The Camino Podcast

Let's re-walk the Via Podiensis together! Whereas many of the pilgrim interviews on the podcast take a thematic approach, focusing on a few big picture issues, this series of episodes will dig more into the specifics of walking. In this fourth episode in the series, we arrive at the major decision that pilgrims face on the Via Podiensis: which route to follow from Figeac to Cahors? Bronwen Perry talks us through the default approach for many pilgrims, sticking with the GR65 all the way, strolling through the Causse de Limogne. And while Cahors today is increasingly well known for its wine, the picture was very different 150 years ago, when the future of wine was cast in doubt by a small bug from the United States, phylloxera. Dr. George Gale, author of Dying on the Vine: How Phylloxera Transformed Wine, tells the tale of how this threat was overcome through international collaboration, but also why we can never grow complacent.

Imagine that it is your dream to run an albergue, and then that opportunity comes knocking in the middle of COVID. Do you make the leap? And then imagine that you dive in headfirst, alive with all of the dreams and possibilities of what will be. Even as the pandemic ebbs, though, your reopening is first delayed by family obligations, and then thwarted entirely by necessary repair work. Two years in, your albergue has been closed more than it has been open. This is the story of Giulia Sottanis, the hospitalera at Albergue Izarra in Caborredondo, Spain on the Camino del Norte. This is also the story of the central importance of donativo-based albergues, though, and the philosophy and people behind them.

Let's walk the Via Podiensis together! Whereas many of the pilgrim interviews on the podcast take a thematic approach, focusing on a few big picture issues, this series of episodes will dig more into the specifics of walking. In the third part of this series, we journey today from the Lot River to the Célé River, and from the village of Estaing to the town of Figeac. Bennett Voyles, the author of Onward, Backward! -or- A Ramble to Santiago, joins to help guide us through this section, while offering stories from his family's walk and his own research on the route. He is followed by two historians who share their expertise on two important stops in this section. First, Dr. Patrick Geary, author of Furta Sacra, discusses the theft of relics in the Middle Ages, and the specific legend of Saint Foy's translation to Conques, one of the major highlights on the Via Podiensis. By contrast, the town of Decazeville, which sits further on in this section, is viewed by many walkers as a place worth bypassing. Dr. Donald Reid, author of The Miners of Decazeville, describes the history of this influential town, and the reasons that pilgrims should give it a closer look.

Let's walk the Via Podiensis together! Whereas many of the pilgrim interviews on the podcast take a thematic approach, focusing on a few big picture issues, this series of episodes will dig more into the specifics of walking. In this second episode in the series, Melinda Lusmore of I Love Walking in France (www.ilovewalkinginfrance.com) joins to discuss 80 fabulous kilometers of the chemin, linking Aumont-Aubrac and Estaing. While the scenery is stunning, and the villages are charming, the real stars of this section are the Aubrac cattle that grace the fields along the way. In service to that, Michelle Crawford of Bedias Creek Farms (www.bediascreekfarms.com), a rancher who specializes in the Aubrac breed, shares insights from her close work with these bovine beauties.

The Camino that we see and experience today didn't just happen. It reemerged in the second half of the 20th century gradually and then suddenly, through the concerted efforts of devoted visionaries and caretakers like O Cebreiro's Elías Valiña Sampedro. We pilgrims from the English-speaking world are only privy to glimpses of that history, but Laurie Dennett's new book, Waybread: Memories of the Camino for the Onward Journey, is invaluable for filling in some of the gaps. She was there in O Cebreiro with Don Elías. She was there in Rabanal del Camino as the Confraternity turned a ruin into a pilgrim refuge. Time and time again, Laurie was there to witness key moments and people in the Camino's resurgence, and she pulls back the curtain on those events in this episode.

Let's walk the Via Podiensis together! Whereas many of the pilgrim interviews on the podcast take a thematic approach, focusing on a few big picture issues, this series of episodes will dig more into the specifics of walking. In this first episode in a new series, Chloe Rose Stuart-Ulin of www.solocamino.com joins to discuss getting started on the pilgrimage from Le Puy-en-Velay, walking through the first four stages to Aumont-Aubrac. After that, Louise Marshall, an art historian from the University of Sydney, shares insights into Saint Roch, a key figure on the French branches of the Camino who is often confused with James.

Have you ever walked around a cathedral, slack-jawed and amazed, trying to take it all in but realizing you were only scratching the surface? Maybe that happened in Santiago de Compostela. The good news is that Anne Born can tell you what you're missing. Her book, If You Stand Here: A Pilgrim's Tour of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, is packed full of stories that reveal the secrets of the cathedral that are hiding in plain sight, and she shares some of those stories in this episode. Along with that, Dave reads the introduction of his new book, Pilgrimage: A Medieval Cure for Modern Ills, to illustrate that professional audiobook narrators are worth their weight in gold.

The Camino de Santiago has often been characterized as a sort of palimpsest--a foundation upon which layers of stories have been created and shared over the years. As new dominant narratives take hold, older ones fade to the margins, less obvious but still visible to those who can learn to see the signs. In The Way of the Wild Goose: Three Pilgrimages Following Geese, Stars, and Hunches on the Camino de Santiago, Beebe Bahrami shares her own initiatory journey--a pursuit of insights into the historically significant role played by the goose, in a story that is equal parts mystery and memoir. In this episode, Beebe reflects upon those three pilgrimages, the impact of these journeys upon her own beliefs, and the persistent value of ancient wisdom.

In 2007, Sedat Çakır set out to walk the Camino de Santiago. Before he departed, he decided to seek out a pilgrim blessing from the local bishop in Amsterdam. There's nothing particularly unusual about that story... aside from the fact that Sedat is a Sufi and the Camino, of course, has a very complicated history with Islam! While Sedat set out originally just to make a satisfying long-distance walk, his purpose evolved as he learned more, and it soon grew into a journey oriented towards interfaith dialogue. And in the aftermath of that pilgrimage, another new goal opened up before him, reforging a route from Europe to Mecca. Working with his partner, Iris Bezuijen, Sedat (sedatcakir.com) has now launched two long-distance routes, the Sultan's Trail (sultanstrail.net/en/) and the Sufi Trail (sufitrail.com), which are the first two steps in that larger objective. This episode traces his journey from Amsterdam to Santiago and onward towards Mecca.

So you think the Camino is crowded? You should check out pilgrimage in India. It holds the record for the largest single-day attendance at a pilgrimage event--an estimated 50 million people at the Kumbh Mela in 2019. This episode explores pilgrimage in India through a closer examination of two sacred cities: Banaras and Pandharpur. Dr. Diana Eck, author of Banaras: City of Light and India: A Sacred Geography, shares insights on the former, while Deepak Phadnis, author of Pandharpur Wari: A Walking Pilgrimage to Pandharpur, describes his walk to the latter. This introduction to Indian pilgrimage also offers a useful lens through which to look back upon the Camino and see some fascinating points of comparison.