Ranchlands Podcast

Helen Levi is an artist, potter, photographer, and the owner of Helen Levi Ceramics. Based out of her studio in Queens, New York, Helen produces small-batch dinnerware and pottery that is as unique and beautiful as it is functional. Her ceramics have been featured everywhere from New York Magazine to Vogue, and, as you'll hear in this conversation, she continues to grow and evolve as an artist and...

Senator Lucía Guzmán is a lifelong leader and public servant. Born and raised in Texas by immigrant parents, Lucía has led an inspirational life. She studied theology and became an ordained minister, served for many years on the Denver School Board, and served as a Colorado State Senator from 2010 through 2019. In this episode, Lucía discusses her parents' move from Mexico to the United States, he...

Molly Wizenberg is the author of three memoirs, including her most recent book titled "The Fixed Stars." She also created the James Beard-award-winning food blog Orangette  and now writes a Substack newsletter called I've Got a Feeling .  And on top of all that, she's a wife, a mother of two, and the host of the podcast Spilled Milk . Molly will be leading her second writing workshop at the Zapata...

Johnny Ortiz-Concha is a chef, artist, and the creator of /shed, an intimate, one-of-a-kind dinner project based in his hometown of Taos, New Mexico. Johnny grew up on the Taos Pueblo and dropped out of college to pursue his dreams of a career devoted to cooking and food. After working in some of the United States' most highly acclaimed restaurants for seven years, he returned to Taos and started...

Alejandro Carrillo is the owner of the Las Damas Ranch located in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert. Before becoming a full-time rancher, Alejandro enjoyed a successful career as an IT consultant.  But in 2004, he made the decision to leave the software industry and join his family's ranching business. Since then, he has revitalized the Las Damas Ranch by implementing holistic management principles–strat...

Conservation photographer and storyteller Mike Forsberg has devoted much of his career to telling stories from North America's Great Plains, and his work has been recognized by many well-known organizations, including Audubon, National Geographic, and the Nature Conservancy. He's the author and photographer for several stunning books, and the co-founder of the Platte Basin Timelapse– a one-of-a-ki...

Wendy Millet is the Ranch Director at TomKat Ranch , a 1,800-acre grass-fed cattle ranch located on the California Coast. Wendy has devoted her entire career to conservation and land stewardship, serving in various capacities at well-known conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. And for the past 10+ years, she's been helping the team at TomKat achieve i...

On today's episode, our guest is the agroecologist, systems thinker, educator, and author Nicole Masters. Originally from New Zealand, Nicole is one of the most well-respected voices on soil health and ecologically responsible grazing practices. She is also the author of the excellent book For the Love of Soil: Strategies to Regenerate Our Food Production Systems . In this conversation, Nicole dis...

Jill Soukup reads her short essay, " What Zapata Means to Me ," featured on the Ranchlands Journal . Jill Soukup is a celebrated artist and long time friend of Ranchlands. She has been teaching her  drawing and painting workshop at the Zapata Ranch  for the past 8 years, and visiting the Chico and Zapata ranches to photograph horses for her paintings for at least 18 years.

On today's episode, Ed connects with the great artist Jill Soukup for a conversation about everything from her professional journey as an artist, to her love of teaching, to the diverse set of influences that fuel her creativity. Jill has been a long-standing member of the Ranchlands community for well over a decade– she teaches one of our most sought-after workshops at the Zapata Ranch, and she's...

For this week's episode, Ed headed over to the Nature Conservancy's Zapata Ranch in Colorado's San Luis Valley where he met up with Kate Matheson . Kate is the manager of the Zapata Ranch for Ranchlands, and she is also our Director of Hospitality and PR. Originally from England, Kate enjoyed a successful career in publishing and fashion before a fateful trip to the American West drastically chang...

This is another Q&A episode, this time with the questions being answered by Duke Phillips IV. All of these questions were either submitted via social media or through our podcast-specific email address, podcast@ranchlands.com . Duke answers a wide range of questions, including some specific questions about cattle and the ranching business, the amount of acreage needed to support different size her...

For today's podcast, Ed sat down with legendary horseman Cam Schryver. Cam has been a great friend of Ranchlands for many years, and he is widely regarded as one of the premiere horsemen in the country. For many years, Cam was the head of the horsemanship program at the world-renowned Thatcher School, and he was also a two-time Extreme Cowboy World Champion. Now, in retirement, he lives and works...

We're excited to bring you another essay episode, this one featuring our friend and past podcast guest Molly Baldrige. You may remember from our discussion in Episode 6 that Molly wrote a wonderful essay titled "Querencia," which details her deep connection to the MP Ranch. In this short episode, Molly reads "Querencia," and we know you'll enjoy listening. And if you'd like to read the essay for y...

For today's episode, Duke IV and Ed had the great pleasure of sitting down with Molly Baldrige , who is the owner of the MP Ranch. Located in the rocky juniper pinon hills of central New Mexico cattle country, the MP Ranch has been an important part of Molly's family history for decades. And as you'll hear in this conversation, Molly feels a deep, even spiritual, connection to the landscapes and h...

This is the third of three special episodes that we are fitting in between our regular interview-style conversations. You may remember from Episode 5 –which featured a conversation between Duke IV and ranch apprentice Brandon Sickel–that Brandon is a talented writer who has written extensively for the Ranchlands journal. In this short episode, Brandon reads his essay titled " Beefmasters: The Bull...

This is the second of three special episodes that we are fitting in between our regular interview-style conversations. You may remember from Episode 5 –which featured a conversation between Duke IV and ranch apprentice Brandon Sickel–that Brandon is a talented writer who has written extensively for the Ranchlands journal. In this short episode, Brandon reads his essay titled " Beefmasters: The Fer...

This is the first of three special episodes that we are fitting in between our regular interview-style conversations. You may remember from Episode 5 –which featured a conversation between Duke IV and ranch apprentice Brandon Sickel–that Brandon is a talented writer who has written extensively for the Ranchlands journal. In this short episode, Brandon reads his essay titled " Beefmasters: A Philos...

For this week's episode, I headed out to the Chico Basin Ranch to sit down with Duke IV and ranch apprentice Brandon Sickel for a conversation about Ranchlands' intern and apprenticeship program.   Brandon has been working with us for nearly five years– he started out as a summer intern at the Zapata Ranch and then joined the team in a full-time capacity as part of our Apprenticeship Program at th...

For the fourth episode of the Ranchlands Podcast, Duke III and I headed up to Denver to meet with our friend and renowned artist Duke Beardsley . Beardsley is a sixth-generation Coloradan who grew up splitting time between Denver and his family's eastern Colorado cattle ranch. For as long as he can remember, Duke has been drawing and painting scenes from the American West– ranchers, horsemen, angl...

Every so often, we're going to record episodes dedicated exclusively to Questions and Answers– episodes that will offer an opportunity for listeners to engage directly with the Ranchlands community. We're planning to have Q&A sessions with members of the Ranchlands leadership team, interns, apprentices, and even with some of our friends who will be guests on future episodes. For the first Q&A epis...

For our second episode, we're going to introduce you to the next generation of Ranchlands– Duke's children Tess Leach and Duke Phillips IV . Officially, Tess is the Head of Business Development and Duke is the Chief Operating Officer, but those titles fail to capture the all-encompassing responsibilities that they each hold. Both Tess and Duke are heavily involved in Ranchlands' day-to-day operati...

For the inaugural episode of the Ranchlands Podcast, it only makes sense to sit down and chat with the man who started it all– Duke Phillips III , the Founder and CEO of Ranchlands. More than 20 years ago and with only 35 cows to his name, Duke moved his family to the Chico Basin Ranch located on the prairie just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Over the course of two decades, Duke, his fami...

"Working together to live with the land." For more than two decades, this credo has guided our work at Ranchlands. Our core business is cattle ranching, but over time it has grown to include education, art, hospitality, craftsmanship, and more. Our mission has evolved organically from our work with the land, and our vision has attracted a fascinating array of friends, partners, and collaborators–p...