Before They Vanish

Welcome to the launch of "Before They Vanish," a Big Blend Radio podcast hosted by explorer, author, and naturalist James Michael Dorsey and produced by Lisa D. Smith. In this debut episode, James takes us on a journey through a lifetime of extraordinary adventures — from his first trip to Kenya where a chance meeting with a Maasai elder sparked a 30-year obsession with vanishing tribal cultures,...

As part of Big Blend Radio's "Book Blitz Month" programming (Jan. 2026), award-winning author, explorer, photographer, and cetacean specialist James Michael Dorsey shares stories from a lifetime of global exploration.  Having traveled through 60 countries, Dorsey discusses his work documenting remote cultures, endangered languages, and oral traditions, as well as his experiences studying and inter...

What does an explorer actually eat in Africa? In this episode, author and explorer James Michael Dorsey joins host Lisa Smith to talk food, survival, and culture across nine African countries — from drinking fresh goat blood with the Maasai, to eating baboon with the Hazda hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, to discovering that spaghetti is the staple food of Tuareg nomads deep in the Sahara Desert. Alo...