On this episode, we talk with Sarah Maslin Nir, author of the book Horse Crazy.

Horse Crazy is part memoir and part cultural exploration. It's a love letter to an animal. It's a story about the struggle to belong. And it's a deep dive into the fascinating things that horses — and the humans connected to them — can teach us about ourselves and our society.

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Many of us assume that self care is inherently selfish — that we either focus on ourselves, or we help others.

But what if that's a false dichotomy? This story explores how self care can end up being good for the greater community.

The story follows a woman named Linda Mohammad, also known as the Bucket List Traveler, who set out to visit all the national parks in the United States. When she started the project, she was just trying to get in shape and unplug from her hectic life. But the experience snowballed into something much bigger, and much more beautiful, than that.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Click here to read the transcript as you listen.

PITCH US A STORY: Story pitches for our upcoming season, "Things I Thought I Knew," are due July 30, 2021. Click here to see our pitch guidelines.

HEAR OUR AWARD-WINNING EPISODE: Our episode "A Series of Unlikely Events" won a silver medal in PMJA's annual awards. Listen now.

SUPPORT OUT THERE: Help us pay for the beautiful stories you hear on the show.

My mother always told me I shouldn't take "no" for an answer. If you don't get what you want, she said, keep pushing. Growing up, I took that advice to heart: whatever the task at hand, I charged forward with dogged determination. But in 2018, a bicycle accident changed my outlook on what it means to back down, and I started standing up for myself in a new way.

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You probably learned about Harriet Tubman in school growing up — how she led slaves to freedom on the underground railroad. But she was a lot more than an activist and freedom fighter. She was a daughter, wife, entrepreneur — and a talented outdoorswoman.

On this episode, we explore Tubman's relationship with nature; we unpack how that history shapes the way Black Americans engage with the outdoors today; and we show how a closer look at Tubman could offer new perspectives on who belongs outdoors.

FOR FURTHER LISTENING:

• Check out our "Black & Outdoorsy" playlist for stories celebrating Black experiences outdoors
• Hear the Following Harriet series

When Paul Barach embarked on his first thru-hike, he was expecting a life-changing experience. The Shikoku Pilgrimage, which traverses Japan's most rural island and takes visitors past 88 Buddhist temples, promised to be a spiritual and meditative journey, as well as an epic adventure.

But the reality wasn't so nice.

On this episode, Paul tells the story of what happens when the adventure of a lifetime doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped. How do you make peace with the worst parts of hiking, when those parts never end?

Climbing a mountain can be a lot like coming out.

That's a metaphor filmmaker Devin Fei-Fan Tau explores in his new documentary Who's On Top. The film follows four LGBTQ climbers who set out to summit Mt. Hood. It explores their connection to nature and their efforts to challenge stereotypes about gender and sexuality — and it offers an inside view into the literal and metaphorical mountains they face.

Devin joins us on this episode to talk about it.

WATCH THE FILM: Apple TV | Vimeo

SUPPORT OUT THERE: Patreon | Venmo | Other

As more people get vaccinated and the world starts opening up again, many of us are reflecting on the unprecedented isolation we've experienced over the past year. Extreme isolation was new for many of us, and we're looking forward to getting back to normal.

But not everyone can escape their aloneness.

This is the story of a runner named Luanne Burke, who has been dealing with deep isolation for decades and will continue to experience it, even after much of the world returns to a "new normal."

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In the wake of natural disasters, those affected are faced with a tough decision: do you leave and go somewhere safer, or stay put and try to rebuild your life?

How do you navigate that choice? And for those who decide to stay: what seals the deal? Why do we remain in disaster-prone areas, after losing so much?

This episode takes us to an island in North Carolina and tells the story of one man who finds himself firmly rooted to place, despite growing environmental threats.

FOR FURTHER LISTENING: Check out our playlist "After the Storm," which explores why we live where we live, as the climate warms.

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In 2015, Australian journalist James Bennett moved to India, to take up a long-coveted role as a foreign correspondent.

James was an outdoorsy type: he liked to cycle, surf, camp, and fish. So he knew the move to India's crowded capital city was going to be hard. What he didn't realize was how the experience would change his perspective on speaking up about your problems.

On this episode, he shares his story. It's a story that first ran several years ago, but which feels surprisingly relevant again now.

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On this bonus episode, we introduce you to a new podcast we think you'll love. It's called the Atlas Obscura Podcast, and it takes you on an audio journey to discover new, strange, and wondrous places from all over the world.

This particular episode is about Pyramiden​, an abandoned Soviet mining town, frozen both in time and in ice.

Thanks to its Arctic climate, scientists predict that it will resist decay longer than any other human settlement in modern history.