The Adventure Podcast

Episode 233 of The Adventure Podcast features expedition medic and NHS GP, Will Duffin. Will has spent 16 years as an expedition and reality TV doctor, including four seasons as lead on-screen medic for Survivor . He talks to Matt about his winding journey to becoming a medic, and how his work became expedition-focused. He also tells the story of his first on-camera emergency, and how to handle li...

Episode 232 of The Adventure Podcast features legendary alpinist, Mick Fowler. Mick is 70 and still climbing in the Himalaya. He can't remember how many first ascents he has there, but spoiler alert, it's a lot. In this episode, Mick talks to Matt about balancing his seemingly ordinary tax career with an extraordinary alpine one. He explains his approach to alpine-style climbing, what makes a good...

Episode 231 of The Adventure Podcast features explorer and polar activist, Matthieu Tordeur. Starting with a solo trip to Antarctica at 26, Matthieu talks through his shift from solo self-funded expeditions to purpose-driven exploration. He explains what drew him to polar landscapes specifically, and they talk in detail about a kite-skiing research-driven traverse he recently did with glaciologist...

Episode 230 of The Adventure Podcast features survival instructor, bushcraft expert, and TV adventurer, Naomi Allsworth. Naomi started as a sportswear fashion designer in London, before pivoting to bushcraft and working alongside Bear Grylls as a survival expert. She talks to Matt about finding her place in the bushcraft world, but also the criticism she has and still receives from some. She also...

Episode 229 of The Adventure Podcast features founder and CEO of Trash Free Trails, mountain biker, and spaniel-owner, Dom Ferris. In this episode, Dom traces his path from a feral, nature-soaked childhood in Mid Wales, through teenage mountain bike racing and a wilder stretch of partying that cost him his sense of self. He goes on to found Trash Free Trails after a breakdown at Surfers Against Se...

Dispatches are our shorter form episodes, usually around a single question, subject or story. In this episode, Niall McCann recites an incident from a couple of years ago when he, alongside a group of rangers, tracked buffalo poachers for over an hour through incredibly complex terrain. For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure P...

Episode 228 of The Adventure Podcast features sailor, adventurer, and philanthropist, Tim Good. Tim comes from a 200-year-old family business which is deeply connected to multiple philanthropic projects. He has also quietly accumulated a life that most people only plan. In this episode, Tim talks to Matt about losing his brother Matthew and how that resulted in Tim selling his business, buyin...

Episode 227 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife camera operator and television presenter, Declan Burley. Declan grew up in Luton, dyslexic and working on building sites. Nobody around him went into the arts and no one really knew what a wildlife camera operator was. In this episode, Declan talks to Matt about the long road to where he is now: three months in the Amazon at 23 that changed ev...

Episode 226 of The Adventure Podcast features ex-England Rugby Captain, sailor, rower, and world-record holder, Ollie Phillips. After over a decade of elite sport and multiple Player of the Year awards, an unknown injury suddenly stopped Ollie's career. In this episode, Matt and Ollie cover what it's like to grieve a career and a life you dedicated yourself to, and what happens after. They talk ab...

Episode 225 of The Adventure Podcast features marine biologist and TV host, Melissa Cristina Márquez. Also known as the 'Mother of Sharks'. Born in Puerto Rico, Melissa's spent her career trying to make people care about one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. In this episode, Matt and Melissa cover a lot of ground - from Jaws and Baby Shark to a three-metre crocodile bite on her firs...

Episode five of our long-term series, The Far Reaches, features ornithologist, environmentalist, writer, and sustainability advisor, Tony Juniper CBE. Tony is the Chair of Natural England, the former president of The Wildlife Trusts, and has devoted over four decades to nature recovery and environmental protection. In this episode, Matt sits down with Tony in his greenhouse for a wide-ranging conv...

Episode 224 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife cinematographer and third generation commercial fisherwoman, Erin Ranney. The conversation begins with Erin's upbringing in Alaska and Washington State, and how she grew up working on her family tree farm and in the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. She talks about how that shaped her understanding of conservation from the inside out an...

Episode 223 of The Adventure Podcast features award-winning director and cinematographer, Richard Ladkani. Richard has dedicated his life to impactful, compelling storytelling about our world and our place in it. His work includes The Ivory Game, Sea Of Shadows, YANUNI, and his latest film follows the life of his close friend, Jane Goodall. In this episode, Richard reflects on his life and his car...

Episode 222 of The Adventure Podcast features ex special forces operative and mindset coach, Simon Jeffries. After starting out as a Royal Marines Commando and a tour in Afghanistan, he was selected to serve in the SBS. Several tours later, he decided to step away from the military and instead founded his mindset coaching company, The Natural Edge. In this episode, Simon traces a life shaped by lo...

Episode four of our long-term series, The Far Reaches, features conservation journalist Rhett Butler. In 1999, fresh out of high school, Rhett founded Mongabay - an independent, non-profit environmental science and conservation news platform. He ran the project solo for the first few years, publishing thousands of stories and photos. However it has grown immensely since then, with a network of rou...

Episode 221 of The Adventure Podcast features international journalist and author, Adam Skolnick. Adam has written for countless news outlets, Lonely Planet guidebooks, magazines, and columns, and has travelled to over 40 countries. In this episode, Matt and Adam discuss his journey into writing. His first gigs, travelling for stories, and how to make a living doing so. Adam reflects about the ear...

Episode 220 of The Adventure Podcast features endurance athlete and author, Peter Wright. Peter has undertaken some of the world's most challenging endurance events - completing the Marathon des Sables, the Jungle Ultra, the Western States 100, the Cape Wrath Ultra and rowing the Atlantic. But what's fascinating about Peter is that on the face of it, he's a pretty normal bloke with a full-time car...

Dispatches are our shorter form episodes, usually around a single question, subject or story. In this episode, Waldo Etherington talks to us about all things trees. Waldo has been on the podcast before, and is also a regular diarist in our sister series, Field Diaries. He's a rope access specialist whose spent months high in rainforest canopies and on expeditions all over the world. His passion fo...

Episode 219 of The Adventure Podcast features adventure journalist and research scientist, Ash Routen. Ash has written for Explorers Web, Nat Geo, Outside, The Guardian, Sidetracked, Red Bull, and UKC, among many others. This episode is a thoughtful and refreshingly critical debate of sorts. Matt and Ash dive into the evolving world of adventure to ask difficult questions about the expeditions of...

Episode 218 of The Adventure Podcast features writer, journalist, and adventurer, Adam Weymouth. Over a decade ago, Adam undertook a year-long journey, walking from England to Istanbul. What grew out of burnout from frontline climate activism became a personal experiment in pilgrimage, slowness, and meaning. Adam talks about canoeing the length of the Yukon River while following the salmon run, an...

Episode 217 of The Adventure Podcast features photographer, IFMGA guide, writer and artist, Ben Tibbetts. In this episode, Matt sits down with Ben to explore a life shaped by isolation, long-term creative projects, and a deep need for structure in the wild. The conversation begins with Ben’s 18 months living and working in Antarctica, which quietly rewired how he thinks about solitude, landscape,...

Episode 216 of The Adventure Podcast is Part Two of the conversation with Charlie Reynolds. If you've not listened to the first half, go back to episode 215. We start this episode where we left off, on a canoe in the waves after a brutal storm. Matt and Charlie continue unpacking his extraordinary journey, and several near misses, through South America. They dig into what those moments taught Char...

Episode 215 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer and overland explorer, Charlie Reynolds. In 2024, Charlie left the UK with almost no experience and rode a motorbike the length of North and Central America. He then attempted something far more daring. The Darién Gap is one of the most dangerous jungles on Earth and represents a frontier very few people attempt. Charlie decided to cross it...

This episode is available for subscribers to watch in vision on The Adventure Podcast+ substack. Episode 214 of The Adventure Podcast features solo sailor and triple amputee, Craig Wood. Craig's life changed at 18 years old when, three months into his first military tour, he lost both legs and his left hand in an explosion in Afghanistan. It took eight months for him to learn to walk again. He rec...

Episode 213 of The Adventure Podcast features French-born adventurer, horsewoman, and advocate for Australia’s wild brumbies, Alienor Le Gouvello. A few years ago, Alienor travelled 5,000+ kilometres on a 13-month solo trek along the Bicentennial National Trail, a journey she completed with three wild horses she had tamed herself and her loyal dog, Fox. It starts as a tale of grit and endurance -...