Out There

In 2001, Donna Martino stuck a newspaper clipping on her fridge. It was a photo of a handsome kayaker paddling through the surf. A few months later, Donna matched with the man on a dating website.

We tend to assume that improbable beginnings are a recipe for disaster — that sappy romances can't last — that fairytale endings are only for movies. But sometimes, the real world serves up a dose of schmaltz.

This story, which first aired in 2020 and went on to win a national award, is about what happens when coincidences pile up, and strangers go out on a limb and take a chance on each other.

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Melat Amha had been struggling with chronic illness for years, when she decided to move to an organic farm in the Sierra National Forest.

On this episode, she shares her story. It's a story about finding your way back to health when modern medicine has failed you. And it's about learning what it means to love yourself and honor your needs.

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On the surface, competing as a runner seems straight forward: the winner of a race is the fastest person from point A to point B, and to progress, you just have to be a better runner than everyone else. Right?

Turns out, it's not so simple. Fairness is a surprisingly complicated concept.

On this episode we bring you the story of two athletes — a "ghost runner" from the U.K. and a phenom from Uganda — and we explore how rules meant to ensure fairness can end up excluding some of the best athletes from competitions.

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Growing up with a rare bone condition, Will Cox was constantly in and out of hospitals — and constantly fearful of the world around him.

The fear eventually took over his life, controlling almost everything he did. And that's probably the way his future would have played out, had it not been for a mountain bike.

On this episode, Tanya Chawla brings us Will's story.

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We often hear that you shouldn't worry about what society thinks of you — you should chart your own course in life. But that's easier said than done.

What if different parts of you are at odds? How do know if you've made a mistake by following your gut?

This is a story about learning to trust yourself on a mountain bike, and in life.

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Molly-Anne had struggled with severe mental illness her whole life. And, after years of drug addiction, she had recently gotten sober.

But — as she puts it — getting sober is "not always f*cking rainbows." She wasn't sure she was going to make it in sobriety, with the added isolation of the pandemic.

So she set out to skate from Maine to New Jersey.

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Shannon Prince comes from a family with a rich relationship to the natural world. Her Cherokee ancestors were skilled at using plants as medicine.

But her family's eco-literacy had been stripped away over the generations. Yearning to rediscover forgotten knowledge, Shannon traveled across the world to Mongolia, where ancient traditions were more intact.

On this episode, she explores the surprising things that can happen to you on a personal level, when you attempt to preserve a way of life that's slowly disappearing.

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Becky Jensen had given herself the perfect present for her 50th birthday: a two-week solo backpacking trip. But when she emerged from the trail, she learned that a wildfire had started near her home in northern Colorado. Her house might already be gone.

On this episode, Becky shares her story. She takes us from the tranquility of the San Juan mountains to a cramped basement where she waited out her evacuation, and explores how you find serenity when a natural disaster threatens everything you've built.

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After a demoralizing hiking trip in college, Ava Ahmadbeigi gave up on nature. She had never been outdoorsy, and now she knew she didn't belong.

But that hiking trip kept haunting her. On this episode, Ava tells her story. She takes us from a cramped apartment in NYC to a mountain in the Adirondacks, as she seeks to find her place — both in her own body, and in the world outside her walls.

Click here to read the transcript for this episode.

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A career in the arts is tough. Creative professionals are notoriously overworked and underpaid. Even if you "make it," it's easy for your passion to turn into just another stressful job.

On this episode, we bring you a story about photographer and skateboarder Khaleeq Alfred, who has been learning how to walk the line between following his dreams and paying the bills. It's a story about getting the compensation you deserve without sacrificing your artistic integrity, and about finding balance between happiness and the hustle.

You can read the episode transcript here.

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