On the Dogwatch

Today On the Dogwatch it is a tremendous pleasure to be able to talk with John Branson, who was a longtime friend of Richard “Dick” Proenneke, and the one who edited and published his journals over five volumes . John lives in Alaska just a five-minute walk from the Lake Clark visitor center for the National Park Service. The region is known for its incredible natural beauty, and as the home of Di...

When Lieutenant Commander Ike boards the USS Wasp , the lead amphibious assault ship in the U.S. Navy, people notice.  He’s truly unlike any other sailor but immediately commands respect. And we wouldn’t suggest directing any kind of slight at Ike, especially around the Wasp’s crew, which when full is over 3000 people. It’s true, LCDR Ike walks on four feet, chases a ball, and sometimes gets into...

There are a lot of ways of getting around in the natural world, from hiking to canoeing to biking to swimming. Parachuting is one that few of us have experience with, but is an important historical and current mode of travel. Fortunately, today we have on the podcast someone who has firsthand experience and is the author of two books that relate to paratroopers in WWII. In our conversation, we tal...

Alexandra Horowitz is a cognitive scientist who teaches courses like canine cognition and animal behavior at Barnard College in New York. She’s also an acclaimed author, and a sampling of her books include The Year of the Dog , Our Dogs Ourselves , The Year of the Puppy , and Inside of a dog . Suffice it to say that Alexandra knows quite a bit about dogs, and she’s an expert at sharing her knowled...

Hello, thank you for joining us today On the Dogwatch, where we consider the natural world and the things that help us experience it. On this podcast, it is like we are on a ship’s watch together, staring out at the ocean, thinking about the world as it goes by, and going wherever curiosity takes us. I am Michael Canfield, it is currently 1952 at the end of the Second Dog Watch, and this is Episod...

If I’m not mistaken, it was John Keats who said “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.” That pretty much sums up Chelsea Clocks . This company is the oldest functioning clock company in the United States, and they make clocks at the highest levels of refinement and luxury. They still make mechanical clocks with their iconic solid brass case. The breadth of their offerings is significant, and they s...

Hello, thank you for joining us today On the Dogwatch, where we consider the natural world and the things that help us experience it. I am Michael Canfield, it is currently 10:37 on the Forenoon Watch, and this is Episode 61. We are back from a break on the podcast and have prepared some exciting new directions and a lineup of guests and topics that we think you will enjoy. Since we gathered last,...

What can happen when you combine 4,200 dogs and 39,000 people? It turns out a lot of learning and fun. In this episode, we talk with Chuck Delaney of the Armstrong Ranch about Game Fair , a sport and outdoor show located in Ramsey, Minnesota. From Chuck’s perspective after running Game Fair for 42 years, we learn the history of the event, and how it was modeled after similar events in Britain, wha...

So what is a toothpick, where did these originate, and what happens when you set out to make the finest toothpicks in the world?  Our guest today, Peter Smith at Daneson, helps us answer these questions. In our conversation, we discuss the history of toothpicks, and even their use by early modern humans, how these small slivers of wood became status symbols, and eventually fell out of favor. We mo...

What happens when you both love to travel and want to take some of the comforts of home along with you on your adventures? You guess it, you turn to campaign furniture and its descendents. Today On the Dogwatch we have the opportunity to talk with Christopher Schwarz , the person who literally wrote the book on campaign furniture . Chris is a longstanding fixture in American woodworking, and even...

A bandana is a useful item. It can serve as a napkin, rag, bandage, drain plug, motorcycle repair tool, headwear, blindfold, flag, mask, pouch, or a stylish scarf. But not all bandanas are created equal. Many to most are stiff, paisley-printed and inked with plastisol to create a cheap and ultimately unsatisfying object. Today On the Dogwatch we hear about the other end of the bandana spectrum in...

When you head to the field with your notebook and pen in your hand–to either record the natural world or your thoughts while there–you want materials that will hold up to a wicked squall, a blizzard, or any combination of dirt, dung, misplaced hooves and paws, and even spilled coffee. Today we have the opportunity to talk with Sean Leacy about the ethos of the Rite in the Rain brand , the history...

Today On the Dogwatch we have the rare opportunity to talk with Nathan Hall, head of the Canine Olfaction Lab at Texas Tech . Nathan is not only a dog owner, but is also someone who studies dog behavior, has a vast knowledge of the canine literature, and does research on their behavior and olfactory abilities in the lab. In our conversation, we discuss how a dog’s nose is structured and how it wor...

Today On the Dogwatch we cross the Atlantic and head to the Highlands of Scotland in search of the nature of tartan, one of the most long standing and iconic outdoor patterns. Along the way, we meet Miles Kerr-Peterson, a PhD historian who has not only a vast knowledge of British history, clans, castles, but also tartan. We start our conversation with Miles by learning about his research into a bu...

In his professional context, you might find Tom Place smashing through the windshield of a bus, getting hit by a car, or in all manner of fist-fights , gun-fights, and falls from the tops of myriad buildings. One would think that somewhere in those activities we could pull on a thread of true crime. However, we have had to look very hard to explore any sinister links.  The closest we can get today...

We’ve all heard people talking to dogs like they are small children. Some people find it cute, others consider it absurd, and there are also those who understand it implicitly. So what do we know about how humans talk to dogs? Today On the Dogwatch we are joined by Bob Mitchell, head of the Animal Studies Program at Eastern Kentucky , who has researched just these kinds of questions. In our conver...

When wearing a fine wristwatch, or looking at many other human-created objects of function and beauty, it is easy to forget that it was conceived of and designed by an actual person.  Looking at the Christopher Ward C63 Sealander GMT , C60 Trident Pro 300 I have this feeling, being mesmerized, but these too have a person behind them. Lucky for us, we are able to talk with Will Brackfield, watch de...

What better way to celebrate the 50th episode of the On the Dogwatch podcast than to have a conversation with someone who has provided steadfast support and positive energy, and has become the de facto patron saint of the podcast, James Cox. Many listeners will remember when James joined us for Episode #28 and told the story of his relationship with Paul Newman, and how he was given Newman’s Rolex...

Today On the Dogwatch we have the opportunity to learn about the Kala Pocket Sundial , and to get to know its purveyor, Matt Kala. We go the distance on this episode, and along with learning a bit about Graz and the beauties of Austria, hear the story of how the pocket sundial was inspired by a farmer’s ring and equinoctial device, and how Matt’s family has developed this device into an accessible...

Today we have our first hall of famer on the podcast, and it is with great pleasure that I introduce Dan Egan , member of the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame , extreme athlete, filmmaker, soccer coach, and all around connector. In our conversation, we talk about the development of extreme sports, what it is like to jump out of a helicopter on skis, and off of the Berlin wall on skis , and how skiin...

What happens when a couple of Swiss guys take over a mostly dormant watch brand, and reinvigorate, reinvest, and then engineer it back into one of the leading independent brands?  One outcome is that when you see these watches you immediately know that they are high-quality and intriguing, but you have to learn more and look hard to understand why. And as you spend more time with them, like I did...

Today On the Dogwatch we are joined by Wyatt Gilmore, CEO of Grant Stone , a company devoted to making high-quality Goodyear welt shoes and boots . Wyatt literally had shoes in his family, but early in life tried his hand at becoming a motocross racer. After that had run its course, Wyatt began to work his way up through position in the production of shoes and boots. He moved to China for what was...

 Whether it is collecting rubber fire hoses and crafting them into watch bands, melting down a brass fire helmet for crowns, or working to create a case that can house two movements at different price points, today’s guest Jonny Garrett has created a watch company that does justice to both firefighters as well as horology.  In our conversation, Jonny describes the development of the William Wood W...

Today we have the great pleasure of talking with Ned Hall, a philosophy professor and generally “wicked smart” guy who helps us think about quality. Ned teaches us how to think like philosophers as we address questions about the quality of objects such as watches, and confront questions like: how do we assess quality? Should this be through a single question, or set of questions? What are the thin...

Today we return to the Dogwatch after a few weeks off during August, and we have an episode recorded this spring with Jon Poppelle , an author and naturalist. This conversation was delayed due to an issue with the audio file, and I’ve gotten that resolved and we are now good to go. My apologies to Jon for the delay! If you like to be outside, there are features of the natural world that are always...