Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson

Antonia Malchik is a Montana-based writer and essayist, and she's also the author of the book "A Walking Life: Reclaiming Our Health and Freedom One Step at a Time."  She has written for publications including The Atlantic and High Country News, she also writes a regular Substack newsletter titled "On the Commons," which I highly recommend. Antonia thinks deeply about a wide range of topics, inclu...

Nickolas Butler is an award-winning writer and novelist who has published five books, one of which is the wildly popular, award-winning "Shotgun Love Songs." His most recent novel is titled "Godspeed"-- a fast-paced, thriller of a book that is set in and around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While the novel has all of the components that make for a great story-- action, suspense, wild landscapes, complex...

Nicole Morgenthau is a Utah-based professional photographer whose work depicts the people and places of the American West in a completely unique, one-of-a-kind style. While she has been involved in many aspects of the photography business throughout her career, Nicole may be best known for her portraits of a wide range of western characters-- from cowgirls to mountain men, from professional athlet...

Adam Gall is a hunting guide and owner of Timber to Table Guide Service, a guiding company focused on helping hunters of all skill levels put wild, healthy, and delicious meat on their tables. Based out of the small town of Hotchkiss on Colorado's Western Slope, Timber to Table offers multi-day hunts on both public and private lands, offering top-notch instruction on everything from the intricacie...

John Branch is a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist with the New York Times and the author of the brand new book "Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports." He is also the author of "The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West," which is one of my favorite books about the modern-day challenges facing ranching families in the American West. Whether he's reporting on...

Matt Barber and Joel Doub are the owners of Tom Morgan Rodsmiths, one of the West's most renowned custom fly rod companies.  I was introduced to Matt and Joel nearly three and half years ago and was quickly fascinated by their entrepreneurial journey and Tom Morgan Rodsmiths' storied history in the fly fishing world. As longtime listeners may remember, I recorded a podcast with Matt and Joel in Ja...

Max Wenerstrom is a blacksmith and craftsman best known for creating hand-forged knives that balance a beautiful aesthetic with practical durability. Max started blacksmithing at the age of 15, became obsessed with the craft, and quickly demonstrated an elite talent for creating one-of-a-kind knives. His passion led him to study under a 17th-generation Japanese bladesmith, who began teaching Max t...

Dr. David Hewitt is the Executive Director of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, an organization widely recognized as the leading wildlife research organization in Texas. The Institute is located on the campus of Texas A&M - Kingsville, and its mission is to provide science-based information for enhancing the conservation and management of Texas wildlife. Dave and his team at the Inst...

Marci McLean and Cora Neumann are joining me for another episode of my ongoing series called New West Dispatches. In each New West Dispatch, I break from the normal Mountain & Prairie format of discussing a guest's personal experiences, influences, and life story, and instead we spend the hour diving deep into a specific, timely issue that is creating challenges in the American West. The goal of t...

Brendan Leonard is a prolific writer and artist who is best known as the creator of Semi-Rad.com. He's also the author of a brand new book titled "I Hate Running and You Can Too: How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion." The book offers motivation and witty insights into the sometimes-crazy pastime of running. And Brendan knows a thing or two about running irrationa...

Mitsu Iwasaki is the CEO of the American Alpine Club (AAC), a historic and storied organization whose mission is to "share and support our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb." Founded in 1902, the AAC began as a social club for east coast elites who shared a passion for climbing, adventure, and conservation. But over the past 119 years, the AAC has evolved into an open and eq...

Jason Gardner is a father, homesteader, leadership instructor, and regenerative agriculture devotee who lives with his family on a remote property in the mountains of northeastern Washington State. Jason is also a retired Navy SEAL Master Chief who spent nearly thirty years in the SEAL teams and is a recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, and numerous other awards. As you'...

Kelsey Johnson is a Bozeman-based artist whose work highlights the epic wildlife, people, and landscapes of the American West. Using graphite pencils and oil paints, Kelsey creates stunning, life-like artwork-- works that you would assume were created by a full-time artist with decades of experience. But in reality, Kelsey is new to professional art-- she balances her artistic endeavors with a ful...

Iris Gardner is a writer, horse wrangler, mother, and former organic farmer who lives with her family on a homestead in northeastern Washington State. After many years of living and farming in southern California, Iris, her husband Jason, and their two children moved to their current home-- a rural property located close to the Canadian border and more than two hours from the nearest city. As you'...

This episode is a little different than normal-- it's me being interviewed on the Off the Couch podcast by my friends Jonathan Ellsworth and Brendan Leonard. Brendan is likely familiar to many of you long-time listeners-- he joined me on the podcast a few years ago to discuss his writing career, his film "How to Run 100 Miles" and his blog Semi-Rad. Jonathan is the creator of Blister, an amazing o...

Chris Douglas is a Montana-based photographer and creative director who is one of the most sought-after visual storytellers in the American West. Chris is a go-to photographer for iconic brands such as Filson, Stetson, and Mossy Oak, and his editorial work appears regularly in publications including Modern Huntsman and Men's Journal. In a world flooded with iPhone photography and armchair creative...

Monte Burke is a journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and contributing editor at Forbes, Garden & Gun, and The Drake. His most recent book is Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World-Record Tarpon, which was one of the best books I read in 2020. He's also the author of Saban: The Making of a Coach, which also happens to be one of my all-time favorite books. Whethe...

Malcolm Brooks is a Montana-based author best known for his epic novel "Painted Horses," a sweeping, large-scale tale of life in the American West in the 1950s. Published in 2015, Painted Horses has quickly become a classic among those who love Western literary fiction. Even more impressive, "Painted Horses" was Malcolm's first published novel-- a truly remarkable feat when you consider the story'...

Mike Foote is a Montana-based professional ultrarunner and ski mountaineer who is best known for his inspiring performances in 100-mile ultramarathons and multiday endurance expeditions through wild landscapes. In 2018, he set the world record for the most vertical feet climbed and skied in 24 hours-- a mind-blowing 61,200 feet. And in addition to his impressive athletic career, Mike is also a com...

If you've listened to the podcast for a while, then you're probably familiar with each episode's general format: I have a long-form conversation with an interesting person who is doing important work in the American West. We usually spend about half of the time discussing their work and the other half discussing their personal backstory—a format that I thoroughly enjoy and seems to have struck a c...

If you're a long-time listener, then surely you remember Juanita Vero. Juanita is a fourth-generation Montana rancher, conservationist, community leader, and all-around inspiring woman. She's also a devoted public servant, serving as a Missoula County Commissioner, where she gets her hands dirty with the critical and often not-so-glamorous work of county government. Juanita's name will be on the b...

Jessica Wahl Turner is the Executive Director of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), America's leading coalition of outdoor recreation trade associations and organizations. Currently, the ORR is comprised of 31 national association members that serve more than 100,000 outdoor-related businesses, which is an amazing feat considering that the organization is less than three years old. Jessica a...

Steve Casimiro is the founder and editor of Adventure Journal, an online and quarterly print magazine devoted to outdoor adventure in all its forms. AJ began as Steve's personal blog back in 2008—a project he created on the side while writing for National Geographic Adventure. Steve's unique perspective and devotion to adventure writing struck a chord with the outdoor community, and AJ's audience...

Chris Castilian is the Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (also known as GOCO), an organization that has committed more than $1.2 billion toward preserving and enhancing Colorado's parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. Founded in 1992, GOCO is truly a one-of-a-kind conservation funder—the organization invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds into a wide variety of crit...

Anna Brones is a freelance journalist, author, artist, and producer who is prolific in all of her creative endeavors—she's published four books, produced documentary films, is currently publishing a quarterly print journal about food, and much more. One of her most recent projects was the Women's Wisdom Project, in which she showcased the wisdom of inspiring women by creating 100 papercut portrait...