Svalbard resident and dog musher Davey "Captain America" Verwoerd checks in with Doc from Kennedy Meadows after the first 700 miles of his PCT thru hike. Tune in and hear about polar bear safety (on Svalbard, not the PCT), Blaze Physio, trail magic, BBQ, skillet-carrying thru hikers, sport mode Crocs, huge legs, speedy uphill hikers, crazy hitches, trail conditions, appropriate gear for the Sierras, and which is the more dangerous creature: the polar bear or Sasquatch?

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Season 5 comes to a rollicking close with Episode #250 of the JFM Pod as competitive sailor, exploratory geologist, and adventure boat captain Rob Phillips drops anchor for a few and shares some stories from the High Seas! Cozy up around the campfire and settle in as Rob shares some adventures of a different sort, including puffin attacks, open 60s, racing sailboats across the North Atlantic, short-handed racing, sling-shotting around storm systems, chronoception, competitive youth sailing, and smuggling a dog through Mecca. An epic close to an epic season!

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PCT thru hiker and @sendfemme founder Arielle "Mouse" Shipe joins Doc in studio for some good old fashioned trail talk.  Tune in to hear about the charm of being annoyingly cheerful in the morning, cork orthotics, tuna exhaustion, Desolation Wilderness (a misnomer), Rainy Pass (not a misnomer), the magic of things just clicking, and how it's possible to pack 17 thru hikers and their gear into a single pickup truck when having to escape a raging 60,000-acre wildfire on trail.  An instant classic.

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In this classic episode from March 2021, ultrarunner, entrepreneur, and filmmaker Jamil Coury joins Doc for a discussion of the Slam of the Damned, a quartet of daunting and brutal ultrarunning races feared by everyone but a daring few.  Listen in and hear about the HURT100, the Hardrock 100, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, and . . . the Barkley Marathons!  Condolence letters, license plates, conch shells, book pages . . . they're all there, plus a lot more!  An epic episode.

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Brittany "TMI" Swanson and Andy "Panic" Butler from Bad Hikers make a return visit to the JFM Pod studio to spill some tea with Doc. In a wide ranging conversation, TMI and Panic share everything you want to know about their Kilimanjaro expedition, including prep, logistics, gear, scree slides, rocket fuel, and false summits. There's also a rousing discussion of Burning Man and the abnormally large proportion of stand up comedians and architects who attend.

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Cal Dobbs, with a Triple Crown under his belt, now takes to the open road as he runs across America to raise awareness and support for Trans rights and gender affirming health care. Tune in as Cal shares with Doc the hardships of road life, the antics of Cooper and Truman, Twin Peaks references, creepy interactions in the middle of nowhere, Netflix recommendations, and his favorite of the Triple Crown trails.

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Struggling with addiction, with his life in a shambles, and living on the streets of Louisville, Dave "Music Man" Chandler shows up at Springer Mountain with his brother's hiking gear.  He heads in the only direction available to him, literally and metaphorically: north.  Listen in as Music Man and Doc provide live play by play of the finish of the 2023 Barkley Marathons, discuss the Three S's of hiking and life, breaking the cycle, strumsticks, dehydrating moms, yard saling, how to be a creature of the wilderness, and the literal hike of his life.  This is a story of losing it all and then finding the path.

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Triple Crowner, musician, and documentarian Ben "Shredder" Phantom stops by the studio to do some chin wagging about the trail and life.  Shredder and Doc cover some serious terrain, including interesting strategies to prevent frostbite, seeking a greater purpose, the intensity of a thru hike, how not to hike properly in grizzly country, living unhoused, and losing the joy (and finding it again!).

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Thru hiker, bikepacker, and route aficionado Kyle "Missing Spoons" Cleary comes in from the wilderness to talk trail, er, route with Doc.  Eschewing the well-defined, well-marked traditional hiking trail for the more remote and rugged routes that require wayfinding and map reading, Spoons shares some thoughts and stories in the JFM Pod studio, including how an awkward inside kid got involved in the outdoors, Buddhism, spraying beta, cold soaking, sister pilgrimages, Roy's Motel, small town interactions, Public Lands, and the joy of cowboy camping in moose country.  

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AT and PCT thru hiker Jacob "Crush" Pepper drops into the studio for a wide ranging and hilarious discussion of . . . everything.  Settle in, buckle up, and fasten your headlamp securely as Crush and Doc talk about: schooners, wussing out, finger feet, mountain misery, too much quilt, pop tart theories, existential thoughts, Turd Graders, SKTs, moonshine and mason jars, Tree Amigos, leveling up, lawn chair packs, Endless Zeroes, 56K modems, D&D, Tolkien and the most famous thru hike, Trench Pullers, rogue mice, Yacht Rock, postholing, charity hiking, and hotdogging.  And a lot more.  A lot.

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