The Kyle Thiermann Show

Paige Alms (@Paigealms) is 2x Big Wave Surfing World Champion and a fellow Patagonia Surf Ambassador. Recently, we spent a week on a ship together, huffing diesel fumes and salt water through unruly seas on an adventure to British Columbia. Paige is widely considered to be the best female big-wave surfer in the world and the only woman to ever get barreled at Jaws. She was instrumental in fighting for equal pay in women’s competitions and was a subject in a Page 1 New York Times piece titled, The Fight for Gender Equality in One of the Most Dangerous Sports on Earth. This podcast was recorded on a beach at the base of a shallow, gurgly, righthand slab and was by far the most splendid location I have ever done a show.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Photo: Christa Funk

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Sean Jansen is a freelance writer and seasonal wilderness guide in Yellowstone National Park. He’s intense, slightly awkward, and deeply committed to dancing with the more raw frequencies of human experience. I love this guy. During his off-season from guiding, he partakes in a litany of expeditions from thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to his recent trip, standup paddling more than 1,000 miles down the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Through recovery from alcoholism, he has moved into a van and spends his time flying fishing trout streams, training for ultra-marathons, and searching the coast for unsurfed waves. With a passion for wilderness and wild places, he often takes his pen and paper on trips and finds ways that the outdoor recreation activities he loves can give back to conservation and environmental areas in need. Follow him on Instagram and read his new book, Paddling with Porpoise.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Ah, the joys of a post-hunt podcast. The feet were sore, and the schnoz was rosey after spending a few days tromping around in the Montana woods. Much knowledge was dropped in this episode by Dr. Kelsey Martin, who grew up on a nature preserve and cattle ranch that her family manages along the windswept plains of Eastern Colorado. She spent her youth working as a ranch hand and reveling in life on the prairie, a lifestyle that eventually led to her career as a large animal veterinarian. She applies the conservation values that were inspired in her at an early age by her father’s work to her professional life in medicine and wildlife conservation. Her work has taken her to many places, including Peru, Australia, the Caribbean, and now Montana. She is currently working as a wildlife disease researcher and bison veterinarian. In her off-hours, she can be found enjoying the mountains around her home with her partner Kevin and their two dogs or working in her “studio” (aka garage) as a stained glass artist (@sagehornglass).

Kevin Grunewald (you know the guy; he’s a fan favorite) is a Montana-based conservationist, hunter, and angler. His winding career path in conservation biology has seen him teaching students how to trap bats in the outback of Australia, guiding clients to experience bear country in Alaska, dissecting Zebrafish embryos in a university laboratory in Wisconsin, and, most recently, conducting and sharing the benefits of sound, ecological land stewardship practices on nature preserves in California and Colorado. In his current role as a Land Steward with The Nature Conservancy, Kevin works and lives at a remote field station and nature preserve called Phantom Canyon. He spends his days working in, exploring, and sharing the wonder of the natural landscapes that he aspires to conserve. Kevin is too cool for Instagram, so email him with your love ([email protected])

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Evan Quarnstrom is a freelance writer specializing in surf, the outdoors, travel, and the NBA. He recently released his first book, “The Substitute Asshole: How a rogue suburban kid’s escape from conformity collided with a cultural revolution, drug smuggling, psychedelics, and federal prison.” He grew up in the quiet surf town of Santa Cruz, California, where he developed a connection to the ocean and nature. That’s where he picked up his love for surfing, skimboarding, snowboarding, volleyball, hiking, and playing guitar. He has been to 36 countries and counting and speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Kyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Tim Cahill is one of the founders of Outside, author of its long-running "Out There" column, and an editor-at-large. He's the author of nine books, one of which (Jaguars Ripped My Flesh) National Geographic named as one of the 100 best adventure/travel books ever written. He is the co-author of four IMAX documentary screenplays, two of which were nominated for Academy Awards. He lives in Montana, in the shadow of the Crazy Mountains. 

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Frank Solomon (@franksolomon) is one of the most well-liked people I’ve ever met. Every country has a couch for him to crash on, random encounters turn into lifelong friendships, and for some reason that science still can’t explain, meals are always “compliments of the chef.” He’s just one of those guys. Frank is a talented big wave charger, Patagonia Surf Ambassador, and now founder of Sentinel Ocean Alliance, a Cape Town-based non-profit that teaches lifesaving skills and ocean education to underprivileged kids. In this episode, we chatted about early big wave sessions at his home break, Dungeons, traveling to Mavericks and getting stuck in a youth hostel in the Tenderloin, and why growing up in South Africa offers a more honest perspective on life.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Rob loves the people-side of storytelling — and not just the folks in front of the camera, but those behind the lens, behind the scenes, and in front of the screens. He has produced stories across many genres on every platform winning Webbys and Emmys along the way. Pre-PTP, he was the Creative Director of the MacArthur Award-winning think tank, FrameWorks Institute. Today, Rob runs Picture This Productions, a film studio borne of a belief that what is smart and sophisticated can and should also be beautiful, compelling, and entertaining. I met Rob a few months back and immediately liked the guy. He thinks deeply about the world without losing levity. So, a few weeks after the dancing was done, Rob Shore jumped on the pod and had a little chat.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

When I was a teenager, I remember opening an issue of SURFER magazine and reading an article about a Mexican pro surfer who, at the peak of his career, walked away from it all and moved to Finland. Finland! I didn’t know Kalle Carranza then, but the rarity of his story was memorable. Once the ocean grabs us, it rarely lets go. So why oh why, I wondered for years, did Carranza trade boardshorts for beanies and start from scratch? If you listen to this podcast often, you’ve probably heard me rail on about the problems with social media. I view it as a kind of psychological cement, hardening our identities and slowly turning us into one-dimensional versions of ourselves. (The result is a lot of 44-year-olds who still act like they’re 24.) The more we are willing to try new things and look like fools, the more interesting life becomes. And Carranza is one interesting dude. So, when I was in Costa Rica this past month and finally met Kalle Carranza, I sat down with him to hear his story in its entirety: First Mexican to be on the cover of SURFER magazine, sober, and now, after a life of travel, is back in his hometown of Sayulita, Mexico with a wife and kids.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Let’s play a word association game. Ready? Okay… EXPAT. For most of my life, I would have smashed that red gameshow button and shouted, “Pirate with a surfboard!” A lawless scallywag set adrift by society, living off coconut meat and massive quantities of Vitamin D. But as America gears up for another cortisol-inducing election, the prospect of moving to another country is becoming more attractive to non-pirates, too. And the next time you play this word association game, answers may range from a douchy tech founder with Starlink to the wayward son staring back at you in the mirror. I spent the past few weeks in Costa Rica and sat down with a fascinating expat who relocated to Santa Teresa out of high school and never looked back. Eric Smiley is a talented tattoo artist, surfer, and uniquely curious cat. In this episode, we talked about the history of tattoos, banana plantations, Howler monkeys, and buying a one-way ticket out of Old Glory. If you’re in Santa Teresa, check out Good Life Tattoo. Tell ‘em Kyle sent ya.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. 

Wallace J. Nichols was a friend, ocean advocate, and often requested guest on the podcast. I first met J when I was twenty. I was a young activist, a little too eager, convinced that the world needed saving, and I would be the one to save it. After giving him my little spiel, he took a long breath through his nose, smiled slightly, and said, “You’re very earnest, Kyle. Don’t lose that.”

Over the next decade, we became buds. He gave me public speaking lessons, opened countless doors, and sat down for recorded chats. Even when months passed, each time we reconnected, the depth was immediate. The way he spoke, listened, and showed up caused anyone in his energy field to drop their shoulders and breathe a little deeper. In that way, J was like the ocean.

Blue Mind is a book about water, but its core message is mental health. J knew that the mind is a muscle capable of moving the world, and his simple message of jumping in the water brilliantly flipped the doom and gloom narrative into a story that was personal:

We won’t save nature. Nature will save us.

It’s easy to try and numb pain with distraction. J felt life deeply, he was one of the most earnest people I know. And I think when he told me not to lose my own earnestness all those years ago, he was telling me not to lose my capacity to feel. Because life can hurt, so let it hurt.

I end each podcast the same way: Get in the water, whichever body of water is closest to you. The next time we plunge into our “blue marble,” let’s feel the sensation fully and thank our friend Wallace J. Nichols for all he gave us. Earnestly.

Please donate to his family and continued mission here.