Shows
TopophiliaThe Current: September 16th 2020Topophilia is excited to bring you the first episode of The Current. In a time where there are so many things competing for our attention, we want to be a source of relevant information about the places you care about and the issues that affect them. Here’s what you can expect: every 2 weeks (or so) we’ll bring you a new episode with 3-4 summaries of insightful and noteworthy stories. Whether it’s books, podcasts, articles or films, the idea is to give you a chance to stay on top of the issues you care about and maybe learn someth...2020-09-1600 min
TopophiliaContours: Crystal MountainIf you’re a skier near a big city, you’re probably familiar with the typical weekend routine: pack the car at 9PM, get up early, make a big cup of coffee,
and hit the road for a few hours’ drive to the ski resort. You’re probably planning on sitting in some traffic, but the skiing will make it all worth it. This winter though, skiers headed to Washington’s Crystal Mountain, newly owned by Alterra Mountain Company and a member resort on the Ikon Pass, have experienced a unique blend of pre-ski challenges. Unusually long traffic delays, parking lots filli...2020-02-2200 minTopophiliaWild Work: Taylor SandersTaylor Sanders, together with her partner Ryan, practices regenerative agriculture on a small farm (Long Table Farmstead) on the front range of the Colorado mountains. A former vegan intent on changing the way our food is raised, Taylor’s path took a radical turn when she took a butchery apprenticeship in Italy and returned with a new view on the role of livestock in our food system. When the call came to take over a small plot of land in Lyons, Colorado, she and her partner Ryan knew they couldn’t pass it up. This episode is chock full of stor...2019-11-2400 min
TopophiliaWild Work: Valerie ClelandValerie Cleland is a Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the United States Senate, where she works to improve the quality of United States legislation concerning our oceans, their ecology, and their adjacent communities. Since she was young, Val has known that she had a passion for protecting the ocean––this past January, after finishing her Master’s degree, she moved to Washington D.C. and got to work. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee for the Minority, she works to review bills and other legislation for their ability to protect ocean resources, and–in her own words–has learned mo...2019-10-0700 minTopophiliaStories That Shape Us: Molly BayerThis is part 2 of our mentorship series, which we recorded live during a story-telling event at the Patagonia store in Seattle. This story comes to you from Molly Bayer, who reminds us why it’s important to remember what it’s like to be a beginner, even as you become an expert.
This episode is a part of a short series recorded live at a storytelling event focused on mentorship in the outdoors. Thanks to Patagonia Seattle for their support and for hosting this event.
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BOEALPS2019-05-1300 minTopophiliaStories That Shape Us: Claire GiordanoThis is part 3 of our mentorship series, which we recorded live during a story-telling event at the Patagonia store in Seattle. This episode’s storyteller, Claire Giordano, tells us about her path to becoming an independent artist and the importance of having mentors who push us to take that first big step. Claire presented photographs and paintings along with her story, which you can find on our website! All images © Claire Giordano, used with permission.
© Claire Giordano, used with permission.
This episode is a part of a short series recorded live at a storytelling event focused on mentorship in the outd...2019-05-1300 minTopophiliaStories That Shape Us: Mark UrsinoA few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to host a live storytelling event at the Patagonia store in downtown Seattle. The theme of the evening was mentorship: we asked four individuals to share their stories of mentorship in outdoor spaces. We really enjoyed the chance to connect in person with some of our listeners, and it was a really fun and powerful experience to hear stories told live. But, if you weren’t able to join us, have no fear! Over the next few weeks we’ll be releasing each speaker’s story as a standalone episode. Whether you’re liste...2019-04-2800 min
TopophiliaWild Work: Elma BurnhamElma Burnham is a commercial fisherman, passionate seafood advocate, and community builder based in Bellingham, Washington and Bristol Bay, Alaska. In Late 2017, Elma began a movement called “The Strength of the Tides is Hers Also,” which seeks to support, celebrate and empower women working on the water. It all started with “The Pledge,” which challenged deckhands, captains, and others in the fishing industry to hold each other accountable in raising the bar for respect and affirmation of women who work in maritime industries. Strength of The Tides has since grown into a broad and deep community of maritime women via a weekly...2019-04-0100 min
TopophiliaWild Work: Carey FavaloroWelcome to the first installment in our new series Wild Work, which highlights individuals who, motivated by their connections to place, are devoting time and resources to create something amazing. These folks are passionate, driven, and inspired to do their work by the places that they choose to surround themselves with. They are athletes, fishermen, scientists, activists, and more. What unites them is their sense of commitment to a cause which is rooted in their communities, livelihoods, and the places they call home.
Our first conversation is with Carey Favaloro, an Aspen Mountain Ski Patroller, educator, and badass mountain athlete...2019-03-1200 minTopophiliaContours: The Zion NarrowsPicture this: you’re deep in the desert, hiking down your favorite trail, when you stumble upon some “For Sale” signs right alongside it. How would you react? For thousands of visitors to the Narrows trail in Zion National Park, this quickly became reality. When a long-running negotiation between a private landowner and the National Park Service came to a head, this world-famous trail faced an uncertain future. In our most recent Contours we dig into the backstory of these dramatic signs and discover the complex web of public-private land ownership and how it affects access to iconic landscapes.
In This E...2018-11-2600 minTopophiliaLocals OnlyWhat does it mean to be a “local” somewhere? For us, local status is deeply connected to intimate knowledge of a place — the best secret camping spots, the cheapest happy hour, leftover powder stashes, and empty saturday morning trails. In this episode we look into how we define locals, and along the way we confront some of our own preconceptions. We speak with three people—Alison Miller of Leavenworth, WA; Matt Lanning of Aspen, CO, and Gabe Joseph of Santa Fe, NM—who help us along this journey. It turns out that local identity is a little more nuanced than we imagine...2018-10-0100 minTopophiliaContours: How do you put a value on a forest?The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington is a place that, for us, is incalculably valuable for its many special backcountry campsites, wild rivers, ski lines, and soul-healing wild lands. When legislatures and other governing bodies must make decisions about the forest, however, they look for hard dollar values on the services these places provide which have been missing from the conversation—until now. Our first “Contours” short explores a recent economic study detailing the value of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and reveals some interesting issues.
If you’re interested in the full text of the report, you can find it 2018-06-0400 minTopophiliaWildernessWilderness is a fundamental part of the American land preservation equation. First designated by the U.S. Forest Service in 1924, and later formally established by the 1964 Wilderness Act, America’s 764 federally-designated Wilderness areas represent almost 110 million acres (an area roughly the size of California) of permanently protected roadless land.
In this inaugural episode of Topophilia, we dig into two questions about wilderness. First: how do the boundaries around wilderness areas actually get drawn? Will tells the story of the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness, and we speak with Dr. Kevin Marsh, professor of environmental history at Idaho State University and author of...2018-04-2500 min