The Wild Dispatch

To this day, the legend of Dick Proenneke continues through his journals and wonderful footage. However, we were surprised to discover that Dick’s sourdough starter also lives on! What better way to celebrate a life-lived-wild than with sourdough pancakes made with the trusty sourdough jar from his cabin? In this episode, Robin and his wife Hanneke sit down with the cabin’s previous caretakers for...

In this episode, Robin and Larry take advantage of the year's calmest ocean and go for an adventure underwater. A big thank you to Larry for sharing his time, patience, and knowledge about these parts of the Pacific ocean.  ----------------- Subscribe to this podcast so you're always up to date. Even better - share us with a friend who loves the outdoors. Follow Robin & The Wild Dispatch on In...

In this Episode, Robin and Nathan dive deep into everything Alone Season 12 in South Africa. This one has a bunch of entertaining and sometimes emotional stories: From memories of growing up under Larry Dean Olsen, a legendary figure in the wilderness arena, to applying his lessons in the semi-deserts of Alone, South Africa... From extremely close encounters with exotic animals, to the heavily doc...

In this episode, Robin and regular guest Dennis McKiver head out into the Pacific Ocean in search of Tuna... They catch up on recent Stories and test their mettle against some rough seas... but who will crack first? As promised, there will be an extra sprinkling of 'Field Notes' episodes over the coming months. Far too many adventures, both big and small, are clogging up The Wild Dispatch HQ's har...

In this episode, Robin chats with Naude Dreyer – co founder of Ocean Conservation Namibia. Naude shares some incredible stories from the rugged Namibian coastline, seal rescues, rabies shots, and many other animal encounters from the ocean. From the adrenaline-pumping chases across sandy beaches to the innovative techniques he helped develop to save entangled marine life, Naude's journey is one of...

Right now in the US it's that magical time of year when the elk mating season descends into a full-bore rut-mode. It's also a time when (some would say) foolish individuals pick up their bows and arrows and do their best to challenge 900lb animals to a close quarters fight. This is an episode of The Hunting Stories Podcast –Robin and friends take a minute to reminisce about the bowhunting adventur...

Jermaine Hodge is an athlete on multiple levels. Part of the elite military Greco-Roman world class wrestling program, his tournament winning talent brought him to Colorado over 20 years ago, where his passion for chasing elk really took hold. With the same focus for excellence Jermaine has found success both in the mountains and on stage, where he became RMEF elk calling world champ in 2019.  In...

In this episode Robin chats with Dug North about his experiences on the latest season of The Alone Show - the first time ever in Africa. (Final is live on History Channel this Thursday Aug 21st 2025).  Dug is a person of a great many talents, blessed with laser focus and the wild enthusiasm it takes to become skilled at something very quickly. A creative and maker on many levels, and armed with a...

Today we dive deep into the world of ancient culture with Tony Fair —A guy obsessed with figuring out how our ancestors managed to both scrape a living and create a bunch of rock art at the same time. In this episode, we explore the intricate connections between nature, history, and art as Tony shares his experiences of discovering ancient petroglyphs (plus the occasional mushroom) and the stories...

Today We are traveling across the world and back in time to Namibia in the South West of Africa... 300 miles from the nearest grocery store, Lyn and Mike Methley raised their family while helping to build the first road through the area in the 1960’s. They lived side by side with the lions, impala, crocodiles and the enormous, but sadly extinct, desert elephants. Living close to the Northern borde...

Back in Episode 11 Ejler shared some memories of farm life on the rural island of Bonholm, Denmark. One story that really struck a chord was the existence of a food called Head-cheese, a magical substance created from the boiled remains of whatever comes out of the head of a pig. Never one to turn down a challenge, Robin provided the head of a wild boar the very next chance he had to harvest one....

Today we are sitting down with writer and modern day explorer Riaan Manser. His adventurous journey began the day he decided to quit his job and go for a bike ride... around the entire continent of Africa. This was done without backup, and before personal gps and smartphones were in public circulation. Riaan has since become the holder of numerous world records: first to ride 42000km around Africa...

In this Episode Robin takes a seat with Monroe Robinson - author of 'The Handcrafted Life of Dick Proenneke' to chat all things wilderness living in Alaska: The relentless nature of maintaining a homestead and your gear in such a harsh environment, building a greater connection with nature and the sometimes tragic consequences that come with it.  A big thankyou again to Monroe for sharing his time...

The fallow deer rut is an all-bows-blazing non-stop action-packed month that’s firmly marked in every South African bowhunter’s calendar. It’s a magical time that testosterone in the fallow population bubbles over and the thickets of the Eastern Cape descend into mating season mayhem. This episode we follow Robin from @thewilddispatch @williamdonian from Wellington Farms and Callum Methley from @k...

An immensely talented bowhunter-spearfisherman from South Africa –Jandre has been honing his skills since the age of 5. Wherever you're from, when it comes to sourcing protein, there’s an easy way, and there’s hard way… Then there’s Jandre’s way. An anomaly in the South African hunting community, Jandre hikes many kilometers deep into the mountains to areas with no roads, and no backup. Although h...

Lama Nasser-Gammett and her husband Matthew are owners of The Forest People, and supply a large area of the Mendocino coast with cultivated mushrooms.  Building their business from the ground up at a time when there was very little information available, they taught themselves exactly how to make mushrooms thrive in a controlled environment. Chefs and natural grocery stores appreciate their attent...

This week it is Violet Warman's 97th Birthday. She was born in 1928 — Rather a lot of wild stuff happened since that day...  In this episode Robin was lucky enough to hear some of Vi and Ray's memories from the past: The moment WW2 was declared, being evacuated, watching dog fights in the skies above... and trading bike rides to American soldiers for enormous amounts of pocket money.  In this epis...

In this episode we break from a week-long adventure in the Eastern Cape to celebrate a successful bow hunt. The jokes roll thick as backstraps and wild game sausage sizzle on a flat-stone locally called an Yster Klip, which literally translates to 'Iron Stone'.  — sound quality took a bit of beating early on in this episode, if you’re over the sound of sizzling meat then jump to about 35 mins in —...

In EP55 Robin and William Arthur Sprague IV continue on their two-part myco-nautical adventure. Many topics are discussed, including but not limited to: how mushrooms make you make better music, the real reason humans evolved to have such big brains, and what Amanita Muscaria does, and how to get the most out of this medicine. All the music you hear in this episode was created by William Arthur Sp...

Adam Brennan has been shooting a traditional bow for as long as he can remember. Born and raised in the Yukon, It was here he learned what it takes to thrive in the Canadian wilderness.  It's his life-long honed skill-set, dogged perseverance and willingness to suffer that’s made him the successful outdoorsman he is today. In this episode we enjoy a smorgasbord of Adam’s wild stories, including a...

Our journey through mycelium universe continues today with Eugenia Bone. A food and nature writer, her work has appeared in many anthologies, magazines, and newspapers across the world.  Eugenia is also the author of nine books on food and biology, including: Well-Preserved, Mycophilia, and most recently, Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience. As usual we have plenty of informa...

In EP52 Robin and William Arthur Sprague IV don their helmets, detach from the Mother-ship and set off on a two-part myco-nautical adventure.  But first they couldn't resist catching up on the highs and lows of the NorCal mushroom season before jumping deep into the world of psilocybin. They cover micro doses, heroic doses... personal experiences,  how taking mushrooms can help you find more mushr...

----- The second part of this story continues with EP61  ----- Having spent 30 years homesteading at Twin Lakes, Alaska, building an incredible cabin (and entire lifestyle) with nothing but hand tools –Dick Proenneke fast became a legend of the Alaskan Wilderness. Author Monroe Robinson and his wife K spent 19 summers caring for Dick Proenneke's cabin after he left in 1999. A master craftsman in h...

In England there's an expression "all talk and no trouser" Kiefer is the opposite of this saying. An all-out and all-round outdoorsman based in Michigan, Kiefer is constantly trying to squeeze that elusive 25th hour out of his day. From trapping to chasing ducks to downing enormous herd bulls with his bow - this guy gets after everything in his free roaming converted schoolbus. Give Kiefer a follo...

Raymond and Violet Warman, aka Ray n' Vi... aka Robin's Nana and Gramps were born in England in the 1930s. Raised in both the English countryside and East London—their experiences growing up were very different. But life changed for everyone on the arrival of World War 2. Here are a few of their stories. From memories of evacuations to hunting rabbits with self-made bows, from D-Day preparations t...