Outside Podcast

JJ Harrison is the only person at a rodeo who is supposed to get hit by the bulls. As the clown, he’s responsible for everyone’s safety. The crowd loves him. It’s a good life—even if it hurts a little. Then over the summer, with JJ in the ring, a bull named Party Bus jumped the fence at the rodeo in Sisters, Oregon. Five people were injured, and it seemed like the kind of thing that might end the small-town event. Alex Ward reports on the ups and downs of the modern clown. 

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The US military is responsible for the emission of more greenhouse gasses than any other single institution in the world. It is actively planning for the consequences of climate change, but is it doing anything to prevent it? In the new season of How We Survive, the team from Marketplace looks at how rising global temperatures and more extreme weather will change the future of conflict and combat, and what that means for soldiers in the field.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

Claire Nelson was more than a mile off the trail when she fell 30 feet in Joshua Tree National Park. As she lay there with a broken pelvis, she realized she had no cell service, and no one knew where she was. As three days alone and broken in the desert turned into four, she was forced to reckon with all of the choices that had brought her there, and ask: What does it mean to be truly alone?

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

When Katie Arnold and her husband Steve were invited to run the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, it was a lifelong dream come true. But then disaster struck in the opening moments of the trip, and the couple faced two daunting tasks—survive the river, and then fix their marriage.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

Camping in 120 degree heat can be deadly. But can it also be beautiful? What started as a lark—a road trip in search of very, very hot weather—became an exercise in humility for writer Leath Tonino and his buddy Sean when they spent a night out in the desert. Their mission was to find the hottest patch of sand they could drive to, camp out, and survive. But as the mercury climbed and the sun obliterated their minds, their Mad Max adventure started to look more and more like a window into something amazing—and terrifying.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

The border wall had an all star cast of political operatives trying to get it built. The butterflies had Marianna Trevino Wright. With the spotlight on The National Butterfly Center, Marianna finds herself absorbing the full weight of an online campaign to discredit her. Then people start showing up in person.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

How did a US congressional candidate and the director of the National Butterfly Center end up in a physical altercation on the US border with Mexico? When contractors showed up in Mission, Texas to break ground on President Trump’s border wall, they didn’t think there would be much resistance. But when people found out the wall would go straight through critical butterfly habitat, everything changed.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

Was Homero’s death an accident? Or murder? And who would want Homero dead? Reporters Michael May and Zach Goldbaum head to Mexico to investigate the death of conservationist Homero Gomez Gonzalez, who was supposedly killed for defending the butterflies. But new information complicates the official story, leaving them with even more questions.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

Monarchs are considered the king of the butterflies. In Michoacan, Mexico conservationist Homero Gomez Gonzalez was considered the king of the Monarchs. Until one day in 2020, when he disappeared without a trace. In this series, reporters Zach Goldbaum and Michael May examine the intersection of conservation, politics, power, and crime at the world's most popular butterfly reserve.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.

The world's most interesting video game designer just hid a treasure in the woods. What's he up to? Jason Rohrer has been pushing the limits of game design for 20 years, but his latest creation takes players into the forests of New England in search of a sculpture made of solid gold. The catch? He says there isn't one. But people familiar with his past work aren't so sure.

The Outside Podcast is made possible by our Outside Plus members. Learn more about all the benefits of membership at outsideonline.com/podplus.