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PODCAST

The Wild Idea

Wild Idea Media

The Wild Idea is an exploration of the intersection of wild nature and our own human nature. The hosts, Bill Hodge and Anders Reynolds, through conversations with experts and thought leaders will dive into the ways that humans have both embraced and impact the function and vitality of our remaining wild places.

science nature

All Episodes

8:00

The Wild Line: Hirings, Firings and Protected...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/11/07

This week’s Wild Line highlights the impacts of the ongoing shutdown on public lands and civil servants. We share the latest on uncertainty over backpay and high-profile firings and hirings in the conservation world, federal progress on wetlands protection, and concerning efforts to roll back protections in Chaco Canyon and allow chainsaws in wilderness areas. We look at the latest nomination to run the Bureau of Land Management, and close with a win for climbing access in North

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38:26

Frank Uekötter: Red Lines in Green Politics | Moral...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/11/04

Environmental historian Frank Uekötter joins Bill and Anders for a thought-provoking conversation about how good intentions and bad systems can collide, and what history can teach us about the moral boundaries of environmental action. Uekötter’s work, including The Vortex and The Green and the Brown, explores how modern environmentalism took shape in the twentieth century and how ideals of nature and progress became entangled with politics, ideology, and power. Together, they step back from

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13:50

The Wild Line: Senators Talk Stewardship, Ranchers...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/31

This week’s Wild Line opens with a federal court order that halts layoffs at the Department of the Interior during the shutdown. In Washington, Senators launched a new bipartisan Senate Stewardship Caucus. House Democrats challenged Interior and USDA over shutdown decisions that favor extractive industries even as critical safety work is left to skeleton crews. Federal agencies announced new funding for Western migration corridors, and legal and political pressure reignited the debate over

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35:07

Barret Baumgart: The Desert is a Haunted House

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/28

Author and essayist Barret Baumgart joins Bill and Anders for a Halloween special that leans into the stranger side of wild nature. His latest book, Yuck: The Birth and Death of the Weird and Wondrous Joshua Tree, explores how this desert icon went from being despised as grotesque and “demonic” to adored as a backdrop for modern desert dreams. In a conversation that ranges from natural history to horror, they dig into what the Joshua Tree reveals about human nature, the stories we project

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17:07

The Wild Line: Wilderness Bills Advance, Trump...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/24

This week’s Wild Line opens with new details on the ongoing federal shutdown, including Interior’s plan to cut more than 2,000 jobs across its agencies and furloughs at the Environmental Protection Agency. We look at a busy week on Capitol Hill, where the Senate advanced a package of wilderness bills and a controversial forest management proposal, while the House pressed for restoration of Stonewall National Monument’s LGBTQ+ history. We also cover deregulatory moves inside the White House,

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33:42

Christopher Preston: Tenacious Beasts

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/21

Award-winning author, environmental philosopher, and clean energy enthusiast Christopher Preston joins Bill and Anders to discuss his book Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals. He shares stories of wolves, whales, and beavers making remarkable comebacks, offering a hopeful look at what can happen when we give nature room to recover and thrive.Together they explore ideas of rewilding, animal agency, and the ethics of when and how humans should

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14:51

The Wild Line: Shutdown Chaos, Arctic Flooding,...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/17

This week’s Wild Line opens with a look at the 17-day-old federal shutdown and its ripple effects across the public lands workforce, from widespread layoffs to the potential loss of recreation-driven economies. We share highlights from the Rocky Mountain Wilderness Gathering in Colorado, explore the latest developments in energy and climate policy, and report from Alaska where two Arctic villages have suffered devastating flood damage. We also cover new Congressional Review Act rollbacks, a

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43:59

Rachel Franchina: The People Powering Public Lands

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/14

Rachel Franchina, Executive Director of the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals, joins Bill and Anders for a conversation about leadership, resilience, and the people behind America’s favorite wild places. Together they look at what it means to build a healthy and sustainable recreation workforce in a time of shrinking budgets, early retirements, and record visitation. The conversation also explores how climate change is reshaping recreation design, how career pathways can evolve to

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13:56

The Wild Line: Ambler Road Approved, Resource Plans...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/10

This week’s Wild Line begins with the President’s decision to greenlight construction of the Ambler Road through the heart of northwestern Alaska, a move that’s drawn fierce opposition from tribal and conservation groups. We also cover new developments in Congress affecting millions of acres of BLM lands in Montana and North Dakota, and legislation that would expand border patrol operations inside wilderness areas. Plus: setbacks in federal wildfire mitigation, the creation of a new

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37:50

Joel Gill: Creation Care and the Common Good

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/07

Faith, land, and stewardship come together in this episode with Joel Gill, Executive Director of Ferncliff, a 1,200-acre camp and conference center outside Little Rock, Arkansas. Joel joins Bill and Anders for a thoughtful conversation about creation care, a faith-based approach to conservation that blends theology, ecology, and the everyday choices we make to care for the land and for one another.Learn more and find the links and resources from today's episode at thewildidea.com.

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12:49

The Wild Line: The Government Shuts Down and a New...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/10/03

This week’s we dig into the government shutdown, which left thousands of federal workers in limbo and forced Interior to furlough half its staff, straining National Parks, gateway communities, and local economies. We report on the agency and Congressional actions impacting wild places, and share some good news from Oregon, Alaska, and South Carolina. We also highlight the winner of Fat Bear Week. Learn more about the resources and news mentioned in today's episode at our website,

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39:44

Chris Keyes: Why Public Lands Need RE:PUBLIC

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/30

Journalist Chris Keyes, former Editor in Chief at Outside magazine and now the founder of RE:PUBLIC, a nonprofit newsroom focused entirely on public lands, joins Bill and Anders for this episode of The Wild Idea. Chris talks about what pushed him to start something new, why independent reporting matters, and how RE:PUBLIC is stepping in to tell the stories that often get overlooked about the 600 million acres of land we all share.Find out more in the show notes at thewildidea.com

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10:51

The Wild Line: Senate Approves Nominees, NPS Erases...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/26

This week Bill and Anders cover a range of land news, from Congress using the 'nuclear option' to approve Trump nominees for Interior to Climate Week updates from New York City. We are offered a preview of a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing scheduled for next week from friend of the pod, Susan Jane Brown, and we check in on the Forest Service Roadless Rule Recission process. All this and much more in under 15 minutes. Learn more about the resources and news mentioned in

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31:11

Senator Tina Smith: You Can't Underestimate the Power...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/23

This special episode marks our first live recording, in partnership with the National Wilderness Coalition during National Wilderness Week in Washington, DC. Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota joined us to talk about the Boundary Waters, a place she calls one of her favorites on earth. She shares how the wilderness shaped her family’s story, why it’s a national treasure, and how being there offers restoration and a deeper connection to history and place.Find more details and links for this

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10:55

The Wild Line: Advocates on the Hill, Last Day for...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/19

This week’s Wild Line comes to you from Washington, DC, where wilderness advocates, recreation leaders, and conservationists gathered for the National Wilderness Coalition’s annual advocacy week. While citizens called for stronger protections, lawmakers pushed new mining bills, a permitting reform framework, and record-setting oil and gas leasing. We also cover the administration’s latest moves on climate reporting, Canada’s pivot toward fossil fuels, and a proposed U.S. Wildland Fire

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36:18

Conrad Anker: Mountains of Perspective

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/16

In this episode Bill and Anders talk with alpinist and conservation champion Conrad Anker about how his time in the mountains has brought him into the world of activism for people and place. We talk about seeing climate change in real time and how Conrad has worked to support the communities in Nepal. Yes - we talk a bit about mountain climbing and George Mallory too. Learn more our guest, Conrad Anker, and the other resources mentioned today at our website, thewildidea.com

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11:10

The Wild Line: Chief Links Roadless Rule and...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/12

This week on the Wild Line we cover testimony from the Chief of the Forest Service, where he attampts to link the popular Roadless Rule to wildfire risk. The Bureau of Land Management announces plans to rescind the Public Lands Rule which has given equal footing for conservation efforts to those held by industry, there were a number of hearings in DC on public land issues, and we celebrate an unsung hero of public lands - all in this episode of the Wild Line.Learn more about the topics

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43:00

Brooklyn Bridge Park: From Piers to Parklands

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/09

This week on The Wild Idea, Bill and Anders sit down with Rashid Poulson and Bella Ciabattoni, the horticulture leaders at Brooklyn Bridge Park, to talk about one of New York City’s most surprising wild spaces. What was once a stretch of abandoned shipping piers has become 85 acres of thriving wetlands, meadows, and woodlands along the East River, offering both locals and visitors a chance to reconnect with nature in the heart of the city. The conversation dives into what it takes to keep

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12:47

The Wild Line: Congress Targets Land Management...

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/05

This week on The Wild Line we cover congressional action to scrap resource management plans in three states, authorize the controversial Ambler Road project in Alaska, and to remove protections for the Mexican Gray Wolf. Over at EPA the agency fires employees critical of the Trump administration and the Department of Energy is taken to task by leading climate scientists. We also have Border Patrol arresting wildland firefighters and Scarlett Johansson chasing wolves away from cattle. These

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36:54

Chris Hill: Community Power for Public Lands

The Wild Idea ·

2025/09/02

In this episode Bill and Anders talk with Chris Hill, the CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation. Chris highlights CLF's commitment to the National Conservation Lands System and the communities that adjoin these special areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management. They talk about the 25th anniversary of the Conservation Lands System, grass-roots cultivation and how to never forget why you got into the work in the first place. Learn more and find the resources mentioned today at our

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89 results

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