An Unofficial 'The MeatEater Podcast' Reading List
All Books
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Described as Harrison's 'final book of essays' containing hunting and fishing writing combined with food writing and literature essays. Steve specifically mentions it as a collection of Harrison's Sports Illustrated writing from the seventies.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Described as 'a false memoir' about a guy wandering around Michigan's Upper Peninsula trying to catch a glimpse of a wolf. Steve mentions it as one of his favorites and discusses its abrupt, sad ending.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Mentioned as one of Harrison's Michigan-focused works that Steve and his friends were 'way into' when young.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Referenced as the greatest point of contact for people unfamiliar with Jim Harrison, and later mentioned as where many readers begin with Harrison and what made him wealthy.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Mentioned as one of Harrison's 'more complex works' and later praised as an example of Harrison writing sensitively in a woman's voice.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Briefly mentioned as one of Harrison's more complex later works.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Described as a children's book by Harrison that serves as an origin story about his experience with eye injury and retreating into nature.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Todd mentions doing a deep dive into Harrison's work including going back to Wolf, Warlock, and Farmer.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Mentioned alongside Warlock as one of Harrison's early novels that Todd read when getting into Harrison's work.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Mentioned as Harrison's memoir, titled in reference to his feeling of always being 'off to the side' due to his eye disfigurement.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
A collection of poetry where Harrison wrote letters to dead Russian poet Sergey Yesenin. Todd explains this book helped pull Harrison out of a deep depression in his thirties.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: James Joyce
Context:
Steve mentions trying to read this when going to writing school, thinking he should 'figure out what people actually write about,' but gave up on it.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Richard Brautigan
Context:
Steve discusses this book, noting it's 'not about trout fishing in America' but contains 'one of the greatest fishing lines ever' about a stream being so narrow you'd 'have to be a plumber to fish that creek.'
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Larry Brown
Context:
Mentioned in discussion of Larry Brown, a Mississippi fireman who became a novelist. Steve describes Brown as someone who taught himself to write between calls at a fire barn.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
A collection of poems published right before Harrison died. The softcover edition includes the last poem Harrison was writing when he died.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
An unfinished novella Harrison began before his death, described as being about his wife Linda.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Jim Harrison
Context:
Mentioned alongside Dolva as an example of Harrison writing novels in women's voices in a sympathetic way.
Episode: Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison
Author: Mark H. Brown
Context:
Steve Rinella mentions reading this book and discusses the author's perspective that the Battle of Little Bighorn was a 'non-event' that didn't actually matter in the larger historical context.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Michael Herr
Context:
Steve discusses this book about the Vietnam War, explaining that Michael Herr was sent to cover the war for Esquire magazine and spent years talking to soldiers. Steve notes that Stanley Kubrick used quotes verbatim from this book in Full Metal Jacket.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Pat Garrett
Context:
Mark Gardner mentions that Pat Garrett wrote this book after killing Billy the Kid, defending his actions and explaining why he didn't give Billy a chance.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Josiah Gregg
Context:
Mark Gardner references this book from the 1830s about the Santa Fe Trail, discussing how Josiah Gregg recovered from an illness (possibly through the 'Prairie cure') and documented his experiences.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Ron Hansen
Context:
Steve and Mark discuss this book extensively, particularly a detail about the shotgun used to kill Robert Ford. Mark mentions that Ron Hansen is a friend who wrote a blurb for his book, and they debate whether certain details in the novel are historically accurate.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Chris Kyle
Context:
Mark Gardner references this book to make a point about how war can numb people to violence and killing, drawing a parallel to how the Civil War affected Frank and Jesse James.
Episode: Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral
Author: Duncan Gilchrist
Context:
Steve references Duncan Gilchrist's book 'All about Bears' as a 'true classic' while discussing bears being so big that hunters cut them at the waist to haul them out in two pieces. This comes up during a conversation about Cal's grizzly bear hunt.
Episode: Ep. 798: Bonus - Tis The Season To Be Hunting
Author: Tom Wolfe
Context:
Speaker 4 mentions having 'just finished reading the right stuff' when discussing space topics with Tony Peterson during a fishing trip. This is referenced in a conversation about Tony Peterson's interest in outer space.
Episode: Ep. 798: Bonus - Tis The Season To Be Hunting
Author: James Campbell
Context:
Steve Rinella introduces guest James Campbell and mentions this as one of his books, describing it as a book listeners would be interested in.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: James Campbell
Context:
Steve mentions he just finished reading this book by James Campbell nights ago. The book is about the WWII campaign in Papua New Guinea.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Richard Connaughton
Context:
Steve mentions reading this academic book about the Battle of Manila in the Pacific Theater during WWII, which got him interested in the topic.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Roland Kays
Context:
Steve references this book about influential trail cam photos, mentioning it contains a photo of a jaguar in snow in the Wachuka Mountains of Arizona.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Alan Rabinowitz
Context:
James Campbell discusses reading this book (published around 1986) which was Alan Rabinowitz's first book about his experience in Belize collaring jaguars in the rainforest.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Alan Rabinowitz
Context:
James Campbell mentions this book by Alan Rabinowitz about trying to find the elusive clouded leopard in Formosa.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Alan Rabinowitz
Context:
James Campbell lists this as one of Alan Rabinowitz's books about Burma.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Alan Rabinowitz
Context:
James Campbell mentions this as another of Alan Rabinowitz's books about Burma.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: James Bradley
Context:
James Campbell quotes from this book, saying James Bradley wrote that WWII veterans 'came home and they got on with living' without talking about their experiences.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Janey Brunn
Context:
James Campbell mentions this book written by whistleblower Janey Brunn about the controversial Macho B jaguar capture incident, noting it was 'actually a pretty good book.'
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Dan Flores
Context:
James Campbell references this book by Dan Floris (whom Steve has had on the podcast) about what was done to predators in Colonial America, including jaguars.
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: James Campbell
Context:
Steve concludes the interview by promoting James Campbell's latest book with the full title 'A Heart of the Jaguar: the extraordinary conservation effort to save the America's legendary cat.'
Episode: Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar
Author: Matt Miller
Context:
Solomon David references this book by Matt Miller (director of Science Communications for the Nature Conservancy) when discussing conservation efforts and the concept of 'gar wars.' He describes it as being about fishing and conservation, and notes that Miller brought up the 'gar wars' idea in the book, using it broadly to discuss not just gars but other non-game native fish.
Episode: Ep. 793: The Mysteries of Gar Fish
Author: John U. Bacon
Context:
This is the main book being discussed in the podcast interview. It's about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and was released for the 50th anniversary of the wreck.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Hampton Sides compared 'The Gales of November' to this book in his blurb, describing it as one of the great shipwreck narratives. Sebastian Junger is noted as having been on the podcast previously.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: Erik Larson
Context:
Another book mentioned in Hampton Sides' blurb comparing it to 'The Gales of November.' The hosts mention they should try to get Erik Larson on the show.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: Nathaniel Philbrick
Context:
Third book mentioned in Hampton Sides' blurb as comparable to 'The Gales of November' in terms of being a great shipwreck narrative.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: John U. Bacon
Context:
John Bacon's previous book from 2017 about a World War I disaster in Halifax harbor when a ship carrying explosives collided with another ship and exploded. Bacon mentions this was his first foray into deep history before writing about the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: John U. Bacon
Context:
John Bacon's book about coaching his old high school hockey team in Ann Arbor. He describes himself as 'the worst player in school history' who played 86 games without scoring a goal. The book is in its fifth printing and is being developed as a potential project with Disney Plus.
Episode: Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Author: Darren Worcester
Context:
Jordan discusses a book by journalist Darren Worcester that compiled stories from Maine game wardens, including the story of Ludger Belanger's disappearance in 1975. The book was based on accounts from various game wardens, including Worcester's father-in-law who was a game warden. Jordan interviewed Worcester about this book and the case details it contained.
Episode: Ep. 787: True Crime in the Outdoors
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Context:
Steve Rinella references this book while discussing examples of wildlife affected by lunar cycles. He describes it as 'a book of like science writing' and discusses a story from the book about clams in an aquarium in Tucson that maintained tidal rhythms despite being far from the ocean. The author's name appears to be 'Barbara King Salver' in the transcript, but this is likely Barbara Kingsolver.
Episode: Ep. 783: Does the Moon Impact Deer Behavior?
Author: John Cook
Context:
The speaker discusses how some hide hunters recorded their experiences later in life. John Cook published this memoir in 1907 about his experiences as a hide hunter. During the Civil War, Cook fought for the Union along the Missouri-Kansas border, and from fall 1874 to spring 1878, he hunted buffalo in the Texas Panhandle. The speaker notes that Cook's descriptions of the day-to-day business of hunting and skinning are vividly detailed.
Episode: Bonus - The Hide Hunters, Ch. 1: Ghosts
Author: Miles Gilbert, Leo Ramager, and Sharon Cunningham
Context:
Mentioned in the sources section at the end of the transcript. The speaker acknowledges this ambitious encyclopedia project, describing it as 'two initial volumes A through D and E through K.' It's identified as the most comprehensive resource for researchers tracking down names of hide hunters and archival materials. The speaker credits this work for providing choice details and incredible anecdotes that enriched their telling of the hide hunter story.
Episode: Bonus - The Hide Hunters, Ch. 1: Ghosts
Author: Sydney Huntington
Context:
Steve recommends this book as 'phenomenal' and describes it as being about Sydney Huntington, a Koyukuk man, and his story of growing up on the Koyukuk River in Alaska. A listener wrote in asking about a passage from this book regarding whitefish and the death of Huntington's mother.
Episode: Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter
Author: Aldo Leopold
Context:
Steve mentions that some buffalo hide hunters lived long enough to see the publication of Sand County Almanac (transcribed as 'San County Almanac'), illustrating how these hunters witnessed the rise of the modern conservation movement that condemned their activities.
Episode: Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
Steve references this book while discussing Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. He mentions they recently had author Brian Burroughs on their show, and the book tells the story of the night Billy the Kid died, noting that both John Poe and Pat Garrett were former buffalo hide hunters.
Episode: Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter
Author: Nicole M. Nemeth, Michael J. Yabsley (eds)
Context:
At the end of the conversation, Steve is looking at this professional field guide. Mark Ruter explains it's intended for field biologists and agency personnel in the Southeast, though any hunter would enjoy it. The book contains information about wildlife diseases with detailed photographs.
Episode: Ep. 766: The Truth About Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
Author: Wright Thompson
Context:
Steve Rinella introduces Wright Thompson's previous works, mentioning this book about bourbon and family.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Wright Thompson
Context:
Steve Rinella mentions this book by Wright Thompson, described as 'sports stories and other serious business.'
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Wright Thompson
Context:
This is the main book being discussed in the interview. It tells the story of Emmett Till's murder through the lens of the physical location where it occurred.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: John Barry
Context:
Steve mentions reading this book about the 1927 Mississippi River flood right before reading Wright's book. They discuss how it provides context about labor issues and agriculture in the Delta region.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Robert Palmer
Context:
Wright Thompson quotes from this book about the Mississippi Delta, discussing poor whites from the hills bringing violence and racism to the Delta towns as cotton prices collapsed.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: William Faulkner
Context:
Wright Thompson discusses reading Faulkner's works and how they should be understood through the lens of bewilderment at the rapid transformation of the Mississippi Delta wilderness.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: William Faulkner
Context:
Mentioned alongside other Faulkner works as examples of literature that deals with civilization versus nature in the Mississippi Delta.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: William Faulkner
Context:
Discussed as one of Faulkner's works that explores the existential loss and trauma of wilderness being erased in the Mississippi Delta.
Episode: Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Nathalia Holt
Context:
This is the main subject of the interview - Nathalia Holt's new book about the Roosevelt brothers' quest to find the giant panda in the 1930s.
Episode: Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda
Author: Nathalia Holt
Context:
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
Episode: Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda
Author: Nathalia Holt
Context:
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
Episode: Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda
Author: Nathalia Holt
Context:
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
Episode: Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda
Author: Candice Millard
Context:
Speaker 3 (Nathalia Holt) references this book when discussing Teddy Roosevelt and Kermit's perilous 1913 expedition after Roosevelt lost the 1912 election, describing it as told 'so beautifully in Candice Millard's book River of Doubt.'
Episode: Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda
Author: George James Grinnell
Context:
Book about John Hornby and two companions (including his nephew) who starved to death in the Canadian Arctic east of Great Slave Lake near the Thelon River. The youngest kept a detailed journal chronicling their deaths, which was found in the stove of their cabin. Speaker 1 gave this book to Randy Brown and mentions having difficulty finding it.
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: John Ehle
Context:
A novel set in the 1780s about the first families moving into the mountains of Appalachia. Speaker 1 mentions being obsessed with this book and sending it to his friend Bobby Doug. The book discusses details like using groundhog hide for bootlaces. It's about 'land breakers' who cleared ground to grow corn.
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Context:
Referenced multiple times throughout the conversation. First mentioned when discussing a dog named 'Strider' (a character from the book). Speaker 1 discusses his high school teacher Bob Heaton who taught a class called 'Modern Mythology' where students only read Lord of the Rings. The characters Tom Bombadil and the Fellowship are also referenced. Speaker 2 mentions that he and his circle of friends in Alaska were all Tolkien fans.
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Context:
Mentioned briefly when discussing the number of installments in the Lord of the Rings series. Speaker 1 says 'I don't count the Silmarillion' when counting the books in the series.
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Context:
Referenced when discussing the Lord of the Rings series installments. Mentioned as separate from the main trilogy, with Speaker 1 noting they could 'go back in time and hit the Hobbit later.'
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: J.K. Rowling
Context:
Speaker 1 proposes a sociological comparison between 'Lord of the Rings people' and 'Harry Potter people' in terms of their moral perspective and work ethic. Speaker 2 mentions his younger son read and loved Harry Potter.
Episode: Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush
Author: Dr. Seuss
Context:
Discussion about an anti-capitalist song that Steve's child is learning at a song and dance program. Phil mentions 'The Lorax' and explicitly states 'The Lorax was a book written decades ago' while discussing the themes in the song about cutting down trees and corporate greed. Though they're discussing a song possibly from a movie adaptation, the book is explicitly referenced as the original source material.
Episode: Ep. 746: Hornography
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
Steve Rinella is listing Bryan Burrough's published works at the beginning of the interview, mentioning this as one of his eight books and four New York Times bestsellers.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
Steve Rinella continues listing Bryan Burrough's published works, describing this book about crime during the 1930s.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
Steve Rinella lists another of Bryan Burrough's books about Texas oil families.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
Steve Rinella mentions this book and later discusses it with Burrough, asking about its main argument regarding slavery's role in Texas independence.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: Bryan Burrough
Context:
This is the main book being discussed in the interview, about gunfighters in the American West and Texas's role in that history. Steve mentions he's halfway through reading it and loves it.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: Ron Hansen
Context:
Steve asks who wrote this book, and after some discussion, they confirm the author is Ron Hansen (not Robert Hansen). Steve describes it as 'the hell of a book' and discusses details from it about Bob Ford's death.
Episode: Ep. 740: The Gunfighters
Author: John Ehle
Context:
Steve Rinella recommends this novel to Doug, describing it as 'one of the best I've read in a long time.' He explains it's about the first farmers moving into Appalachian valleys after the long hunters, establishing corn patches and hunting bears. He praises it as a 'phenomenal novel' and notes the author's extensive knowledge about trees and wood purposes.
Episode: Ep. 732: Predator Management, California Style
Author: Thomas McIntyre
Context:
Steve mentions reading this book about Cape Buffalo by the late writer Thomas McIntyre (referred to as 'Thomas Mack'). He notes it came out posthumously about a year ago and discusses how the book tangentially relates to Cape Buffalo, often going off-topic similar to Brautigan's style.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Richard Brautigan
Context:
Steve compares Thomas McIntyre's book structure to this book by Brautigan, noting that 'Trout Fishing in America isn't about trout fishing in America' - using it as an example of books that digress from their stated subject matter.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Harper Lee
Context:
Steve mentions the controversy that Harper Lee didn't write To Kill a Mockingbird and that it was allegedly written by Truman Capote, in the context of discussing authorship controversies surrounding women writers.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Beryl Markham
Context:
Morgan asks Steve about this book he recommended, but Steve admits he's struggling to get into it and doesn't like the author's writing style. They discuss the controversy about whether Beryl Markham actually wrote it herself.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Karen Blixen (Isaac Dinesen)
Context:
Morgan mentions that Karen Blixen wrote under the pseudonym Isaac Dinesen when she first published Out of Africa, in the context of discussing women writers using male pseudonyms.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Ben Wallace
Context:
Steve asks if anyone has heard of this book by writer Ben Wallace, bringing up the author in the context of discussing Wallace's other work.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Ben Wallace
Context:
Steve mentions a forthcoming book by Ben Wallace about the mysterious person who invented Bitcoin. The specific title is not provided in the transcript.
Episode: Ep. 723: Dangerous Game
Author: Tom Kelly
Context:
Steve Rinella references this as 'the great famous Turkey book' and describes it as 'a masterpiece' that no one will ever write a better turkey hunting book than. He discusses specific content from the book where Tom Kelly describes watching gobblers interact with a real hen. Will Primos agrees about the book's significance and comments on Tom Kelly's unique perspective, saying 'nobody's got Tom Kelly's brain.'
Episode: Ep. 720: Beaver Castor Moonshine and Will Primos' Shotguns
Author: Aldo Leopold
Context:
Steve Rinella mentions reading 'San County Almanac' (A Sand County Almanac) as part of his journey in his twenties when he started putting together his understanding of conservation. He discusses how he and others weren't exposed to conservation concepts as kids, but later through reading this book and meeting people, he developed a conservation ethic.
Episode: Ep. 714: Enrolling At Backwoods Uni. with Lake Pickle and 'Old Trapper' Kate
Author: Roberto Saviano
Context:
Steve Rinella explicitly states 'Gomora was a book, was a nonfiction book about the Italian mafiosa.' He mentions he watched the Gomorra series because he was 'liking Gomore of the book, Gamore of the movie.' The book is about the Italian mafia, and it was adapted into both a film and a TV series. No author is mentioned in the transcript.
Episode: Ep. 711: So Are Dire Wolves Back From The Dead Or Not?
Author: George R.R. Martin
Context:
While primarily discussing the TV show, Matt James mentions 'the books are just so the books kept it going for them,' referring to how the Game of Thrones books provided source material for the television series. The discussion acknowledges the books as the original source material, though no author name is mentioned and the books are not discussed in detail.
Episode: Ep. 711: So Are Dire Wolves Back From The Dead Or Not?
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Steve mentions Sebastian's huge international bestseller about a commercial sword fishing boat that never returned, which was later made into a film with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Sebastian mentions writing his book 'War' about soldiers in Afghanistan, discussing how he wanted to make work that made people understand what it was like to be an American soldier.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Sebastian's latest book that came out last year, which contemplates death and the afterlife after a near death experience.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Studs Terkel
Context:
Sebastian mentions this book as 'a great book' that was 'an oral history of work' when discussing his focus on dangerous work, noting it wasn't specifically focused on dangerous work.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Anthony Loyd
Context:
Speaker 4 mentions reading this book about 15 years ago, describing it as having a very similar story to Sebastian's experiences, with scenes in hotel rooms. Sebastian responds that he met the author in Bosnia in 1993.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Sebastian describes this book about a murder case involving Al DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler) who was working at his parents' house when he was six months old. It's described as 'a cold case who done it.'
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Sebastian Junger
Context:
Sebastian describes this book as an examination of successful underdog groups and how they defeat greater powers, discussing why smaller groups can win against larger adversaries.
Episode: Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger
Author: Jefferson Fisher
Context:
Jefferson Fisher's newly published first book is discussed as the main topic of the podcast interview. Steve Rinella mentions asking about when the book comes out, and it's referenced throughout the conversation as Fisher discusses communication techniques from the book.
Episode: Ep. 702: How To Argue About Hunting and Fishing Like A Lawyer with Jefferson Fisher
Author: David Stewart
Context:
Dan Flores references this book while discussing how hunter-gatherer societies evolved into agricultural civilizations and cities in the American Southwest. He relies on Stewart's treatment to analyze the transition from Paleolithic hunters to the development of places like Chaco Canyon.
Episode: Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores
Author: Jared Diamond
Context:
Steve Rinella brings up this book when discussing why Spanish conquistadors like Pizarro conquered the Incans rather than the reverse. The book examines why Western European civilization came to dominate other civilizations, which Dan Flores then elaborates on, explaining Diamond's argument about Eurasia's advantages.
Episode: Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores
Author: Dan Flores
Context:
Dan Flores references his own book when discussing the long-term story of humans and animals in North America. He mentions it again at 01:48:29 when talking about Native American animistic beliefs and the idea that humans are kin to other animals.
Episode: Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores
Author: Vine Deloria
Context:
Dan Flores mentions this book (though Steve mispronounces it as 'God Has Read Custarded for Your Sins') when discussing Vine Deloria, a famous Native American author who contacted him about an article on buffalo. Deloria was described as famous for this book among others.
Episode: Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores
Author: Tim Sheehy
Context:
Senator Sheehy mentions that he wrote a book about the history of aerial firefighting called 'Mudslingers,' with all profits going to benefit fallen wildland firefighters. He references this while explaining the history of how the government decided in the 1960s to contract out firefighting aircraft rather than operate them directly.
Episode: Ep. 696: Wildfire and the Future of Public Lands with Sen. Tim Sheehy
Author: Thomas McIntyre
Context:
Steve Rinella discusses reading this book, which is described as a history of the Cape Buffalo. He mentions it contains extensive information about human history, plant poisons used in hunting, and includes discussion of toxins used by indigenous peoples. The book came out in 2023, after the author's death in 2022.
Episode: Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths?
Author: Edward I. Steinhart
Context:
Steve mentions this as a book he wants to read next, in preparation for going to Africa. He describes it as dealing with the ethical battles over resource access, the demonization of indigenous hunting methods during the Safari era, and the double standards applied to white versus black hunters in Africa.
Episode: Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths?
Author: Paul Martin
Context:
One of the speakers (Brody) discusses reading this book and being impressed by how Paul Martin tracks the spread of humans around the globe and lists extinctions that occurred at the same time. The speaker describes it as presenting a very compelling argument about human-caused extinctions, comparing it to watching a convincing YouTube video.
Episode: Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths?
Author: Anonymous (Biblical)
Context:
Speaker 5 references the Bible while discussing wildlife laws and ethics, stating 'The Bible says that men should obey the laws of men, and by doing so, they're ultimately obeying God. And that book was written long before nineteen sixty.' This is used to make a point about the longstanding principle of obeying laws, even in the context of discussing Johnny's past as a wildlife law violator.
Episode: Ep. 691: BONUS DROP - Bear Grease: Confessions of a Former Outlaw
Author: Kerry Cash
Context:
Shane describes being handed this book about a Navy chaplain assigned to Marines during the first push into Iraq. The book discusses the chaplain's ministry to military personnel and the dangers they faced. This book was influential in Shane's decision to pursue becoming a military chaplain, as someone suggested it would be a good fit given his law enforcement and tactical background.
Episode: Ep. 683: The Healing Power of the Outdoors with Pastor Yates
Author: Jesse Griffiths
Context:
Steve Rinella introduces Jesse Griffiths as the author of 'The Hog Book' and 'The Turkey Book', describing them as 'very creatively titled' books that tell you exactly what they're about. The Hog Book is described as containing comprehensive information about preparing wild hogs.
Episode: Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star
Author: Jesse Griffiths
Context:
Introduced alongside The Hog Book as Jesse Griffiths' second book, which tells readers everything about preparing turkeys and every part of every turkey. Both books are noted as available at themeatater.com.
Episode: Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star
Author: Clifford Geertz
Context:
Randall mentions this as 'a classic anthropological study' where Geertz goes to Bali and provides a deep analysis of how the cockfight can explain Balinese society and how people behave there. This comes up in a discussion about cockfighting after Steve mentions attending cockfights in the Philippines.
Episode: Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star
Author: Michael Hunter
Context:
Michael Hunter discusses his second cookbook, focused on cooking over fire. He mentions it contains about 100 recipes and includes wild game and seafood prepared over open flames.
Episode: Ep. 673: Cooking Bear Ribs and Getting Boned by Politics
Author: Michael Hunter
Context:
Michael Hunter references his first cookbook, which he worked on for ten years and which did very well, being sold in Bass Pro shops across the country.
Episode: Ep. 673: Cooking Bear Ribs and Getting Boned by Politics
Author: Omer C. Stewart
Context:
Dwayne Estes mentions he is currently reading this book, which discusses Native American use of fire in landscape management. He notes it's written by an anthropologist and relies heavily on that perspective.
Episode: Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve
Author: Reed Noss
Context:
Dwayne Estes mentions his colleague Reid Nass 'wrote a book in twenty thirteen called Forgotten Grasslands of the South,' describing it as 'a game changer' that 'turned the messaging around southern ecosystems.'
Episode: Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve
Author: John Ehle
Context:
Steve Rinella strongly recommends this book from 1964, describing it as historically accurate fiction about settlers around 1780 breaking new land. He praises the author's knowledge of trees, plants, and historical details, saying 'It is unbelievable.'
Episode: Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve
Author: Louis L'Amour
Context:
Dwayne Estes compares The Land Breakers to Louis L'Amour's Sacket series. Steve discusses L'Amour's work, noting his extensive knowledge and research, though in a somewhat qualified manner.
Episode: Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve
Author: Evan S. Connell
Context:
Steve Rinella discusses this book as the best thing ever written about General Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He quotes from it to describe the Unkpapa Sioux warrior named Gall, using it as a 'buffalo meat testimonial' in the context of discussing the diet and physical prowess of Native Americans.
Episode: Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man
Author: Stanley Vestal
Context:
Randall references this biography when discussing the mortality rate of mountain men. He mentions that Stanley Vestal, in his biography of Bridger, suggested that a mountain man died every ten days, though Randall expresses skepticism about this claim.
Episode: Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man
Author: Thomas Paine
Context:
Mentioned briefly in the context of discussing the revolutionary fervor and building of the American patriotic movement in the years leading up to the American Revolution, alongside references to the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere.
Episode: Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man
Author: Anthony Bourdain
Context:
Steve Rinella mentions Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential, recalling when it came out and was excerpted in the New Yorker. This led to the production company optioning it and creating the TV shows that Morgan Fallon would later work on.
Episode: Ep: 652: Hunting History
Author: Edgar Christian
Context:
Steve discusses a book given to him by podcast guest Randy Brown. The book is described as a journal chronicling three people starving to death in the Canadian Arctic along the Thelon River in the 1920s. The youngest survivor kept a meticulous journal documenting his companions' deaths and eventually his own death from starvation. Steve relates this to the Donner Party episode they filmed, particularly regarding the effects of eating boiled bones and animal hides during starvation.
Episode: Ep: 652: Hunting History
Author: Charles Deutschmann
Context:
Speaker 2 shows and discusses this book, describing it as 'phenomenal.' It's identified as self-published journals about a man who killed 56 grizzly bears in Western Canada between 1895 and 1924. The speakers then read several passages from the book about frontier life, including hunting muskrats, pulling trees for settlers, and the killing of Robert Ford (who killed Jesse James).
Episode: Ep. 649: Muzzleloader Blues
Author: A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Context:
Randy Brown mentions reading this book and others by A.B. Guthrie as inspiration for wanting to live in the woods in Alaska. He says 'I'd read some of these uh, you know books like The Big Sky and some other baby gothries and uh and I always felt like I was born about one hundred years too late.'
Episode: Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska
Author: John McPhee
Context:
Randy describes an encounter with author John McPhee while he was researching/writing this book about Alaska. The discussion centers around Randy meeting McPhee on the Tatonic River when McPhee was with Dick Cook, and Randy mentions being 'sort of in coming into the country.'
Episode: Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska
Author: Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Context:
Steve asks 'Have you read Stephenson's My Life with the Eskimo?' and they discuss content from the book about Eskimo dietary habits, particularly their aversion to salted meat and how explorers would salt their food to protect it from being eaten. The discussion includes details about salt tolerance and dietary adaptation.
Episode: Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska
Author: Danielle Prewett
Context:
Danielle Prewett discusses her new cookbook that she has been working on for 3-4 years. The book is organized by seasons rather than by game type (like traditional wild game cookbooks), and includes recipes for wild game as well as other foods that would be on the plate. It contains over 80 recipes and was published by Penguin Random House with an October 8th release date. This is her first book and represents a lifetime of her favorite recipes plus new creations.
Episode: Ep. 611: The Duck Stamp Champ
Author: Diane Boyd
Context:
Steve introduces Diane Boyd's new book about her career working with wolf recovery. The book is being released September 10th and is available for pre-order. This is the main topic of discussion as Diane is the guest on the podcast.
Episode: Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves
Author: Jim Rearden
Context:
Steve mentions a book about Frank Glazer, describing him as someone who went to Alaska and became an accomplished hunter involved in wolf control operations. The book documents his experiences with predator control in Alaska.
Episode: Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Context:
Steve references this Cormac McCarthy novel in the context of discussing wolf trapping techniques. He describes a scene where a character tries to catch a Mexican gray wolf by setting a trap in his fire pit.
Episode: Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves
Author: Stanley P. Young
Context:
Diane Boyd mentions this book while discussing historical accounts of wolf trappers and their efforts to catch the last remaining wolves. She references it in the context of old-timers' stories about renegade wolves.
Episode: Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves
Author: Will Primos and Anthony Matisse
Context:
Will Primos discusses a book he co-authored with Anthony Matisse about shotgun shooting techniques for hunters. The book combines technical shooting expertise from competitive shooting with real-world hunting scenarios. Will mentions it's available for pre-order on Amazon and that he narrates the audio version.
Episode: Ep. 593: Patience is a Good Hunter, with Will Primos
Author: Anthony Matisse
Context:
Will Primos mentions that Anthony Matisse previously wrote a book called 'Straight Shooting,' described as a one hundred dollar coffee table book. Will went to Anthony to have this book signed, which led to their collaboration on the hunting-focused book.
Episode: Ep. 593: Patience is a Good Hunter, with Will Primos
Author: Edmund Morris
Context:
A listener wrote in about the pronunciation of 'Roosevelt' and mentioned that their husband was reading Edmund Morris's three-part biography of Theodore Roosevelt aloud as a bedtime story to their newborn son. The biography provided historical context about the Roosevelt family name pronunciation differences between the Hyde Park and Oyster Bay branches of the family.
Episode: Ep. 587: Finding a Middle Ground on Predators
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Context:
Steve Rinella is discussing his childhood experiences with his wife, including practices like cooling watermelons in creeks. His wife responds by asking if he 'grew up on the little house on the,' which appears to be a reference to the Little House on the Prairie book series, suggesting his rural upbringing reminds her of the lifestyle depicted in those books.
Episode: Ep. 586: BONUS DROP - Cutting the Rough Cuts
Author: Randy Zarnke
Context:
Steve introduces this book as oral histories collected by Randy Zarnke, who is president of Alaska Trappers Association. He reads several excerpts from the book, including stories about bear hunting and eagle bounties from old-time Alaskans. Steve mentions he only had to read to page 14 to find interesting tidbits.
Episode: Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American?
Author: Robert Service
Context:
Steve references this famous poem by Robert Service, calling it 'the greatest poem ever written.' He describes Service as 'the Bard of the Yukon' and provides context about the poem's subject matter involving gold miners during the Yukon Gold Rush. Steve encourages listeners to read it.
Episode: Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American?
Author: Robert Service
Context:
Steve mentions this as 'the second greatest poem of all time,' also written by Robert Service. It's referenced immediately after discussing The Cremation of Sam McGee, suggesting listeners follow up by reading this work as well.
Episode: Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American?
Author: Randy Zarnke
Context:
Steve introduces this book as a collection of oral histories from Alaska. He reads several excerpts from it, including stories about eagle hunting during bounty years, World War II incidents, and trapping experiences. He describes it as 'the best book' and his 'favorite book.'
Episode: Ep. 575: How to Sharpen a Knife Like a Real Man
Author: John McPhee
Context:
Steve references this Pulitzer Prize-winning geology book while discussing Earth's history and geological timescales. He mentions that McFee said if he could sum up the book in one sentence, it would be 'the top of Mount Everest is marine limestone.' He also references McFee's metaphor about Earth's history spanning fingertip to fingertip, where human history could be removed with one stroke of a nail file.
Episode: Ep. 575: How to Sharpen a Knife Like a Real Man
Author: J. Frank Dobie
Context:
Steve mentions reading this book during a live show. It was given to him by the live tour guy. He later references it again when discussing terms like 'old mossy horns' and sayings like 'more of something than fiddlers in hell' that he learned from the book.
Episode: Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth
Author: William F. Carmon (Bill Carmon)
Context:
Steve describes this as a guidebook by Bill Carmon who was with Rocky Mountain Trout Foundation. The book provides locations where Daniel Boone hunted and fished, allowing readers to fish those historic places while learning about the history that occurred there.
Episode: Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth
Author: James A. Carroll
Context:
This is the main book Steve discusses in detail during his 'Steve Reads Books So You Ain't Got To' segment. It's about a cook from Minnesota logging camps who becomes a fur trapper in Alaska and chronicles his adventures, including detailed descriptions of cooking techniques, trapping, and frontier life.
Episode: Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth
Author: Dick Pearson
Context:
Larry Ramsell mentions this book while discussing catch and release ethics and proper fish handling. He describes Dick Pearson as a legendary musky angler and praises this as 'one of the most comprehensive how to books on musky fishing.' He notes that despite writing a musky fishing book, Pearson doesn't even feature an angler holding a musky on the front cover, instead using a sunset photo, demonstrating his commitment to fish conservation.
Episode: Ep. 569: The Musky Wars
Author: T. H. White
Context:
RFK Jr. discusses reading this book when he was young, during his uncle's presidency. He describes it as a book about young King Arthur and mentions that T.H. White was both a brilliant author and a British falconer. The book contains a chapter about Arthur apprenticing as a falconer, which inspired RFK Jr. to pursue falconry himself.
Episode: Ep. 560: RFK Jr. on Polluters, Falconry, and Assassinations
Author: Aldo Leopold
Context:
Steve describes this as 'the most influential piece of conservation writing ever' and discusses its 75th anniversary. The book is a collection of Leopold's writing that maintains relevance today.
Episode: Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza
Author: Edward Abbey
Context:
Steve mentions this book when discussing famous conservationists, saying people might name Roosevelt first, Leopold second, and then 'Desert Solitaire' third, though he's uncertain about the third choice.
Episode: Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza
Author: Curt Meine
Context:
Carl recommends this book as 'a phenomenal biography of Aldo Leopold' for anyone who wants to get into Leopold's biography in a very detailed way, describing it as fantastic.
Episode: Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza
Author: Dale McCullough
Context:
Carl describes this as 'one of the foundational wildlife management books on the reproductive capacity and population dynamics of white tail deer,' recommending it for those in wildlife management who want to get into the subject deeply.
Episode: Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza
Author: Michael Herr
Context:
Steve discusses this as 'one of the best books about the Vietnam War.' He explains that Michael Herr was sent by Rolling Stone or Esquire to cover the Vietnam War, and that most of the dialogue in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket comes from this book. Steve describes it as 'a masterpiece of war reporting' and discusses how the author struggled to reintegrate into society after the experience. He specifically recalls Herr describing an odor as 'smelling like snakes left too long in a jar.'
Episode: Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts
Author: Martin Black and Stephen Peters
Context:
Clay mentions reading this book about 15 years ago. He explains it was 'written by a neurologist and a horse trainer' and discusses the book's premise that horses don't have the brain capacity to 'like' or 'dislike' humans the way people anthropomorphize them. He uses this to justify his desire to keep a rattlesnake, arguing that the snake would be content in captivity. The book apparently examines horse behavior from a neurological perspective.
Episode: Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts
Author: Larry Ramsell
Context:
A listener writes to Steve suggesting he should 'read a compendium Musky angling history by Larry Ramsell' to brush up on his musky biology knowledge. The book is mentioned as covering the history of faked musky records. Later in the conversation, it's noted that Ramsell 'wrote a highly detailed book in nineteen eighty four' and is described as 'the premiere historian of musky lore' in Hayward, Wisconsin.
Episode: Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts
Author: Peter Stark
Context:
Peter Stark's first book about various ways to die in the wilderness, featuring physiological explorations of death scenarios. Later discussed in detail around 01:12:48 where he explains it contains 'eleven Great Ways to Die in the Wilderness.'
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
Author: Peter Stark
Context:
Peter Stark's book about John Jacob Astor and the beaver trade/fur trade. Described as being about 'America's first homegrown millionaire.' Full title revealed at timestamp 49:36.
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
Author: Peter Stark
Context:
Peter Stark's book about George Washington's early years, focusing on his wilderness experience as an explorer. The book examines Washington's mistakes and experiences in his twenties. Full title revealed at timestamp 52:22.
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
Author: Peter Stark
Context:
Peter Stark's book profiling four unpopulated areas of the United States, which he calls 'blank spots.' This book led to his other historical works as he encountered the young George Washington while researching western Pennsylvania.
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
Author: Peter Stark
Context:
Peter Stark's newest book about the conflict between Tecumseh, the Shawnee war leader, and William Henry Harrison, examining their struggle over the future of the American frontier.
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
Author: Barry Lopez
Context:
Steve mentions wanting to have Barry Lopez on the show before he died. He references a story from Arctic Dreams about a botanist working on a tussock and cataloging plant species, then standing up to see the enormity of the Arctic landscape.
Episode: Ep. 546: The History of Adventure
| Title | Author | Context | Episode Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just Before Dark | Jim Harrison |
Described as Harrison's 'final book of essays' containing hunting and fishing writing combined with food writing and literature essays. Steve specifically mentions it as a collection of Harrison's Sports Illustrated writing from the seventies.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Wolf | Jim Harrison |
Described as 'a false memoir' about a guy wandering around Michigan's Upper Peninsula trying to catch a glimpse of a wolf. Steve mentions it as one of his favorites and discusses its abrupt, sad ending.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Brown Dog | Jim Harrison |
Mentioned as one of Harrison's Michigan-focused works that Steve and his friends were 'way into' when young.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Legends of the Fall | Jim Harrison |
Referenced as the greatest point of contact for people unfamiliar with Jim Harrison, and later mentioned as where many readers begin with Harrison and what made him wealthy.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Dolva | Jim Harrison |
Mentioned as one of Harrison's 'more complex works' and later praised as an example of Harrison writing sensitively in a woman's voice.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| The Road Home | Jim Harrison |
Briefly mentioned as one of Harrison's more complex later works.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| The Boy Who Ran to the Woods | Jim Harrison |
Described as a children's book by Harrison that serves as an origin story about his experience with eye injury and retreating into nature.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Warlock | Jim Harrison |
Todd mentions doing a deep dive into Harrison's work including going back to Wolf, Warlock, and Farmer.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Farmer | Jim Harrison |
Mentioned alongside Warlock as one of Harrison's early novels that Todd read when getting into Harrison's work.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Off to the Side | Jim Harrison |
Mentioned as Harrison's memoir, titled in reference to his feeling of always being 'off to the side' due to his eye disfigurement.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Letters to Yesenin | Jim Harrison |
A collection of poetry where Harrison wrote letters to dead Russian poet Sergey Yesenin. Todd explains this book helped pull Harrison out of a deep depression in his thirties.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Dubliners | James Joyce |
Steve mentions trying to read this when going to writing school, thinking he should 'figure out what people actually write about,' but gave up on it.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Trout Fishing in America | Richard Brautigan |
Steve discusses this book, noting it's 'not about trout fishing in America' but contains 'one of the greatest fishing lines ever' about a stream being so narrow you'd 'have to be a plumber to fish that creek.'
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Big Bad Love | Larry Brown |
Mentioned in discussion of Larry Brown, a Mississippi fireman who became a novelist. Steve describes Brown as someone who taught himself to write between calls at a fire barn.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Dead Man's Float | Jim Harrison |
A collection of poems published right before Harrison died. The softcover edition includes the last poem Harrison was writing when he died.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| A Woman Who Loved Trees | Jim Harrison |
An unfinished novella Harrison began before his death, described as being about his wife Linda.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Women Lit by Fireflies | Jim Harrison |
Mentioned alongside Dolva as an example of Harrison writing novels in women's voices in a sympathetic way.
|
Ep. 802: The Life And Death of Jim Harrison |
| Plainsmen of the Yellowstone | Mark H. Brown |
Steve Rinella mentions reading this book and discusses the author's perspective that the Battle of Little Bighorn was a 'non-event' that didn't actually matter in the larger historical context.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| Dispatches | Michael Herr |
Steve discusses this book about the Vietnam War, explaining that Michael Herr was sent to cover the war for Esquire magazine and spent years talking to soldiers. Steve notes that Stanley Kubrick used quotes verbatim from this book in Full Metal Jacket.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid | Pat Garrett |
Mark Gardner mentions that Pat Garrett wrote this book after killing Billy the Kid, defending his actions and explaining why he didn't give Billy a chance.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| Commerce of the Prairies | Josiah Gregg |
Mark Gardner references this book from the 1830s about the Santa Fe Trail, discussing how Josiah Gregg recovered from an illness (possibly through the 'Prairie cure') and documented his experiences.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Ron Hansen |
Steve and Mark discuss this book extensively, particularly a detail about the shotgun used to kill Robert Ford. Mark mentions that Ron Hansen is a friend who wrote a blurb for his book, and they debate whether certain details in the novel are historically accurate.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| American Sniper | Chris Kyle |
Mark Gardner references this book to make a point about how war can numb people to violence and killing, drawing a parallel to how the Civil War affected Frank and Jesse James.
|
Ep. 799: Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Booze-Fueled Bender that Ended at OK Corral |
| All About Bears | Duncan Gilchrist |
Steve references Duncan Gilchrist's book 'All about Bears' as a 'true classic' while discussing bears being so big that hunters cut them at the waist to haul them out in two pieces. This comes up during a conversation about Cal's grizzly bear hunt.
|
Ep. 798: Bonus - Tis The Season To Be Hunting |
| The Right Stuff | Tom Wolfe |
Speaker 4 mentions having 'just finished reading the right stuff' when discussing space topics with Tony Peterson during a fishing trip. This is referenced in a conversation about Tony Peterson's interest in outer space.
|
Ep. 798: Bonus - Tis The Season To Be Hunting |
| The Final Frontiersman | James Campbell |
Steve Rinella introduces guest James Campbell and mentions this as one of his books, describing it as a book listeners would be interested in.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| The Ghost Mountain Boys | James Campbell |
Steve mentions he just finished reading this book by James Campbell nights ago. The book is about the WWII campaign in Papua New Guinea.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| The Battle for Manila | Richard Connaughton |
Steve mentions reading this academic book about the Battle of Manila in the Pacific Theater during WWII, which got him interested in the topic.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Candid Creatures | Roland Kays |
Steve references this book about influential trail cam photos, mentioning it contains a photo of a jaguar in snow in the Wachuka Mountains of Arizona.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Jaguar | Alan Rabinowitz |
James Campbell discusses reading this book (published around 1986) which was Alan Rabinowitz's first book about his experience in Belize collaring jaguars in the rainforest.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Chasing the Dragon's Tail | Alan Rabinowitz |
James Campbell mentions this book by Alan Rabinowitz about trying to find the elusive clouded leopard in Formosa.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Life in the Valley of Death | Alan Rabinowitz |
James Campbell lists this as one of Alan Rabinowitz's books about Burma.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Beyond the Last Village | Alan Rabinowitz |
James Campbell mentions this as another of Alan Rabinowitz's books about Burma.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Flags of Our Fathers | James Bradley |
James Campbell quotes from this book, saying James Bradley wrote that WWII veterans 'came home and they got on with living' without talking about their experiences.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Cloak and Jaguar | Janey Brunn |
James Campbell mentions this book written by whistleblower Janey Brunn about the controversial Macho B jaguar capture incident, noting it was 'actually a pretty good book.'
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| American Serengeti | Dan Flores |
James Campbell references this book by Dan Floris (whom Steve has had on the podcast) about what was done to predators in Colonial America, including jaguars.
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Heart of the Jaguar | James Campbell |
Steve concludes the interview by promoting James Campbell's latest book with the full title 'A Heart of the Jaguar: the extraordinary conservation effort to save the America's legendary cat.'
|
Ep. 796: Heart of the Jaguar |
| Fishing through the Apocalypse | Matt Miller |
Solomon David references this book by Matt Miller (director of Science Communications for the Nature Conservancy) when discussing conservation efforts and the concept of 'gar wars.' He describes it as being about fishing and conservation, and notes that Miller brought up the 'gar wars' idea in the book, using it broadly to discuss not just gars but other non-game native fish.
|
Ep. 793: The Mysteries of Gar Fish |
| The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald | John U. Bacon |
This is the main book being discussed in the podcast interview. It's about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and was released for the 50th anniversary of the wreck.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| The Perfect Storm | Sebastian Junger |
Hampton Sides compared 'The Gales of November' to this book in his blurb, describing it as one of the great shipwreck narratives. Sebastian Junger is noted as having been on the podcast previously.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| Dead Wake | Erik Larson |
Another book mentioned in Hampton Sides' blurb comparing it to 'The Gales of November.' The hosts mention they should try to get Erik Larson on the show.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| In the Heart of the Sea | Nathaniel Philbrick |
Third book mentioned in Hampton Sides' blurb as comparable to 'The Gales of November' in terms of being a great shipwreck narrative.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| The Great Halifax Explosion | John U. Bacon |
John Bacon's previous book from 2017 about a World War I disaster in Halifax harbor when a ship carrying explosives collided with another ship and exploded. Bacon mentions this was his first foray into deep history before writing about the Edmund Fitzgerald.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| Let Them Lead | John U. Bacon |
John Bacon's book about coaching his old high school hockey team in Ann Arbor. He describes himself as 'the worst player in school history' who played 86 games without scoring a goal. The book is in its fifth printing and is being developed as a potential project with Disney Plus.
|
Ep. 790: The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald |
| Open Season: True Stories of the Maine Warden Service | Darren Worcester |
Jordan discusses a book by journalist Darren Worcester that compiled stories from Maine game wardens, including the story of Ludger Belanger's disappearance in 1975. The book was based on accounts from various game wardens, including Worcester's father-in-law who was a game warden. Jordan interviewed Worcester about this book and the case details it contained.
|
Ep. 787: True Crime in the Outdoors |
| High Tide in Tucson | Barbara Kingsolver |
Steve Rinella references this book while discussing examples of wildlife affected by lunar cycles. He describes it as 'a book of like science writing' and discusses a story from the book about clams in an aquarium in Tucson that maintained tidal rhythms despite being far from the ocean. The author's name appears to be 'Barbara King Salver' in the transcript, but this is likely Barbara Kingsolver.
|
Ep. 783: Does the Moon Impact Deer Behavior? |
| The Border and the Buffalo | John Cook |
The speaker discusses how some hide hunters recorded their experiences later in life. John Cook published this memoir in 1907 about his experiences as a hide hunter. During the Civil War, Cook fought for the Union along the Missouri-Kansas border, and from fall 1874 to spring 1878, he hunted buffalo in the Texas Panhandle. The speaker notes that Cook's descriptions of the day-to-day business of hunting and skinning are vividly detailed.
|
Bonus - The Hide Hunters, Ch. 1: Ghosts |
| Encyclopedia of Buffalo hunters and skinners (volumes A-D and E-K) | Miles Gilbert, Leo Ramager, and Sharon Cunningham |
Mentioned in the sources section at the end of the transcript. The speaker acknowledges this ambitious encyclopedia project, describing it as 'two initial volumes A through D and E through K.' It's identified as the most comprehensive resource for researchers tracking down names of hide hunters and archival materials. The speaker credits this work for providing choice details and incredible anecdotes that enriched their telling of the hide hunter story.
|
Bonus - The Hide Hunters, Ch. 1: Ghosts |
| Shadows on the Koyukuk | Sydney Huntington |
Steve recommends this book as 'phenomenal' and describes it as being about Sydney Huntington, a Koyukuk man, and his story of growing up on the Koyukuk River in Alaska. A listener wrote in asking about a passage from this book regarding whitefish and the death of Huntington's mother.
|
Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter |
| A Sand County Almanac | Aldo Leopold |
Steve mentions that some buffalo hide hunters lived long enough to see the publication of Sand County Almanac (transcribed as 'San County Almanac'), illustrating how these hunters witnessed the rise of the modern conservation movement that condemned their activities.
|
Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter |
| The Gunfighters | Bryan Burrough |
Steve references this book while discussing Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. He mentions they recently had author Brian Burroughs on their show, and the book tells the story of the night Billy the Kid died, noting that both John Poe and Pat Garrett were former buffalo hide hunters.
|
Ep. 777: So You Want to Be a Hide Hunter |
| Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases in the Southeastern United States | Nicole M. Nemeth, Michael J. Yabsley (eds) |
At the end of the conversation, Steve is looking at this professional field guide. Mark Ruter explains it's intended for field biologists and agency personnel in the Southeast, though any hunter would enjoy it. The book contains information about wildlife diseases with detailed photographs.
|
Ep. 766: The Truth About Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) |
| Pappyland | Wright Thompson |
Steve Rinella introduces Wright Thompson's previous works, mentioning this book about bourbon and family.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| The Cost of These Dreams | Wright Thompson |
Steve Rinella mentions this book by Wright Thompson, described as 'sports stories and other serious business.'
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi | Wright Thompson |
This is the main book being discussed in the interview. It tells the story of Emmett Till's murder through the lens of the physical location where it occurred.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| Rising Tide | John Barry |
Steve mentions reading this book about the 1927 Mississippi River flood right before reading Wright's book. They discuss how it provides context about labor issues and agriculture in the Delta region.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| Deep Blues | Robert Palmer |
Wright Thompson quotes from this book about the Mississippi Delta, discussing poor whites from the hills bringing violence and racism to the Delta towns as cotton prices collapsed.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| The Bear | William Faulkner |
Wright Thompson discusses reading Faulkner's works and how they should be understood through the lens of bewilderment at the rapid transformation of the Mississippi Delta wilderness.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| Go Down, Moses | William Faulkner |
Mentioned alongside other Faulkner works as examples of literature that deals with civilization versus nature in the Mississippi Delta.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| Absalom, Absalom! | William Faulkner |
Discussed as one of Faulkner's works that explores the existential loss and trauma of wilderness being erased in the Mississippi Delta.
|
Ep. 763: Landscape and Murder in the Mississippi Delta |
| The Beast in the Clouds | Nathalia Holt |
This is the main subject of the interview - Nathalia Holt's new book about the Roosevelt brothers' quest to find the giant panda in the 1930s.
|
Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda |
| Wise Gals | Nathalia Holt |
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
|
Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda |
| Rise of the Rocket Girls | Nathalia Holt |
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
|
Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda |
| The Queens of Animation | Nathalia Holt |
Listed as one of Nathalia Holt's past books when introducing her credentials as a New York Times bestselling author.
|
Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda |
| River of Doubt | Candice Millard |
Speaker 3 (Nathalia Holt) references this book when discussing Teddy Roosevelt and Kermit's perilous 1913 expedition after Roosevelt lost the 1912 election, describing it as told 'so beautifully in Candice Millard's book River of Doubt.'
|
Ep. 760: Teddy Roosevelt's Kids and Their Insane Quest To Kill a Giant Panda |
| Death on the Barrens: A True Story of Courage and Tragedy in the Canadian Arctic | George James Grinnell |
Book about John Hornby and two companions (including his nephew) who starved to death in the Canadian Arctic east of Great Slave Lake near the Thelon River. The youngest kept a detailed journal chronicling their deaths, which was found in the stove of their cabin. Speaker 1 gave this book to Randy Brown and mentions having difficulty finding it.
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| The Land Breakers | John Ehle |
A novel set in the 1780s about the first families moving into the mountains of Appalachia. Speaker 1 mentions being obsessed with this book and sending it to his friend Bobby Doug. The book discusses details like using groundhog hide for bootlaces. It's about 'land breakers' who cleared ground to grow corn.
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| The Lord of the Rings | J.R.R. Tolkien |
Referenced multiple times throughout the conversation. First mentioned when discussing a dog named 'Strider' (a character from the book). Speaker 1 discusses his high school teacher Bob Heaton who taught a class called 'Modern Mythology' where students only read Lord of the Rings. The characters Tom Bombadil and the Fellowship are also referenced. Speaker 2 mentions that he and his circle of friends in Alaska were all Tolkien fans.
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| The Silmarillion | J.R.R. Tolkien |
Mentioned briefly when discussing the number of installments in the Lord of the Rings series. Speaker 1 says 'I don't count the Silmarillion' when counting the books in the series.
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien |
Referenced when discussing the Lord of the Rings series installments. Mentioned as separate from the main trilogy, with Speaker 1 noting they could 'go back in time and hit the Hobbit later.'
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| Harry Potter | J.K. Rowling |
Speaker 1 proposes a sociological comparison between 'Lord of the Rings people' and 'Harry Potter people' in terms of their moral perspective and work ethic. Speaker 2 mentions his younger son read and loved Harry Potter.
|
Ep. 757: Surviving and Thriving (and Finding a Dead Man) in the Alaska Bush |
| The Lorax | Dr. Seuss |
Discussion about an anti-capitalist song that Steve's child is learning at a song and dance program. Phil mentions 'The Lorax' and explicitly states 'The Lorax was a book written decades ago' while discussing the themes in the song about cutting down trees and corporate greed. Though they're discussing a song possibly from a movie adaptation, the book is explicitly referenced as the original source material.
|
Ep. 746: Hornography |
| Barbarians at the Gate | Bryan Burrough |
Steve Rinella is listing Bryan Burrough's published works at the beginning of the interview, mentioning this as one of his eight books and four New York Times bestsellers.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 | Bryan Burrough |
Steve Rinella continues listing Bryan Burrough's published works, describing this book about crime during the 1930s.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Families | Bryan Burrough |
Steve Rinella lists another of Bryan Burrough's books about Texas oil families.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth | Bryan Burrough |
Steve Rinella mentions this book and later discusses it with Burrough, asking about its main argument regarding slavery's role in Texas independence.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild | Bryan Burrough |
This is the main book being discussed in the interview, about gunfighters in the American West and Texas's role in that history. Steve mentions he's halfway through reading it and loves it.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Ron Hansen |
Steve asks who wrote this book, and after some discussion, they confirm the author is Ron Hansen (not Robert Hansen). Steve describes it as 'the hell of a book' and discusses details from it about Bob Ford's death.
|
Ep. 740: The Gunfighters |
| The Land Breakers | John Ehle |
Steve Rinella recommends this novel to Doug, describing it as 'one of the best I've read in a long time.' He explains it's about the first farmers moving into Appalachian valleys after the long hunters, establishing corn patches and hunting bears. He praises it as a 'phenomenal novel' and notes the author's extensive knowledge about trees and wood purposes.
|
Ep. 732: Predator Management, California Style |
| Thunder Without Rain | Thomas McIntyre |
Steve mentions reading this book about Cape Buffalo by the late writer Thomas McIntyre (referred to as 'Thomas Mack'). He notes it came out posthumously about a year ago and discusses how the book tangentially relates to Cape Buffalo, often going off-topic similar to Brautigan's style.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| Trout Fishing in America | Richard Brautigan |
Steve compares Thomas McIntyre's book structure to this book by Brautigan, noting that 'Trout Fishing in America isn't about trout fishing in America' - using it as an example of books that digress from their stated subject matter.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
Steve mentions the controversy that Harper Lee didn't write To Kill a Mockingbird and that it was allegedly written by Truman Capote, in the context of discussing authorship controversies surrounding women writers.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| West with the Night | Beryl Markham |
Morgan asks Steve about this book he recommended, but Steve admits he's struggling to get into it and doesn't like the author's writing style. They discuss the controversy about whether Beryl Markham actually wrote it herself.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| Out of Africa | Karen Blixen (Isaac Dinesen) |
Morgan mentions that Karen Blixen wrote under the pseudonym Isaac Dinesen when she first published Out of Africa, in the context of discussing women writers using male pseudonyms.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| The Billionaire's Vinegar | Ben Wallace |
Steve asks if anyone has heard of this book by writer Ben Wallace, bringing up the author in the context of discussing Wallace's other work.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto | Ben Wallace |
Steve mentions a forthcoming book by Ben Wallace about the mysterious person who invented Bitcoin. The specific title is not provided in the transcript.
|
Ep. 723: Dangerous Game |
| The Tenth Legion | Tom Kelly |
Steve Rinella references this as 'the great famous Turkey book' and describes it as 'a masterpiece' that no one will ever write a better turkey hunting book than. He discusses specific content from the book where Tom Kelly describes watching gobblers interact with a real hen. Will Primos agrees about the book's significance and comments on Tom Kelly's unique perspective, saying 'nobody's got Tom Kelly's brain.'
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Ep. 720: Beaver Castor Moonshine and Will Primos' Shotguns |
| A Sand County Almanac | Aldo Leopold |
Steve Rinella mentions reading 'San County Almanac' (A Sand County Almanac) as part of his journey in his twenties when he started putting together his understanding of conservation. He discusses how he and others weren't exposed to conservation concepts as kids, but later through reading this book and meeting people, he developed a conservation ethic.
|
Ep. 714: Enrolling At Backwoods Uni. with Lake Pickle and 'Old Trapper' Kate |
| Gomorrah | Roberto Saviano |
Steve Rinella explicitly states 'Gomora was a book, was a nonfiction book about the Italian mafiosa.' He mentions he watched the Gomorra series because he was 'liking Gomore of the book, Gamore of the movie.' The book is about the Italian mafia, and it was adapted into both a film and a TV series. No author is mentioned in the transcript.
|
Ep. 711: So Are Dire Wolves Back From The Dead Or Not? |
| Game of Thrones series | George R.R. Martin |
While primarily discussing the TV show, Matt James mentions 'the books are just so the books kept it going for them,' referring to how the Game of Thrones books provided source material for the television series. The discussion acknowledges the books as the original source material, though no author name is mentioned and the books are not discussed in detail.
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Ep. 711: So Are Dire Wolves Back From The Dead Or Not? |
| The Perfect Storm | Sebastian Junger |
Steve mentions Sebastian's huge international bestseller about a commercial sword fishing boat that never returned, which was later made into a film with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| Fire | Sebastian Junger |
Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| Tribe | Sebastian Junger |
Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| War | Sebastian Junger |
Sebastian mentions writing his book 'War' about soldiers in Afghanistan, discussing how he wanted to make work that made people understand what it was like to be an American soldier.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| In My Time of Dying | Sebastian Junger |
Sebastian's latest book that came out last year, which contemplates death and the afterlife after a near death experience.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| Working | Studs Terkel |
Sebastian mentions this book as 'a great book' that was 'an oral history of work' when discussing his focus on dangerous work, noting it wasn't specifically focused on dangerous work.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| My War Gone By, I Miss It So | Anthony Loyd |
Speaker 4 mentions reading this book about 15 years ago, describing it as having a very similar story to Sebastian's experiences, with scenes in hotel rooms. Sebastian responds that he met the author in Bosnia in 1993.
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Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| A Death in Belmont | Sebastian Junger |
Sebastian describes this book about a murder case involving Al DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler) who was working at his parents' house when he was six months old. It's described as 'a cold case who done it.'
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| Freedom | Sebastian Junger |
Sebastian describes this book as an examination of successful underdog groups and how they defeat greater powers, discussing why smaller groups can win against larger adversaries.
|
Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger |
| The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More | Jefferson Fisher |
Jefferson Fisher's newly published first book is discussed as the main topic of the podcast interview. Steve Rinella mentions asking about when the book comes out, and it's referenced throughout the conversation as Fisher discusses communication techniques from the book.
|
Ep. 702: How To Argue About Hunting and Fishing Like A Lawyer with Jefferson Fisher |
| Anasazi America | David Stewart |
Dan Flores references this book while discussing how hunter-gatherer societies evolved into agricultural civilizations and cities in the American Southwest. He relies on Stewart's treatment to analyze the transition from Paleolithic hunters to the development of places like Chaco Canyon.
|
Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores |
| Guns, Germs and Steel | Jared Diamond |
Steve Rinella brings up this book when discussing why Spanish conquistadors like Pizarro conquered the Incans rather than the reverse. The book examines why Western European civilization came to dominate other civilizations, which Dan Flores then elaborates on, explaining Diamond's argument about Eurasia's advantages.
|
Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores |
| Wild New World | Dan Flores |
Dan Flores references his own book when discussing the long-term story of humans and animals in North America. He mentions it again at 01:48:29 when talking about Native American animistic beliefs and the idea that humans are kin to other animals.
|
Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores |
| Custer Died for Your Sins | Vine Deloria |
Dan Flores mentions this book (though Steve mispronounces it as 'God Has Read Custarded for Your Sins') when discussing Vine Deloria, a famous Native American author who contacted him about an article on buffalo. Deloria was described as famous for this book among others.
|
Ep. 699: The American West with Dan Flores |
| Mudslingers | Tim Sheehy |
Senator Sheehy mentions that he wrote a book about the history of aerial firefighting called 'Mudslingers,' with all profits going to benefit fallen wildland firefighters. He references this while explaining the history of how the government decided in the 1960s to contract out firefighting aircraft rather than operate them directly.
|
Ep. 696: Wildfire and the Future of Public Lands with Sen. Tim Sheehy |
| Thunder without Rain | Thomas McIntyre |
Steve Rinella discusses reading this book, which is described as a history of the Cape Buffalo. He mentions it contains extensive information about human history, plant poisons used in hunting, and includes discussion of toxins used by indigenous peoples. The book came out in 2023, after the author's death in 2022.
|
Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths? |
| Black Poachers, White Hunters: A Social History of Hunting in Colonial Kenya | Edward I. Steinhart |
Steve mentions this as a book he wants to read next, in preparation for going to Africa. He describes it as dealing with the ethical battles over resource access, the demonization of indigenous hunting methods during the Safari era, and the double standards applied to white versus black hunters in Africa.
|
Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths? |
| Twilight of the Mammoths | Paul Martin |
One of the speakers (Brody) discusses reading this book and being impressed by how Paul Martin tracks the spread of humans around the globe and lists extinctions that occurred at the same time. The speaker describes it as presenting a very compelling argument about human-caused extinctions, comparing it to watching a convincing YouTube video.
|
Ep. 693: Did Clovis Hunters Kill All the Mammoths? |
| The Bible | Anonymous (Biblical) |
Speaker 5 references the Bible while discussing wildlife laws and ethics, stating 'The Bible says that men should obey the laws of men, and by doing so, they're ultimately obeying God. And that book was written long before nineteen sixty.' This is used to make a point about the longstanding principle of obeying laws, even in the context of discussing Johnny's past as a wildlife law violator.
|
Ep. 691: BONUS DROP - Bear Grease: Confessions of a Former Outlaw |
| A Table in Thy Presence | Kerry Cash |
Shane describes being handed this book about a Navy chaplain assigned to Marines during the first push into Iraq. The book discusses the chaplain's ministry to military personnel and the dangers they faced. This book was influential in Shane's decision to pursue becoming a military chaplain, as someone suggested it would be a good fit given his law enforcement and tactical background.
|
Ep. 683: The Healing Power of the Outdoors with Pastor Yates |
| The Hog Book | Jesse Griffiths |
Steve Rinella introduces Jesse Griffiths as the author of 'The Hog Book' and 'The Turkey Book', describing them as 'very creatively titled' books that tell you exactly what they're about. The Hog Book is described as containing comprehensive information about preparing wild hogs.
|
Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star |
| The Turkey Book | Jesse Griffiths |
Introduced alongside The Hog Book as Jesse Griffiths' second book, which tells readers everything about preparing turkeys and every part of every turkey. Both books are noted as available at themeatater.com.
|
Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star |
| The Balinese Cockfight | Clifford Geertz |
Randall mentions this as 'a classic anthropological study' where Geertz goes to Bali and provides a deep analysis of how the cockfight can explain Balinese society and how people behave there. This comes up in a discussion about cockfighting after Steve mentions attending cockfights in the Philippines.
|
Ep. 676: Jesse Griffiths Earns a Michellin Star |
| Hunter Chef in the wild | Michael Hunter |
Michael Hunter discusses his second cookbook, focused on cooking over fire. He mentions it contains about 100 recipes and includes wild game and seafood prepared over open flames.
|
Ep. 673: Cooking Bear Ribs and Getting Boned by Politics |
| The Hunter Chef Cookbook | Michael Hunter |
Michael Hunter references his first cookbook, which he worked on for ten years and which did very well, being sold in Bass Pro shops across the country.
|
Ep. 673: Cooking Bear Ribs and Getting Boned by Politics |
| Forgotten Fires: Native Americans and the Transient Wilderness | Omer C. Stewart |
Dwayne Estes mentions he is currently reading this book, which discusses Native American use of fire in landscape management. He notes it's written by an anthropologist and relies heavily on that perspective.
|
Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve |
| Forgotten Grasslands of the South | Reed Noss |
Dwayne Estes mentions his colleague Reid Nass 'wrote a book in twenty thirteen called Forgotten Grasslands of the South,' describing it as 'a game changer' that 'turned the messaging around southern ecosystems.'
|
Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve |
| The Land Breakers | John Ehle |
Steve Rinella strongly recommends this book from 1964, describing it as historically accurate fiction about settlers around 1780 breaking new land. He praises the author's knowledge of trees, plants, and historical details, saying 'It is unbelievable.'
|
Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve |
| Sacket series | Louis L'Amour |
Dwayne Estes compares The Land Breakers to Louis L'Amour's Sacket series. Steve discusses L'Amour's work, noting his extensive knowledge and research, though in a somewhat qualified manner.
|
Ep. 667: The Prairie Preacher and a Rant By Steve |
| Son of the Morning Star | Evan S. Connell |
Steve Rinella discusses this book as the best thing ever written about General Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He quotes from it to describe the Unkpapa Sioux warrior named Gall, using it as a 'buffalo meat testimonial' in the context of discussing the diet and physical prowess of Native Americans.
|
Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man |
| Biography of Jim Bridger | Stanley Vestal |
Randall references this biography when discussing the mortality rate of mountain men. He mentions that Stanley Vestal, in his biography of Bridger, suggested that a mountain man died every ten days, though Randall expresses skepticism about this claim.
|
Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man |
| Common Sense | Thomas Paine |
Mentioned briefly in the context of discussing the revolutionary fervor and building of the American patriotic movement in the years leading up to the American Revolution, alongside references to the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere.
|
Ep. 661: So You Want To Be A Mountain Man |
| Kitchen Confidential | Anthony Bourdain |
Steve Rinella mentions Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential, recalling when it came out and was excerpted in the New Yorker. This led to the production company optioning it and creating the TV shows that Morgan Fallon would later work on.
|
Ep: 652: Hunting History |
| Death on the Barren Ground | Edgar Christian |
Steve discusses a book given to him by podcast guest Randy Brown. The book is described as a journal chronicling three people starving to death in the Canadian Arctic along the Thelon River in the 1920s. The youngest survivor kept a meticulous journal documenting his companions' deaths and eventually his own death from starvation. Steve relates this to the Donner Party episode they filmed, particularly regarding the effects of eating boiled bones and animal hides during starvation.
|
Ep: 652: Hunting History |
| Old Grizzly: To a Better Understanding of Life on the Frontier | Charles Deutschmann |
Speaker 2 shows and discusses this book, describing it as 'phenomenal.' It's identified as self-published journals about a man who killed 56 grizzly bears in Western Canada between 1895 and 1924. The speakers then read several passages from the book about frontier life, including hunting muskrats, pulling trees for settlers, and the killing of Robert Ford (who killed Jesse James).
|
Ep. 649: Muzzleloader Blues |
| The Big Sky | A.B. Guthrie Jr. |
Randy Brown mentions reading this book and others by A.B. Guthrie as inspiration for wanting to live in the woods in Alaska. He says 'I'd read some of these uh, you know books like The Big Sky and some other baby gothries and uh and I always felt like I was born about one hundred years too late.'
|
Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska |
| Coming into the Country | John McPhee |
Randy describes an encounter with author John McPhee while he was researching/writing this book about Alaska. The discussion centers around Randy meeting McPhee on the Tatonic River when McPhee was with Dick Cook, and Randy mentions being 'sort of in coming into the country.'
|
Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska |
| My Life with the Eskimo | Vilhjalmur Stefansson |
Steve asks 'Have you read Stephenson's My Life with the Eskimo?' and they discuss content from the book about Eskimo dietary habits, particularly their aversion to salted meat and how explorers would salt their food to protect it from being eaten. The discussion includes details about salt tolerance and dietary adaptation.
|
Ep. 641: 15 Years of Living Off the Land in Alaska |
| Wild in the Whole: Seasonal Recipes for the Conscious Cook | Danielle Prewett |
Danielle Prewett discusses her new cookbook that she has been working on for 3-4 years. The book is organized by seasons rather than by game type (like traditional wild game cookbooks), and includes recipes for wild game as well as other foods that would be on the plate. It contains over 80 recipes and was published by Penguin Random House with an October 8th release date. This is her first book and represents a lifetime of her favorite recipes plus new creations.
|
Ep. 611: The Duck Stamp Champ |
| A Woman among Wolves, My Journey through forty Years of Wolf Recovery | Diane Boyd |
Steve introduces Diane Boyd's new book about her career working with wolf recovery. The book is being released September 10th and is available for pre-order. This is the main topic of discussion as Diane is the guest on the podcast.
|
Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves |
| Alaska's Wolfman | Jim Rearden |
Steve mentions a book about Frank Glazer, describing him as someone who went to Alaska and became an accomplished hunter involved in wolf control operations. The book documents his experiences with predator control in Alaska.
|
Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves |
| The Crossing | Cormac McCarthy |
Steve references this Cormac McCarthy novel in the context of discussing wolf trapping techniques. He describes a scene where a character tries to catch a Mexican gray wolf by setting a trap in his fire pit.
|
Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves |
| The Last of the Loaners | Stanley P. Young |
Diane Boyd mentions this book while discussing historical accounts of wolf trappers and their efforts to catch the last remaining wolves. She references it in the context of old-timers' stories about renegade wolves.
|
Ep. 605: A Woman Among Wolves |
| Straight Shooting for Hunters: A Champions Guide to Using Shotguns in the Field | Will Primos and Anthony Matisse |
Will Primos discusses a book he co-authored with Anthony Matisse about shotgun shooting techniques for hunters. The book combines technical shooting expertise from competitive shooting with real-world hunting scenarios. Will mentions it's available for pre-order on Amazon and that he narrates the audio version.
|
Ep. 593: Patience is a Good Hunter, with Will Primos |
| Straight Shooting | Anthony Matisse |
Will Primos mentions that Anthony Matisse previously wrote a book called 'Straight Shooting,' described as a one hundred dollar coffee table book. Will went to Anthony to have this book signed, which led to their collaboration on the hunting-focused book.
|
Ep. 593: Patience is a Good Hunter, with Will Primos |
| three part biography of Theodore Roosevelt | Edmund Morris |
A listener wrote in about the pronunciation of 'Roosevelt' and mentioned that their husband was reading Edmund Morris's three-part biography of Theodore Roosevelt aloud as a bedtime story to their newborn son. The biography provided historical context about the Roosevelt family name pronunciation differences between the Hyde Park and Oyster Bay branches of the family.
|
Ep. 587: Finding a Middle Ground on Predators |
| Little House on the Prairie | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
Steve Rinella is discussing his childhood experiences with his wife, including practices like cooling watermelons in creeks. His wife responds by asking if he 'grew up on the little house on the,' which appears to be a reference to the Little House on the Prairie book series, suggesting his rural upbringing reminds her of the lifestyle depicted in those books.
|
Ep. 586: BONUS DROP - Cutting the Rough Cuts |
| Alaska Tracks: Life Stories from Hunters, Fishermen, and Trappers of Alaska | Randy Zarnke |
Steve introduces this book as oral histories collected by Randy Zarnke, who is president of Alaska Trappers Association. He reads several excerpts from the book, including stories about bear hunting and eagle bounties from old-time Alaskans. Steve mentions he only had to read to page 14 to find interesting tidbits.
|
Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American? |
| The Cremation of Sam McGee | Robert Service |
Steve references this famous poem by Robert Service, calling it 'the greatest poem ever written.' He describes Service as 'the Bard of the Yukon' and provides context about the poem's subject matter involving gold miners during the Yukon Gold Rush. Steve encourages listeners to read it.
|
Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American? |
| The Shooting of Dan McGrew | Robert Service |
Steve mentions this as 'the second greatest poem of all time,' also written by Robert Service. It's referenced immediately after discussing The Cremation of Sam McGee, suggesting listeners follow up by reading this work as well.
|
Ep. 584: Are Governor’s Tags Un-American? |
| Alaska Tracks: Life Stories from Hunters, Fishermen, and Trappers of Alaska | Randy Zarnke |
Steve introduces this book as a collection of oral histories from Alaska. He reads several excerpts from it, including stories about eagle hunting during bounty years, World War II incidents, and trapping experiences. He describes it as 'the best book' and his 'favorite book.'
|
Ep. 575: How to Sharpen a Knife Like a Real Man |
| Annals of the Former World | John McPhee |
Steve references this Pulitzer Prize-winning geology book while discussing Earth's history and geological timescales. He mentions that McFee said if he could sum up the book in one sentence, it would be 'the top of Mount Everest is marine limestone.' He also references McFee's metaphor about Earth's history spanning fingertip to fingertip, where human history could be removed with one stroke of a nail file.
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Ep. 575: How to Sharpen a Knife Like a Real Man |
| A Vaquero of the Brush Country: The Life and Times of John D. Young | J. Frank Dobie |
Steve mentions reading this book during a live show. It was given to him by the live tour guy. He later references it again when discussing terms like 'old mossy horns' and sayings like 'more of something than fiddlers in hell' that he learned from the book.
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Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth |
| Fishing with Daniel Boone: Fly Fishing the Streams of an American Hero | William F. Carmon (Bill Carmon) |
Steve describes this as a guidebook by Bill Carmon who was with Rocky Mountain Trout Foundation. The book provides locations where Daniel Boone hunted and fished, allowing readers to fish those historic places while learning about the history that occurred there.
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Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth |
| The Alaska Journals of James A. Carroll, 1911-1922 | James A. Carroll |
This is the main book Steve discusses in detail during his 'Steve Reads Books So You Ain't Got To' segment. It's about a cook from Minnesota logging camps who becomes a fur trapper in Alaska and chronicles his adventures, including detailed descriptions of cooking techniques, trapping, and frontier life.
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Ep. 572: Boiled Muskrat, Freeze-Dried, and the Table Manners of Dirt Myth |
| Muskies on the Shield | Dick Pearson |
Larry Ramsell mentions this book while discussing catch and release ethics and proper fish handling. He describes Dick Pearson as a legendary musky angler and praises this as 'one of the most comprehensive how to books on musky fishing.' He notes that despite writing a musky fishing book, Pearson doesn't even feature an angler holding a musky on the front cover, instead using a sunset photo, demonstrating his commitment to fish conservation.
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Ep. 569: The Musky Wars |
| The Once and Future King | T. H. White |
RFK Jr. discusses reading this book when he was young, during his uncle's presidency. He describes it as a book about young King Arthur and mentions that T.H. White was both a brilliant author and a British falconer. The book contains a chapter about Arthur apprenticing as a falconer, which inspired RFK Jr. to pursue falconry himself.
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Ep. 560: RFK Jr. on Polluters, Falconry, and Assassinations |
| A Sand County Almanac | Aldo Leopold |
Steve describes this as 'the most influential piece of conservation writing ever' and discusses its 75th anniversary. The book is a collection of Leopold's writing that maintains relevance today.
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Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza |
| Desert Solitaire | Edward Abbey |
Steve mentions this book when discussing famous conservationists, saying people might name Roosevelt first, Leopold second, and then 'Desert Solitaire' third, though he's uncertain about the third choice.
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Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza |
| Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work | Curt Meine |
Carl recommends this book as 'a phenomenal biography of Aldo Leopold' for anyone who wants to get into Leopold's biography in a very detailed way, describing it as fantastic.
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Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza |
| The George Reserve Deer Herd | Dale McCullough |
Carl describes this as 'one of the foundational wildlife management books on the reproductive capacity and population dynamics of white tail deer,' recommending it for those in wildlife management who want to get into the subject deeply.
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Ep. 558: An Aldo Leopold Blowout Extravaganza |
| Dispatches | Michael Herr |
Steve discusses this as 'one of the best books about the Vietnam War.' He explains that Michael Herr was sent by Rolling Stone or Esquire to cover the Vietnam War, and that most of the dialogue in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket comes from this book. Steve describes it as 'a masterpiece of war reporting' and discusses how the author struggled to reintegrate into society after the experience. He specifically recalls Herr describing an odor as 'smelling like snakes left too long in a jar.'
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Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts |
| Evidence-Based Horsemanship | Martin Black and Stephen Peters |
Clay mentions reading this book about 15 years ago. He explains it was 'written by a neurologist and a horse trainer' and discusses the book's premise that horses don't have the brain capacity to 'like' or 'dislike' humans the way people anthropomorphize them. He uses this to justify his desire to keep a rattlesnake, arguing that the snake would be content in captivity. The book apparently examines horse behavior from a neurological perspective.
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Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts |
| Compendium Musky angling history | Larry Ramsell |
A listener writes to Steve suggesting he should 'read a compendium Musky angling history by Larry Ramsell' to brush up on his musky biology knowledge. The book is mentioned as covering the history of faked musky records. Later in the conversation, it's noted that Ramsell 'wrote a highly detailed book in nineteen eighty four' and is described as 'the premiere historian of musky lore' in Hayward, Wisconsin.
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Ep. 549: Musky Scandals and Governor's Tags Get a Kick to the Nuts |
| Last Breath | Peter Stark |
Peter Stark's first book about various ways to die in the wilderness, featuring physiological explorations of death scenarios. Later discussed in detail around 01:12:48 where he explains it contains 'eleven Great Ways to Die in the Wilderness.'
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |
| Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire | Peter Stark |
Peter Stark's book about John Jacob Astor and the beaver trade/fur trade. Described as being about 'America's first homegrown millionaire.' Full title revealed at timestamp 49:36.
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |
| Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged the Founding Father | Peter Stark |
Peter Stark's book about George Washington's early years, focusing on his wilderness experience as an explorer. The book examines Washington's mistakes and experiences in his twenties. Full title revealed at timestamp 52:22.
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |
| Last Empty Places | Peter Stark |
Peter Stark's book profiling four unpopulated areas of the United States, which he calls 'blank spots.' This book led to his other historical works as he encountered the young George Washington while researching western Pennsylvania.
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |
| Gallop toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison's Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation | Peter Stark |
Peter Stark's newest book about the conflict between Tecumseh, the Shawnee war leader, and William Henry Harrison, examining their struggle over the future of the American frontier.
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |
| Arctic Dreams | Barry Lopez |
Steve mentions wanting to have Barry Lopez on the show before he died. He references a story from Arctic Dreams about a botanist working on a tussock and cataloging plant species, then standing up to see the enormity of the Arctic landscape.
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Ep. 546: The History of Adventure |