democracy is the best way to deliver for all Michiganders. If she's not spending her spare time hiking and paddling in the Upper Peninsula with her partner, daughter, and two dogs, Christy can probably be found in Wayne State University's Reuther archive combing through primary documents from the 1930s. Listen rate and review on Apple Podcasts Listen rate and review on Spotify Pete On Instagram Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on Twitter Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift Send Pete $ Directly on Venmo

Become a Distance to Empty subscriber!: https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!⁠⁠⁠https://janji.com/pages/distance-to-empty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select 'podcast' > 'Distance to Empty' on the post purchase "How did you hear about Janji" page. Thank you!Check out Mount to Coast here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Code IRON at www.goodranchers.com and mention us in the post purchase survey!Paul James Johnson is a civil trial attorney from Michigan who didn't run his first marathon until he turned 40. He and didn't discover ultrarunning until he was 60. Nine years later, at 69, he was the oldest finisher at Cocodona 250 this year, posting his fastest time yet on his fifth attempt at the race, and landing on the podium in his age group.In this episode, Paul opens with an apology for missing a commitment during Cocodona (a mid-race "basketball" tradition on Mingus Mountain. Before diving into his running origin story, from a courthouse rec-league basketball team to his first brutal 50-miler in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He talks through what changed in his training and mindset that led to his breakthrough performance this year, including a more structured training block, starting creatine supplementation, and leaning hard on his crew — including his two sons who crew for him at nearly every race.Paul also shares his self-coined "Art of Distraction" technique for getting through the darkest miles of a 200-plus-mile race, his habit of recording detailed audio notes to himself before each race segment, and his refreshingly simple philosophy on aging in the sport: age doesn't disqualify you from anything — the answer is always yes.The conversation wraps with a rapid-fire "Quick Five," covering his highest high (crossing the Cocodona finish line with his full crew), his lowest low (a DNF at the Thailand 500 he's still chasing redemption for), his go-to race fuel, and whether he's found his distance to empty. (He hasn't. He's already signed up for four more races.)

This week we pull off the highway. The Backwoods Cryptid Road Trip will pick back up next episode, but stories have been stacking up from listeners all over the country, and five of them earned a full telling. These are firsthand Sasquatch encounters from five states, told with first names only and every detail the witnesses were willing to share.We start at a deer camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where a hunter alone for the first time in his life hears wood knocks, finds a seventeen inch track, and spends a November night listening to something walk circles around his trailer, only to learn years later that his late father had left behind a rule and a plaster cast that suddenly made sense.From there we head to southeastern Oklahoma, where a sixty year old bookkeeper and her husband endure eight months of stripped apple trees, peeled coop wire, and screams from the creek bottom before she comes face to face with the thing at her burn pile.Then it's broad daylight in the timber country of Northern California, where a professional timber cruiser with eleven years in the woods watches something stand up from behind a root wad at seventy yards, and finds out his partner saw it too and said nothing.The fourth account takes us back to nineteen sixty eight, to a West Virginia hill farm, a face at a bedroom window, shutters that went up overnight, and a deathbed confession about a place the family called the Yellow Gap.We close on a sandbar in the Florida panhandle river swamps, where a fishing guide spends an entire night under siege by something wading the flooded timber, and finally understands why the old men on the river always left when the smell came.Five strangers, fifty eight years, two thousand miles, and the same details over and over. As always, I hold my conclusions loose, but I'll tell you what four decades of listening has taught me about the difference between a story and a report. Keep your eyes on the treeline.Have you experienced a Bigfoot sighting, Sasquatch encounter, Dogman experience, UFO sighting, or any unexplained cryptid or paranormal event deep in the woods? We want to hear your story.Email your encounter to brian@paranormalworldproductions.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode of Backwoods Bigfoot Stories.Backwoods Bigfoot Stories is a paranormal storytelling podcast featuring real Bigfoot encounters, Sasquatch sightings, Dogman reports, cryptid experiences, and true scary stories from the backwoods.Follow the show and turn on automatic downloads so you never miss a chilling encounter from the forest. Listen with the lights off… if you dare.

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Markya Biaggio, author of the book Margery and Me. Maryka is a former professor of psychology and practicing clinical psychologist. She began writing novels in her middle years, and she's been writing up a storm since then. Now she's an award-winning novelist specializing in historical fiction based on real people. She loves unearthing the stories of people overlooked by history and bringing them back to life—portraying their challenges and foibles and rekindling their emotional world. She prides herself on carefully researching the period and people and providing readers with an immersive experience.   Her fiction has won several accolades, including Willamette Writers Award, Oregon Writers Colony Award, Historical Novel Society Review Editors' Choice, La Belle Lettre Award, an Upper Peninsula of Michigan Notable Books Award, a Regional Arts & Council grant, and a Publishers Weekly pick.   She's an avid opera fan and enjoys gardening, art films, and, of course, great fiction. She lives in Portland, Oregon.   In my book review, I stated Margery and Me is a historical fiction by Maryka Biaggio. Mina Crandon to her friends - and Margery to the world - discovers she has an amazing ability. She can talk to the dead - specifically, her brother, Walter, who died in a train accident. Before long, she has captured the attention of some very famous people and organizations - some of whom believed in her spiritual abilities and some who did not. Her biggest opposition was Harry Houdini.   This story is told from the voice of Walter, and he doesn't hold back. It seems Margery isn't a prim and proper lady. Although married to a doctor, she loves to flirt and finds comfort in many of her male supporters. And Walter does his best to dissuade her from making a mess of things - or more of a mess than she's already made.   Can she really summon the dead? Do psychics really exist? What would you have decided back in the 1920s?   Maryka based this book on the true story of Margery Crandon, and I love how she finds people that history forgot! I loved The Gun Girl and the Tall Guy, and I loved Margery and Me, too! Pick up a copy and you won't be sorry!   Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1   You can follow Author Markya Biaggio Website: https://marykabiaggio.com/ FB: @ParlorGames IG: @authormaryka LinkedIn: @Maryka Biaggio   Purchase Margery and Me on Amazon: Paperback: https://amzn.to/4djIKAD Ebook: https://amzn.to/48PTu8n   Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1   Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors   #marykabiaggio #margeryandme #historicalfiction #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A grieving farmer's seance vow and a healer's vision of buried iron built the world's only school for talking to the dead — and left the town of Whitewater steeped in legends of witches, haunted cemeteries, and things that crawl out of the lake.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/HauntedWhitewaterREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/WD20260626B-HauntedWhitewater-transcript.txtFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Whitewater legend says that the bizarre experiments conducted at the Morris Pratt Institute of Spiritualism in Wisconsin, to communicate with the dead, have left the town cursed by witches and haunted by restless spirits. It's no wonder it has garnered the nickname of “Second Salem.” (Whitewater: The Second Salem) *** The Wild West had many drifters with troubled pasts. One found himself at the heart of one of the most infamous crimes in American history. Ben Kuhl went from horse theft, to stagecoach robbery, to murder – from notoriety to infamy – all in pursuit of elusive riches. Finally arrested and convicted due to a bloody handprint (The Last Stagecoach Robbery) *** Fred West was just a regular boy, or so it seemed. But behind closed doors, in reality, he was becoming evil incarnate. And upon meeting his future wife Rose, it only expanded his predatory predilections. Fred and Rose descended from petty crimes to unspeakable horrors of rape and murder – even of the most young and innocent. From their "House of Horrors" the depths of their depravity was acted out — hidden from site. But as the walls closed in and the truth emerged, the true horror of their crimes was laid bare. (The Evils of Fred And Rose West) *** AND MORE!CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:02:20.946 = Show Open00:04:34.008 = Whitewater: The Second Salem00:24:07.841 = The Evils of Fred And Rose West ***00:40:14.638 = The Last Stagecoach Robbery ***00:53:46.205 = Bygone Gluttons ***01:06:32.360 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Whitewater: The Second Salem” by Charlie Hintz for Wisconsin Frights: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9bktup“Bygone Gluttons” by Ben Gazur for ListVerse: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p99hjxj“The Evils of Fred and Rose West” from Biography: https://www.biography.com/crime/fred-west“The Last Stagecoach Robbery” from Creative History Stories: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/bdh3h8h5(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: April 16, 2024This episode of Weird Darkness travels from a Wisconsin school built to teach the living how to speak with the dead, through the cellar of one of Britain's most notorious murder houses, to the last stagecoach robbery in American history and a gallery of history's most ravenous eaters.It opens in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where farmer Morris Pratt vowed during an 1880s seance to build a temple to the spirit world if he ever grew rich. A trance medium named Mary Hayes-Chynoweth steered him toward a barren tract on Michigan's Upper Peninsula that turned out to sit atop the Gogebic iron range, and the fortune that followed funded the Morris Pratt Institute, the world's only school dedicated to spiritualism, which locals nicknamed the "Spook Temple." Students studied clairvoyance, levitation, and psychic surgery in a three-story building whose white-painted top floor was closed to non-believers, and even agnostic Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow left it admitting he was mystified. The school later relocated to Milwaukee and still operates, but Whitewater kept its reputation, earning the name "Second Salem" for its tales of the axe-murdering witch Mary Worth in Oak Grove Cemetery, the inward-pointing spikes on the Starin Park water tower, the haunted Witches Triangle formed by its three cemeteries, and a tentacled creature said to have overturned a fishing boat on Whitewater Lake in 1923.From there the episode moves to Gloucester, England, and the crimes of Fred and Rose West, who tortured, raped, and murdered young women and girls across roughly two decades. Fred, born in 1941 and shaped in part by head injuries from a teenage motorcycle crash, killed his pregnant lover Anna McFall in 1967 and removed her fingers and toes, a mutilation he repeated on later victims including his first wife Rena Costello and his own daughter Heather. He and Rose buried nine victims beneath 25 Cromwell Street, the address the press called the "House of Horrors," and added Heather to the back garden. Detective Constable Hazel Savage's investigation finally exposed them; Fred hanged himself in his cell on January 1, 1995, and Rose was convicted of ten murders that November and handed a whole life order.Next the show heads to the snowbound mountains around Jarbidge, Nevada, where on December 5, 1916, drifter Ben Kuhl ambushed the Rogerson-Jarbidge mail stage, shot driver Fred Searcy in the back of the head with a .44 revolver, and made off with a mailbag holding four thousand dollars in cash. A stray dog led searchers to the buried money, and Kuhl's ivory-handled pistol marked him as a suspect, but the conviction turned on a bloody palm print found on an envelope from the coach, the first time such forensic evidence sent a man to prison for murder in the United States. Kuhl drew a death sentence later commuted to life, served nearly twenty-eight years, and died of tuberculosis in San Francisco in 1946 without ever revealing where the loot was hidden.The episode closes with a parade of history's most extreme eaters, from Georgian London's Edward Dando, who downed hundreds of oysters at a sitting and walked out without paying until cholera killed him in prison in 1832, to seventeenth-century Kentishman Nicholas Wood, who ate raw sheep wool and horns included. It runs through Roman emperor Vitellius, who vomited between courses to keep feasting and invented a dish of flamingo tongues and lamprey entrails; the corpulent King George IV, lampooned as the "Prince of Whales"; the geologist William Buckland, who tasted moles, panthers, and a preserved fragment of a king's heart; and Elvis Presley and his pound-of-bacon Fool's Gold Sandwich. It ends with the most disturbing case of all, the eighteenth-century Frenchman Tarrare, whose bottomless hunger drove him to eat stones, live animals, and raw offal, and who was expelled from a hospital after he was suspected of devouring a fourteen-month-old child.

For nearly 100 years, the Hotel Ojibway has stood as one of Michigan's most recognizable historic hotels. Overlooking the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, it welcomed tourists, business leaders, politicians, and Great Lakes travelers during the golden age of railroads and automobile tourism.In this episode of The End of the Road in Michigan Podcast, we trace the hotel's story from its grand opening in 1927 through the Great Depression, World War II, and decades of change in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. You'll meet longtime owners Leon and Beatrice Deglman, learn why former Governor Chase S. Osborn helped bring the hotel to life, and hear how the Soo Locks transformed Sault Ste. Marie into one of North America's most important transportation hubs.We'll also separate documented history from local legend as we examine the enduring story of Room 616, where many believe the spirit of Beatrice Deglman still watches over the hotel. Is it history, folklore, or simply one of Michigan's favorite ghost stories?Join us as we uncover the luxury, the legends, and the lasting legacy of the Hotel Ojibway—one of the Upper Peninsula's most fascinating landmarks.The End of the Road in Michigan Podcast brings you the people, places, history, and legends that make Michigan unique—one story at a time.The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications

It's YOUR time to #EdUp with Dr. Nerita Hughes, President, Bay de Noc Community CollegeIn this episode, President Series #489, powered by ⁠⁠⁠Ellucian⁠⁠⁠, sponsored by EdUp Leadership, the ​HigherEd PodCon​ II happening July 16 & 17, & the 2026 AcOps Conference July 29-31 by CoursedogYOUR host is Dr. Joe SallustioHow does a president who navigates 2 campuses, 2 time zones & 54 miles in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan get an articulation agreement with all the trades done in 1 year when they had been trying since 2007?Why does the closest community college being 4 hours away & the housing overflow being a hotel across the street not stop you from elevating presence from local to statewide to national?What makes moving from the best kept secret to a destination require jumping in with both feet when you can't tip toe & see if the water is warm enough?Listen in to #EdUpThank YOU so much for tuning in. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to EdUp!Connect with YOUR EdUp Team - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Elvin Freytes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe Sallustio⁠⁠⁠⁠● Join YOUR EdUp community at The EdUp ExperienceWe make education YOUR business!P.S. Want access to the only intelligence platform built exclusively from presidential conversations in higher ed? Well, we have an app for that!Join EdUp Leadership!

Michigan is full of towns that once had mills, mines, hotels, post offices, rail depots, docks, stores and big plans. Then the timber ran out. The copper market fell. The railroad moved. The dunes shifted. The fires came. The ships stopped calling. And in many cases, the town simply faded from the map.In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we take a lively trip through some of Michigan's most interesting ghost towns, from the Upper Peninsula to the Thumb and the Lake Michigan shore. These are not just spooky names on old maps. They were working communities built around lumber, copper, salt, fishing, shipping, farming and tourism.The episode covers well-known and lesser-known Michigan ghost towns, including Fayette, Freda, Sigma, Berne, Alabaster, Linkville, New River and Port Crescent, along with added stops at Singapore, Port Oneida, Pere Cheney, Old Victoria, Nonesuch, Disco, Aral, Edgewater, Good Harbor, Glen Haven, Central Mine and Clifton.Some towns, like Fayette, survive as preserved historic sites. Others, like Singapore, were swallowed by Lake Michigan sand after the timber was cut away. Port Crescent, once a busy Lake Huron port near the Pinnebog River, had sawmills, salt works, hotels, shops and more than 500 residents before fire, timber losses and shifting industry left only traces behind. Today, its former townsite sits within Port Crescent State Park.The story also includes Pere Cheney, a Crawford County lumber town now better known for its cemetery legends than its railroad and sawmill history. In the western Upper Peninsula, Old Victoria and Nonesuch tell the story of copper mining towns where good engineering and big hopes still could not beat falling prices or difficult ore. And then there is Disco, a real 19th-century Macomb County settlement with a name that arrived long before mirrored balls and Saturday night dance floors.This episode asks a simple question: Why do towns vanish? In Michigan, the answer often comes down to one industry, one railroad line, one dock, one mine or one mill. When that reason for being disappeared, the town usually followed.Along the way, we look at the strange, funny and often sobering history of Michigan ghost towns. These were not empty places. They were homes. They had churches, schools, stores, blacksmiths, mills, cemeteries, boarding houses and people who thought their town had a future.So take a ride down the back roads, old rail grades and forgotten shorelines of Michigan history. This episode of End of the Road in Michigan is about the places that boomed, burned, shifted, sank, emptied out or simply lost the fight with time.The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications

Click here to donate $5 on Left of Lansing on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/15494297/joinHere's the Left of Lansing "Friday Short" for June 19, 2026!This week, Michigan Democratic State Senate candidate for most of the Upper Peninsula, Kelli Van Ginhoven, talked with me about her her campaign on Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast.I asked KVG if she thought of herself as a progressive Democrat, and KVG said in today's time, being progressive is "essential."In this week's "Friday Short," I piggyback off of KVG's statement, and explain why progressivism is essential in Michigan and around the country as the working class gets further behind the untouchable Epstein Class. There's a reason why many progressive candidates, and progressive-populist messages, are winning. Because, progressivism is essential to saving the working class. To hear the entire interview with Kell Van Ginhoven, and the entire episode: https://audioboom.com/posts/8918186-kelli-van-ginhoven-s-people-powered-campaign-for-the-upper-peninsulaClick here to vote on this week's Web Poll on "Data" pronunciation.Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a good review if you can!leftoflansing@gmail.comLeft of Lansing is now on YouTube as well!Music provided by Wanderbeats. To hear the latest project, visit Space Leopard on various streaming sites, or visit: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceLeopardNOTES:Kelli Van Ginhoven State Senate District 38 campaign sitehttps://www.kvgforsenate2026.com/KVG's Facebook Campaign Page: https://www.instagram.com/kellifordistrict38/KVG's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellifordistrict38/#podcast #politics #progressive #Democrats #Michigan #MAGA #Republicans #Trump #WorkingClass #Economy #Immigrants #ICE #CorporateGreed #CorporateCorruption #GovernmentCorruption #DataCenters #EpsteinClass #Affordability #MedicareForAll #HealthCare #Authoritarianism #Democracy #LeftofLansing

Send us Fan MailA guy rode past us during a bike event while listening to our podcast at the exact same moment. That's the kind of sentence we would have laughed at when we first hit record, and it's the perfect way to frame our 100th episode milestone. We start with classic Cycling Men of Leisure catch-up: work trips that turn into mini road adventures, the beauty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and why moving too fast makes you miss the weird, wonderful “true America” you only find when you take the long way. Then we debut a brand-new Listener Spotlight jingle, share the fan mail that demanded it, and break down a Spotlight built around Omaha, Nebraska. From there, things get even better: Miya Sharp joins us as a surprise guest interviewer and asks the questions we didn't script, including why we started the podcast, how the original vision evolved beyond cycling, and the exact BRAG and RAGBRAI moments when strangers called us “the life of leisure” and the name finally stuck. We also get into our favorite episodes, the speakeasy tradition, the biggest travel disaster, and the one word we want the show to be known for: honest. We close by looking ahead with Tour de France energy and cycling headlines, including youth development investment (Zwift, Canyon, and Pedal Mafia) and a nod to progress in women's professional cycling. If you've ever loved the space between point A and point B, you're in the right place. Subscribe, share this with a riding buddy, and leave a review with the most unbelievable cycling moment you've ever witnessed. SupportSupport the showAdam and Michael's friendship has grown through years of shared miles, challenges, and laughter on the bike. Their passion for cycling has carried them through life's twists and turns, creating a bond full of stories, jokes, and unforgettable rides. In their podcast, they bring that same spirit to the mic—sharing adventures, trading banter, and welcoming listeners into their cycling community. Whether tackling steep climbs or cruising open roads, their conversations capture the fun, friendship, and freedom that cycling brings. Tune in for stories that celebrate the ride and the camaraderie that makes it unforgettable.and Remember,It's a Great Day for a Bike Ride!https://www.facebook.com/cyclingmenofleisurehttps://cyclingmenofleisure.com/https://www.cyclingmenofleisurepodcast.com

Click here to donate $5 on Left of Lansing on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/15494297/joinHere's Episode #183 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast!00:00-1:00: Jessica's Show Open1:01-4:04: New MI Dem Senate Poll4:05-4:50: McMorrow Upset w/Poll4:51-6:05: Polls Show Trends Toward Dr. Abdul6:06-7:20: Stevens Fights For Status Quo7:21-7:45: KVG Interview Preview7:46-9:09: MOU Iran War Deal?9:10-10:25: Trump Has No Choice10:26-11:00: $300Bil For Iran11:01-11:41: No Point To Iran War11:41-13:23: Can't say "war" in MI MAGA House13:25-14:27: MAGA Hates Free Speech14:28-15:00: MI House can't criticize DTE15:01-16:00: DTE No Fed Taxes Again16:01-16:25: Can't Say DTE or WAR16:26-16:56: KVG coming up.16:57-17:41: Jessica & MI Cities Liner17:42-18:12: Contact Pat18:13:-19:05: Kelli Van Ginhoven (a.k.a KVG) Interview Intro.Click here to learn more about KVG's campaign for Michigan's State Senate District 38https://www.kvgforsenate2026.com/19:06-20:00: Enjoying Campaigning20:01-20:24: Daily Campaign Travel In UP20:25-22:45: Balancing Campaign While Still on Delta Co. Board22:46-25:20: KVG's victories over MAGA Delta County Board 25:21-25:40: Decision to for State Senate25:41-26:06: KVG only Dem To Win Board Seat26:07-28:13: KVG on Progressive Label28:14-29:29: KVG Being Working Class Candidate29:30-29:49: Pat on MAGA Being Extreme Party29:50-31:54: Dems Writing-Off U.P.31:55-33:20: KVG on Bridging U.P. & Downstate MI33:21-34:30: U.P. Used To Be BLUE34:31-35:00: KVG on Making U.P. Blue Again35:01-36:17: KVG on Unions36:18-36:49: KVG's On Corrections Contract Victory 36:50-37:05: Union Endorsements37:06-37:33: High % Union Members in U.P. Back Republicans37:34-38:05: KVG Opposes RTW38:06-41:01: KVG On Housing Affordability41:02-44:32: KVG on Data Centers44:33-45:20: Working Class Feel Left Out on Data Centers45:21-46:45: KVG on Ending Status Quo46:46-47:56: Contact KVG47:57-48:38: Jessica Liner to Email Pat48:39-49:32: Thank You KVG!49:33-51:50: How the "UniParty" backs Data Centers51:51-52:18: Data pronunciation web poll52:19-54:42: Last Call-MI is safe for LGBTQ+54:43:-55:08: Jessica Liner on Wanderbeats55:09-56:02: Ending56:03-56:53: Jessica OutroClick here to vote on this week's Web Poll on "Data" pronunciation.Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a good review if you can!leftoflansing@gmail.comLeft of Lansing is now on YouTube as well!Music provided by Wanderbeats. To hear the latest project, visit Space Leopard on various streaming sites, or visit: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceLeopardNOTES:Kelli Van Ginhoven State Senate District 38 campaign sitehttps://www.kvgforsenate2026.com/KVG's Facebook Campaign Page: https://www.instagram.com/kellifordistrict38/KVG's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellifordistrict38/"Matt Hall's House Office Is Now Policing the Word 'War.'" By Distill Social "Michigan pollster accuses McMorrow campaign of killing unfavorable Senate poll." By Adam Wren of Politico "DTE paid no federal income taxes for 12th straight year despite more than $1.5B profit." By Minnah Arshad of Michigan Advance "After House leaders again decline to hear Pride Month resolution; LGBTQ Caucus reads it outside." By Katherine Dailey of Michigan Advance "Read the transcript of the US draft of the memorandum of understanding over Iran war." By The Associated Press #podcast #politics #progressive #Progressives #Democrats #MAGA #Republicans #Trump #Michigan #UpperPeninsula #CorporateGreed #CorporateCorruption #CorporateAuthoritarianism #GovernmentCorruption #IranWar #Israel #Gaza #War #Genocide #MiddleEast #Election #AbdulElSayed #HaleyStevens #MalloryMcMorrow #MichiganSenateRace #Senate #MikeRogers #EpsteinClass #WorkingClass #Unions #LGBTQ #Economy #Inflation #MedicareForAll #Affordability #WhiteChristianNationalism #FreeSpeech #Freedom #KelliVanGinhoven #Housing #DataCenters #Fascism #Democracy #LeftofLansing

Michigan's deer management is at a crossroads—and the decisions being made right now will shape the future of whitetail hunting in this state for generations to come.In one of the most important episodes we've ever recorded on Wild Game Dynasty, host Ryan sits down with Jordan Hoover, Upper Peninsula Deer Advisory Chair and one of the most passionate, outspoken voices for Michigan hunters in the state today. Jordan isn't just talking about the problems—he's in the room where the decisions are being made, and he's fighting like hell to make sure hunters have a seat at the table.In this episode we pull back the curtain on everything Michigan deer hunters need to know right now. We break down the Natural Resources Commission's May meeting and the new regulation proposals that have the hunting community fired up across the state. We dig deep into the politics driving these decisions, the failures of Michigan's whitetail management in the Upper Peninsula, the crushing reality of predation on deer populations, and the underfunded DNR that is struggling to manage it all effectively.Jordan doesn't hold back. From the controversy surrounding Michigan's potential move toward a one-buck state, to the ongoing debate over antler point restrictions, to the disconnect between Lansing politicians and the boots-on-the-ground hunters who live and breathe Michigan's deer woods—this conversation goes places that most people in positions like his are afraid to go.In this episode:What came out of the NRC's May meeting and what it means for Michigan deer huntersThe politics behind Michigan's most controversial deer regulation proposalsWhy the Upper Peninsula deer herd is in crisis and what's driving the declineThe real impact of predation on UP deer numbers and why it's not being honestly addressedWhat needs to fundamentally change in Michigan's approach to whitetail managementHow hunters can get involved, make their voices heard, and stop being left out of decisions that directly affect themThis is not a comfortable conversation. It was never meant to be. Michigan's hunters deserve honesty, transparency, and leadership—and that's exactly what Jordan Hoover is bringing to the fight.If you are a Michigan deer hunter, this episode is required listening. Share it, post it, and get it in front of every hunter you know. The future of Michigan whitetail hunting depends on an informed and engaged hunting community—and that starts right here.Don't stay silent. Don't stay on the sidelines. Get loud.Wild Game Dynasty Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and more.

In this episode of the Culture Eats Everything podcast, Tom Willis sits down with Dr. Stephen Bigelow, an experienced educator and former superintendent who traded Michigan's Upper Peninsula for life and leadership in Salvador, Brazil. Together, they explore the concept of “cultures within cultures” and discuss how living and leading in a completely different environment challenged Stephen's assumptions about healthcare, education, relationships, and leadership itself.Stephen shares how confronting his own preconceived notions opened the door to deeper learning, stronger relationships, and a greater appreciation for cultural differences. The conversation highlights the importance of humility, adaptability, and surrounding yourself with people who challenge your thinking. They also discuss how leadership principles remain universal even when cultural norms, communication styles, and expectations vary dramatically.Click here to buy our book:

    Dr. Brent Rudolph from the Michigan DNR is my first guest this week. The long time wildlife biologist talks about the whitetail fawning season. Then, Dan Ulfig from the Michigan Wildlife Council has an update on the "Here for Generations" campaign. Hour two kicks off with Captain Paul Schlafley of Riverside Charters in Manistee. Paul says the salmon fishing so far this season has been very good. Jim Felgenauer is up next. Jim talks about plans to build the first public fish cleaning station on Lake St. Clair. Upper Peninsula fishing guide Connor Baccus is my guest in hour three as we talk about fishing the UP for walleye, bass and crappie. Chef Dixie Dave Minar wraps it all up with a very nice wild game recipe.

For many Michiganders, Up North begins at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge. One listener defends the Upper Peninsula as true north. And another listener says the southern border of the mitten is also Up North for many people. GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE: Ken Raisanen, retired teacher and lifelong Upper Peninsula Michigander Keith Baker, City Manger of Coldwater Want to submit your own story or question to On Hand? Do it here!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan sits down with Kristin Ojaniemi, host of the UP's favorite outdoor show 'Discovering', to talk about what makes Michigan's Upper Peninsula one of the most wild and untouched landscapes in the Midwest. Kristin shares the stories behind her show — the remote stretches of forest, the characters she's met along the way, and what it means to truly live close to the land up north.Ryan and Kristin dig into what it's like to document wild places on camera, why the UP holds a special kind of pull for hunters and anglers alike, and how her show captures a lifestyle that's as authentic as it gets.Whether you've spent years in the UP or you've always dreamed of going, this episode will have you lacing up your boots and heading north.For more 'Discovering' content, follow along at https://www.discovertheup.com/

Michigan has a long history of strange encounters, and tonight's episode of UNEXPLAINED MICHIGAN brings together some of the most disturbing reports from the Great Lakes State.In this episode, Lon Strickler examines eyewitness accounts involving Michigan Dogman encounters, a terrifying shoreline incident in the Upper Peninsula, a Sasquatch-like scream near Big Rapids, a strange mimicking voice near South Haven, black-clad operatives near the Lake Michigan shoreline, triangular UFO sightings between Oxford and Lapeer, a possible Mothman-type winged humanoid in Oakland County, a bizarre creature reported near Merrill, and a mysterious suburban Detroit encounter involving two women who may not have been human.These reports come from hunters, outdoorsmen, families, truck drivers, and ordinary witnesses who experienced something they still cannot explain.From dark forests and lonely highways to the Lake Michigan shoreline, this is a deep dive into the unexplained side of Michigan.Please like, share, comment, and subscribe to Phantoms & Monsters Radio for more eyewitness accounts, investigations, and unexplained case files.

In this deeply intimate conversation, we sit down with Annalise Nelson as she shares her story of motherhood, identity, loss, and rebuilding life after the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Ann-Marie. Now parenting a newborn son, Leo, Annalise reflects on how grief has reshaped everything she thought she knew about love, time, and meaning—while also revealing unexpected moments of beauty, connection, and grace. Annalise begins by sharing her early life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, growing up as the youngest of four children in a home led by a strong single mother after the loss of her father. She reflects on how her mother modeled resilience, independence, and the importance of community—values that deeply shaped her path into teaching and later motherhood. She speaks candidly about the sudden medical crisis that led to Ann-Marie's passing, and the devastating yet clarifying experience of receiving answers in the hospital. In the midst of unimaginable grief, she describes holding multiple truths at once: heartbreak, gratitude for medical staff, and a strange sense of grounding in understanding what had happened. A central thread of the conversation is how community carried her: Friends, neighbors, and even strangers showed up in profound ways An 8.5-hour visitation revealed the depth of collective love Small gestures—like a stranger giving her a purple stone—became symbols of care A lifelong mentor reminded her: “The reason it hurts so much is because there's so much love.” We explore how grief is not something to “get over,” but something that reshapes identity. Annalise reflects on: Learning that grief is love with nowhere to go How time becomes nonlinear after loss The importance of letting grief move through the body rather than avoiding it How she and her husband grieved differently, yet both authentically The role of writing, walking, and trusted relationships in processing pain She shares deeply personal and beautiful ways she continues to honor Ann-Marie: Weekly writing with a local writer to preserve memories Designing a headstone that reflects her daughter's artistic, joyful spirit A cartwheeling mermaid with fishnet tights—symbolizing her daughter's wild authenticity Continuing traditions like birthday celebrations even after loss Receiving unexpected signs and meaning in everyday life Annalise also reflects on becoming a mother again through IVF and the arrival of baby Leo. She shares the emotional synchronicities surrounding his conception and birth, and how his name—Leo—feels connected to Ann-Marie in meaningful, symbolic ways. Rather than replacing grief, this new life exists alongside it. At the heart of the conversation is a powerful truth: You can hold joy and sorrow at the same time Life does not require choosing one or the other Healing is not linear, but deeply relational and embodied Love does not end—it changes form She closes with a reflection on what it means to live fully human: Those who struggle most are often those who resist holding multiple truths Beauty and tragedy will always coexist in a full life Feeling joy fully is just as important as allowing grief in This episode is a tender exploration of love, loss, and the enduring connection between a mother and her daughter—an invitation to stay open to the fullness of life, even when it hurts. Past Episodes You Might Like About Grief, Loss, and Motherhood: Episode 30:  Grief: It's Complicated Episode 122:  Nina Lohman: The Body Alone: A Lyrical Articulation of Pain Episode 192:  Anne Marie Nest-Pinero & Kristin Marrs: Performance Art that Educates About Infertility & Miscarriage  Today's Episode sponsored by: Kate Moreland Coaching (https://www.katemorelandcoaching.com/) Dr Yoga Momma (https://dryogamomma.com/) Heartland Yoga (https://heartlandyoga.com/) Source

Jon Herold sits down with Jeanine Garcia of A Bit of Whimsy, a boutique tucked into a 100 year old building in Iron River, Michigan, right in the heart of the Upper Peninsula. What started as a whispered phrase during a quiet moment staring across the street at a building for sale became a faith driven leap into small town retail. Jeanine walks Jon through the two and a half year renovation, the gut punch of being almost ready to open when COVID hit, and how a phrase she heard in 2017 suddenly made sense in the dark summer of 2020. She also shares the real challenge of sourcing 85% American made goods, why she keeps losing her favorite domestic clothing companies, and how sales at the boutique are finally trending upward after years of decline. Plus, she is bringing a pop up shop to the Deadwood GART and encourages everyone to check their closet tags. You might be surprised. This Week's Guest: Jeanine Garcia from A Bit of Whimsy https://www.bitwhimsy.com Promo Code: Badlands

In Sault Ste. Marie, a pasty is more than food. It's memory. It's family. It's the Upper Peninsula wrapped in dough and carried through generations.This week on Total Michigan, Cliff sits down with Heidi and Jeff Ritter, founders of the Yooper Pasty Company, to explore how a small food trailer turned into one of the most beloved gathering places in the Soo. But beneath the story of fresh crusts, rutabaga debates, and sold-out lunch rushes is something deeper: a couple trying to preserve a feeling most people are afraid of losing.This episode explores:Why the pasty means so much to Yooper cultureThe journey from Coast Guard life to entrepreneurshipHow food preserves memory and communityThe deep connection between Michigan history and traditionWhy some places feel like home the second you walk inIf you've ever tasted something that instantly transported you back to childhood, this episode will stay with you.Links:951 E Portage AveSault Ste. Marie, MI 49783Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichiganWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichiganMentioned in this episode:NWF AdVisit Our Sponsor: The National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Chapter is working hard to protect what Michiganders love and that is our great outdoors. Learn more about threats facing all Michiganders and what the NWF is fighting for at https://nwf.org/greatlakes

How did Wisconsin get its name? Did we lose the Upper Peninsula? Did you know Milwaukee was once the Bowling Capital of America? This week, we welcome Adam from Wisconsin History Unlocked for some Wisconsin stories and facts that we didn't know! From Woolly Mammoths to Bridge Wars, we cover a lot! The Cabin is presented by the Wisconsin Counties Association and this week we're featuring Fond du Lac County;https://www.wicounties.org/counties/fond-du-lac-county/ The Cabin is presented by Badger State Brewing; badgerstatebrewing.com The Cabin is also presented to you by: Crystal Farms; www.crystalfarmscheese.com

Darkness Radio presents: Voices Carry Here: Supernatural Stories of Ghosts, Mystery, and Suspense with Author, Gail Galotta! Voices Carry Here is a collection of short stories with themes of mystery, suspense, and the supernatural.A henpecked husband learns that "till death do us part" isn't the end of the story when his dead wife returns.A newly retired couple uncovers a pestilent secret buried beneath their dream home.A young woman retreats to the countryside to discover herself, only to stumble upon an unsolved tragedy calling out for justice.Voices Carry Here is a collection of short stories steeped in mystery, suspense, and the supernatural. Set against the beauty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, these tales will reveal secrets just beneath the surface of tranquil lakes, cries for help echoing from shadowed campgrounds, and small-town characters experiencing extraordinary circumstances.Blending chills with warmth, author Gail Galotta's flair for supernatural suspense is tempered with touches of humor, romance, and nostalgia.On today's show, we sit down with Gail and get down to the real-life inspirations behind her spooky fictional tales.  We also talk about her unusual writing style and how it compares to Rod Serling.  And, we tackle the themes of trauma, psychosis, isolationism, and more on this side and the other side! Get your copy of "Voices Carry Here..." here:  https://bit.ly/4wh21erLearn more about Gail and her stories here:  https://www.gailgalotta.com/Make sure you update your Darkness Radio Apple Apps!and subscribe to the Darkness Radio YouTube page:  https://www.youtube.com/@DRTimDennisThere are new and different (and really cool) items all the time in the Darkness Radio Online store on our website! Check out the Darkness Radio Store!   https://www.darknessradioshow.com/store/#paranormal  #supernatural  #metaphysical  #paranormalpodcasts  #darknessradio  #timdennis #gailgalotta #voicescarryhere #supernaturalstoriesofghostsmysteryandsuspense #paranormalinvestigating #stonetapetheory #psychometry #precognition #ghosts  #spirits  #spectres #hauntings #hauntedhouses #haunteddolls #pestilencehouse #spousalabandonment #spiritwalkins #alternatetimelines #timetravel #demons #possessedchildren #exorcisms #purgatory #spiritcommunication #spiritguides #Psychics #mediums