Plug Tone Outdoors (Plug Tone Audio)

As wildfires become more common and powerful, the Giant Sequoias of the American West are burning at massive rates. These enormous beings stand at a few hundred feet in height and a hundred feet in diameter.

Due to climate change and 100 years of human mismanagement, the forests where these Sequoias live are being lost to wildfire.

In this episode, Kris sits down with Sam Prentice, District Hydrologist for the USDA Forest Service, to speak about how wildfires are impacting our Giant Sequoia groves, the surrounding communities, and what we can do about it. 

This episode also dives into our history of fire management, or mismanagement, in the United States, and how current government bodies and nonprofits are not on the same page for a mitigation plan. 

Links from this episode:

• Save The Sequoias Act
• 10 Tips to Prevent Wildfires
• Smokey Bear’s Helpful Website
• The Sequoia Conservation Fund

Plug Tone Outdoors is part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. Check out our website or follow along on Instagram to learn more about our other shows.

This episode of Plug Tone Outdoors was created and produced by Kris Hampton.

Music by Mepa Melson, Serge Quadrado, Anton Vlasov, LesFM and Coma Media from Pixabay.com

Find a full transcript of this episode, images from Sam, and more, at our site.

In this episode of Strange Nature, we explore a disturbing discovery. 5 stories high and slowly seeping from the tongue of the glacier onto the frozen surface of Lake Bonney, is something strange. A thick, dark red liquid. A blood fall.

We dive into the weird phenomenon of the Blood Falls in Antarctica and what we've learned in the last 100+ years since Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole about ego and scientific discovery.

You can find links to videos, photos of expeditions and discoveries, and the full transcript on our website. 

Music in this episode:

Kvelden Trapp, Gra Landsby, Crem Valle, Csjtl, and Kovd by Fjell from Blue Dot Sessions

In this episode we talk with Brenda Beza, host of the podcast Your Healing Nature, and we hear her excellent interview with John Tateishi, former National Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League and author of the book Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations.

At two and a half years old, John was among the 120,000 Japanese Americans who, at the outbreak of WWII, were forced from their homes in the western states and imprisoned in America’s concentration camps. With his family, he was sent to the so-called Manzanar Relocation Center in the Eastern Sierras, one of ten American concentration camps in which Japanese Americans spent the war as civilian prisoners of their own government without ever having been charged with any crimes.

In this episode, we discuss John’s root story, spending his formative childhood years as a prisoner at Manzanar, how traditional Japanese cultural values impacted the healing of the Japanese American community, his role in leading the fight for Japanese American reparations and so much more.

More from Plug Tone Audio at https://www.plugtoneaudio.com/

You can find the song Kenji from Fort Minor at https://open.spotify.com/album/5v4Vx9loqMQCS3J7OmP9pa?highlight=spotify:track:6H503HrJOogVycvQkq2SuG

Learn more about Brenda Beza and Your Healing Nature at https://www.plugtoneaudio.com/your-healing-nature

You can learn more about John Tateishi here:

https://www.johntateishi.com/ 

You can purchase Redress here through Heyday Books:

https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/redress-the-inside-story-of-the-successful-campaign-for-japanese-american-reparations/ 

Manzanar National Historic Site:

https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm 

About the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

(National Archives)

https://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans/hearings 

President Reagan’s Apology: Signing of HR 442

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcaQRhcBXKY 

Letter of Apology from President George W. Bush

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/japanese_internment/bush.cfm 

Milagros Phillips, Cracking the Healer’s Code

https://www.milagrosphillips.com/healerscode

In the United States, we have over 120 national monuments. We’ve all heard about them in the news, and seen them designated and then undesignated over the past few presidencies. But what even IS a national monument? And who manages land that is designated as a national monument? What does it mean for our outdoor pursuits?

Writer McKenzie Long was asking herself similar questions when President Obama designated the Bears Ears area a national monument at the end of 2016. Her curiosity about her beloved climbing area, Indian Creek, which was technically inside of the Bears Ears National monument, and what this designation meant for her future climbing there, led her on a journey to visit many national monuments and speak to the people who were impacted by these sorts of designations.

In this episode, Kris and McKenzie sit down to discuss her book, This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America’s National Monuments, and how we should think about national monuments as stewards of outdoor recreation.

You can find more links and the full transcript on our website. 

And if you want to hear about McKenzie’s climbing journey, check out her episode on the Power Company Climbing Podcast.

Music in this episode is from the album Kokura Station by Blue Dot Sessions.

What are the best practices for managing the guests for your podcast? 

Read more on our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone on Instagram. 

Years ago, Kris wrote a traditional cowboy poem called The Cowboy King as a gift to the Lander climbing community. It features 120 route names from climbs in the Lander area. He has performed it live at the International Climbers Festival several times over the years, but only recently recorded and scored the poem. In today's episode, Kris plays the new recording for Lander local, Leif Gasch, and then the two of them chat about the making of the poem.

Find Leif online at: https://www.substr8climbing.com/

Guitar in today's episode by LesFM: http://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/

www.plugtoneaudio.com

In this episode, originally from the Nature Untold Podcast, Emily Holland talks with professional chit-chatter and word nerd, pow-hunting enthusiast, dog dad, and self-described addict, Paddy O’Connell. Paddy spent much of his adult life in repetitive cycles of addiction and pain, which all came to a head when he was 29. His story includes depression and trauma, but it also includes laughter and pure, joyful moments. He works every day at his sobriety and strives to show others how beautiful sobriety can truly be.

Learn more about Plug Tone Audio

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Marvel universe (no, that’s not a typo)

• What life was like growing up in an Irish family in Chicago

• Where he got ‘the gift of gab’

• Eruptions of unadulterated joy

• The moments that led up to Paddy confronting his addictions

• The importance of supportive and loving community

• His experience with a treatment facility

• How he came into recovery to finally get a rest, but came out with the opportunity for a truly joyful and freeing life

• Why the most dangerous words in the English language are ‘I got this’

• How the outdoor community should celebrate vulnerability as much as we celebrate sending it

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Books:

  • Between The World And Me

  • White Fragility

  • 60 Meters To Anywhere

• Magazines:

  • Freeskier

  • Adventure Journal

• Writer:

  • Steve Casimiro

How to catch up with Paddy:

• Instagram

• Website

Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please free free to follow along on the show’s Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever you’d like.

Written in Stone tells the (mostly) true stories of the most groundbreaking ascents in rock climbing history. Hosted by Kris Hampton, you’ll hear the narrated, sound designed stories about what led to new levels in climbing, alternated with conversations with today’s top climbers about what inspired them about what went down way back then. Season One is focused on the 1990’s, and will tell the stories of how sport climbing came to dominate, how women climbers made their mark, and explore the characters who made it all happen. Moon, Skinner, Gullich, Hill, Nicole and more! Like Todd Skinner always said, ”never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Learn more at www.plugtoneaudio.com/written-in-stone

For some skiers, drugs and alcohol can be fun. That wasn't the case for Paddy O'Connell. He was using them to cope with something deeper and darker inside. 

Paddy is a writer, host, creator, and podcaster. He also happens to have the best mustache on this side of the Mississippi. On this episode from Plug Tone Outdoors, Paddy reads an essay he originally wrote for Ski Magazine entitled "For Some Skiers, Drugs and Alcohol Are Fun, But For Me it Was Darker."

In this reading, Paddy touches on his own experiences with addiction in a ski town, as well as the overarching drinking and drug culture around skiing and snowboarding. At the end of the day, Paddy believes that it's not impossible to get sober in a ski town, after all, he did it himself. 

TW: This episode features discussions of sexual abuse, mental illness, and suicidal ideations. If that's not something you can listen to right now, go ahead and skip this one.

Check out more from Paddy and the Plug Tone Outdoors team on our website.

Photo credit for image to Mike Thurk.

Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions. 

Emily realized in February of 2020 that alcohol was no longer serving her, that it was actively getting in the way of the life she wanted to live. At the same time, she was learning to ski.

In this episode of Plug Tone Outdoors, Emily reads a blog post she originally wrote for the Nature Untold Community in February 2021. She shares her experience on her first real powder day, and not having a numbing agent to help her come down afterward.

You can learn more about Nature Untold, and read her full blog post on our website.

Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions  https://www.sessions.blue/

Want to monetize your podcast? Here are the 4 main ways that you can make money from your show. 

Read more on our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone on Instagram.

It's the age-old question on everyone's minds: Is Lil Wayne a Polar Bear Expert? Is the rapper who famously brought us lyrics like: "approving million dollar deals from my iPhone," and "'cause we pop them like Orville Redenbacher," seems to have an inside scoop on the incredible creatures called Polar Bears. Or does he?

In this episode of Strange Nature, Kris dives into the truth behind polar bear coloration. Is Lil Wayne an actual biologist? Listen to find out.

For photos of cute polar bears, as well as some less cute ones, check out our website. You'll also find a link to the Polar Bears International non-profit to learn more and support the conservation of polar bears.

Strange Nature is a production of Plug Tone Audio. 

Music used in this episode:

• Kern PKL by https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/153752 

• Eggs and Powder by https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/153734 

• Brer Menuet by https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/153735 

• Convex Crea by https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/153737 Comment end 

The Klamath people in what we now call Oregon tell a remarkable story of a first hand, eyewitness account of one of the most explosive moments in natural history - One that happened 8000 years ago. At the center of the story is a sacred lake, Gii-was, known to most of us as Crater Lake. In that lake is an Old Man. 450 years old, he has been floating there for over 120 years. 

Learn more about The Old Man of the Lake and the Klamath people at our website.

The music in this episode is Facing An Uncomfortable Truth by Kirk Osamayo and is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. from freemusicarchive.org

Klamath drummers and singers are from a 2014 Klamath Pow-Wow.

That's basically it. Podcasting is solely about consistency and experimentation.

Read more on our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone on Instagram.

Welcome to Built Outdoors, where we talk with outdoor industry entrepreneurs about the ideas that became businesses and what they’ve learned along the way. 

Part business advice and philosophy, part storytelling and history, and part celebration of the entrepreneurs, founders, and community leaders who are the unsung core of the outdoor industry. 

Coming September 20, 2022 to the Plug Tone Outdoors channel. 

Built Outdoors is created by Emily Holland and Kris Hampton for Plug Tone Outdoors, and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective - a diverse group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry. Check out our website or follow along on Instagram to learn more about our other shows.

Sarah Chase Fountain is a gem of a human being. Over on Nature Untold Podcast, part of the Plug Tone Collective, Sarah has shared her story of addiction and recovery, as well as her most recent musings on a challenging time in her past through a few short-stories-turned-short-episodes.

On her Medium bio, she states: “I have no filter and lots of emotions. Sometimes I combine the two and end up with a couple cohesive sentences.”

On this episode, Kris, who sound-designed and produced Sarah’s short episodes, sits down with Sarah to talk about that process. Sarah also shares her experience in writing these essays that were so full of emotion and reflection. 

You can find all the links to read and listen to more of Sarah on our website.

Music in this episode is:

Palms Down by Blue Dot Sessions

Lament of the Ancients by Asher Fulero

Forest Lullaby by Asher Fulero

Spirit Landscape by Lexin Music

The Darkest Place by NaturesEye

Everyday at the same time, a gigantic, strange tornado comes swirling out of a crescent shaped hole in a Texas hillside called Bracken Cave. 

Music this episode is:

Unsettling Ambience by Kirk Osamayo is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

Early Morning Self Reflection by Kirk Osamayo is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. And for one large mammal, the spotlight turns on them: the Reindeer.

In this episode of Strange Nature, Kris dives into the flying, red-nosed reindeer that all of us know and love: Rudolph.

You will find pictures of reindeers, the original Rudolph story, and a few other interesting articles and videos about the nomadic Mongolian people who are the only people in the world who ride reindeers on our website. 

Follow along with Plug Tone Outdoors on Instagram.

Learn more about the Plug Tone Audio Collective and how Plug Tone can help your brand tell the stories that matter at https://www.plugtoneaudio.com/

Rooted outdoors. Exploring inward. Expanding outward.

Doesn't everyone kind of want to live forever? Isn't that why we're obsessed with optimizing every single aspect of our lives? Well, there is a small being here on planet earth that beat us to it. This unique creature may never actually die. Like, ever. It's feasible that there could be a handful of these things out there, swimming in our oceans, that are millions of years old.

So, what ARE these little creatures? In this episode, we explore the curious case of the immortal jellyfish and the people who have been studying these little creatures that have the ability to rejuvenate themselves, by themselves.

You can find our full show notes and links to everything mentioned at our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone Outdoors on Instagram.

Music for this episode is:

Wondrous Waters from Nullhertz

Dancing In The Color Of Life by Daniel Birch is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Vast Possibilities by Daniel Birch is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

What is the best episode frequency for your podcast? Listen to this episode to learn about the frequency that's right for you and your podcast. 

Read more on our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone on Instagram.

Everyone CAN start a podcast, but SHOULD everyone start a podcast?

Here are the 5 questions you should ask yourself before starting a podcast. This will help you figure out if you should start a show yourself, and if so, set yourself up for success from the foundation.

Read more on our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone Audio on Instagram.

Emily, Devin and Kris sit down to discuss the origin and mission of Plug Tone Audio, both the podcast collective and the audio production company. 

Learn more about us and the shows in our network at https://www.plugtoneaudio.com/

Rooted outdooors. Exploring inward. Expanding outward. 

On this episode of Built Outdoors, we are featuring Backcountry Cobblers, created and led by Jay Halford, based in Lander, Wyoming.

In this episode, Jay and Kris discuss how Jay got interested in cobbling, the difference between resoling and cobbling, the challenges of scaling a business, and the importance of craftsmanship. Jay also shares his perspective on how bartending for a decade prepared him for a life as a local business owner. 

We hear about Jay’s favorite jobs, helping a local kid with a rare condition find shoes that actually fit, creating cowboy climbing boots for a friend, and the ever-rising demand for rubber-soled Crocs. 

Kris and Jay also discuss how Jay’s relationship with the outdoors and his love of outdoor sports has shifted and evolved over the years with his relationship to the business.

For photos, videos, and more information about Jay and Backcountry Cobblers, visit our website. 

You will also find a full transcript here.

Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions.

Dirty Wallpaper by Blue Dot Sessions

Are We Loose Yet by Blue Dot Sessions

The Shoes They Wear by Blue Dot Sessions

A Certain Lightness by Blue Dot Sessions

Contrarian by Blue Dot Sessions

From The American Climbing Project website:

"The history of a place creates future results for the space; this means if we want to understand the current reality of the indoor climbing industry, we must look at the history of where climbing gyms are built, and why. Climbing gyms around the country exist on the ashes of redlined neighborhoods, occupying familiar bands of warehouses, crumbling brick, and food deserts. They seek gentrifying areas, and they target the key demographic of those areas—that is, the young, white, and well-educated residential class."

Continue reading and learn more about this episode from The American Climbing Project, hosted by Devin Dabney, at https://www.americanclimbingproject.com/episodes/s01e02

https://www.plugtoneaudio.com/the-american-climbing-project

Follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/americanclimbingproject/

You can find out more about Plug Tone Outdoors and Plug Tone Audio at www.plugtoneaudio.com

Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/plugtoneaudio/

In 1989, famed professional rock climber, Todd Skinner, and his then-girlfriend, Amy Whistler, heard about the incredible dolomite cliffs near Lander, Wyoming, packed their bags, and moved immediately to Lander. In order to create jobs for themselves and other climbing partners, they created what came to be known as Wild Iris Mountain Sports, an outdoor gear store named after the climbing area that was holding their minds and hearts in Lander. 

Since then, Wild Iris has seen challenges, changes, and growth, and through it all, it became more than your average outdoor gear shop in an incredibly beautiful place. It’s a pillar of the community, both in Lander and in the climbing world at large.

In this episode of Built Outdoors, we hear from co-owner, Amy Skinner and manager, Joan Chase, about their path to creating a community-centered, adventure-focused outdoor gear shop in small-town Wyoming, how they maintain their identity as a business, and what kind of culture they try to create for their employees.

Connect with Wild Iris Mountains Sports:

• Website
• Instagram
• Google Maps to the physical store

Connect with Plug Tone:

• Website
• Instagram

Built Outdoors is created by Emily Holland and Kris Hampton, as part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. Support the show by leaving a review or sharing it with a friend.

What is out there, in the wilds of Wyoming? What eerie things are lurking in the trees? In this episode, we hear first-hand stories from Gigi Holley and wildlife biologist John Mionczynski about the ultimate wild mystery: the Sasquatch.

You can find tons of links, photos, videos, and the full transcript at our website.

Follow along with Plug Tone Audio on Instagram.

Check out Gigi's landscape and wildlife photography at her website.

What do you say when His Majesty The King of Bhutan wants to put on an ultra marathon through the Himalaya to show the impact of climate change, and invites you to participate? A high-altitude stage race over 5 days, 126 miles, and 33,000 total feet of climbing? Well, if you’re Gabe Joyes, you say YES.

In this episode, ultra runner, coach, and teacher, Gabe Joyes sits down with Kris Hampton to share his experience in running the Snowman Race in Bhutan in 2022. The race was put on partly in celebration of His Majesty The King’s birthday, but mostly, to show the world the impact of climate change on one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

While it was technically a race, Gabe walked away with a deeper purpose and responsibility to be a vocal climate steward, as well as a deep appreciation for the Bhutanese people and culture. 

For more links, videos, photos, and a full transcript check out the show page here.

On PodBeta, we give you quick, actionable tips for your own podcasting journey.

On this episode of PodBeta, the host of the Climbing Advocate Podcast, Peter Horgan, joins us to share his thoughts on podcast preparation. Whether you’re a new podcaster or a veteran, in this episode, you’ll be prompted to create or revamp your preparation processes in order to have the best possible conversations with your guests and make things easier from a post-production standpoint.

For more information, links, and a full transcript, check out our website.