Save What You Love with Mark Titus

Phil Davis and his wife, Cathy moved to the Methow Valley in Washington State and fell in love. Not just with the land, but with the people and the history of this place. That history includes a landscape of hardship for the First People of this valley and the wild salmon who have made the 400-mile journey from the sea back inland here since time immemorial. Phil decided to write a story, with a s...

Nanci Morris Lyon is a pioneer in the fly-fishing world. She's a decades-long champion for Bristol Bay and she's a good friend to SWYL host, Mark Titus. Nanci housed and fed Mark while he was filming his documentaries The Breach and The Wild from 2012 - 2017. Nanci holds fly-fishing records and is Bristol Bay's first female to own and operate a full-blown world-class fishing lodge. In this episode...

Tom Douglas is a James beard award-winning chef and restaurateur based in Seattle. If you live in the PNW, chances are you've encountered Tom at one of his restaurants, on his weekly radio show, on TV, or if you're lucky at one of his in-person Hot Stove Society cooking classes. Tom has been  an unwavering champion for the protection of Bristol Bay over the years. He's has been an Executive Produc...

Dr. Jen McIntyre is a professor of aquatic ecology for the Washington State University’s Puyallup division. Mark and Jen break down her work with stormwater runoff and its deleterious effect on salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. Pretty relevant with the onset of November rains here in Salmon Nation. Jen has led youth on wilderness adventures, earned a masters and her ph. D at the Univers...

On today's episode host, Mark Titus and Joel talk about Joel's work as a film producer and activist. Joel's award-winning film, Sonic Sea tackles the inordinate amount of noise under the water in our oceans that are literally killing marine life, like whales. Joel and Mark also discuss Joel's philosophy and practice in going the distance for huge environmental battles like defending Bristol Bay fr...

Kel Moody is an architect of place. They are the director of Salmon Nation's weeklong Festival of What Works , November 2nd-7th, 2021. Mark and Kel discuss what to expect out of this special week of virtual-gathering to learn from innovators and leaders from throughout the Salmon Nation bioregion - which extends from the north slope of Alaska through Northern California. Kel is also a facilitator...

Guido Rahr is the president and CEO of the Wild Salmon Center a non-profit responsible for securing protection of 3 million acres of salmon habitat across the Pacific rim – and one of the key partners in the coalition to protect Bristol Bay.’ Guido's also the subject of the book, Stronghold – One Man’s Quest to Save the World’s Wild Salmon  – suggesting that each one of us can contribute to the gr...

A public health scientist by training, Dr. Jennifer Galvin left a fast-track academic career path to pursue filmmaking. She had a knack for finding narrative in the numbers and wanted to use her research and storytelling abilities to put a face on societal problems and solutions. She was selected to the American Film Institute's 2004 Catalyst Workshop for science storytelling and screenwriting, an...

Kyle and SWYL host, Mark Titus met at a screening of The Breach back in 2015 at the San Francisco aquarium. Kyle’s a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman who knows tons about catching these creatures he and Mark are both hopelessly in love with. And, when he graciously offered Mark a ride to the airport so he wouldn’t miss a flight to his next screening of The Breach. During that ride they discovered...

Olivia Watkins is a force. Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2020, Olivia is the co-founder and president of Black Farmer Fund , a thriving organization in New York creating consumers and producers of Black food ecosystems who participate as community wealth builders to repair Black communities’ relationship to food and land. Achieving this vision requires that Black farmers and food business owners...

Linda Behnken is a Heinz-Award winning Ocean-Warrior based in Sitka, Alaska. Teresa Heinz, Chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation said about her: “Linda’s success in achieving collaboration between scientists, industry, and the fishermen who work the ocean for their livelihood is a model for effective environmental change. Her efforts to drive policy and practices that protect the stability of Al...

Ian Gill is a writer, critic, bookseller, conservationist and co-creator of Salmon Nation, a bioregional network I am a proud member and resident of. Ian is also Principal of Cause+Effect, a Vancouver-based consulting company focused on designing and implementing strategies for large-scale social transformation. Prior to establishing Cause+Effect, Ian spent almost eighteen years as CEO of Ecotrust...

Aleesha Towns-Bain is the executive director of the Bristol Bay Education Foundation (BBEF). She hosted Tyler and me in June during the Neqa Salmon Derby, which, in addition to being a profoundly moving experience, was like grown-up summer camp in the most beautiful, wild place you can dream up. It was all to benefit the BBEF and its mission to connect Bristol Bay’s young people to their past and...

David Holbrooke is a filmmaker and cultural entrepreneur who believes that film is the best way to convey the big ideas that are missing in the public dialogue. David was a TV News Producer with the Today Show, CNN and CBS News before moving into filmmaking after watching 9/11 happen and believing that he needed to tell stories with more depth and purpose. In 2008, he became festival director of T...

Virginia and I have been friends for over two decades. She currently serves as the Chief Social Impact Officer for a little coffee company here in Seattle you may have heard of. As ubiquitous and colossal as Starbucks is, this conversation was a revelation to me as to the intimate, personal efficacy that is possible when an entire cohort is fueled by a purpose higher than themselves. (and caffeine...

This week Mark talks to Aaron Kindle, Director of Sporting Advocacy for National Wildlife Federation (NWF) – one of the many incredible partners working to preserve Bristol Bay forever. Aaron is lifelong Westerner, originally from Wyoming, who possesses a deep appreciation for the West, its people, and its wild country. He comes to NWF from Trout Unlimited, where he worked on public lands issues f...

Hannah Lux has seen and heard it all. She’s had the dubious distinction of cutting my hair for the last 20 years. Along the way, Hannah has become a close friend and inspiration. When pondering who to talk to about what the last year was like as a small business owner, I couldn’t think of anyone better. Hannah adapted, improvised and overcame – bringing her Seattle business, Moxie Beauty Boutique...

Russ Ricketts finds wonder underwater. And he inspires it in me and everyone he touches with his work - sharing an ethereal world that's as close as your local river. Russ has been a good friend for over a decade now. You'll find his DNA in both The Breach and The Wild. His beautiful underwater footage makes both of these films sing the song electric for wild salmon. On today's episode of SWYL, Ru...

Zach is an Alaskan. And a fisherman. And he happens to play bass for Wasilla Alaska’s own, Portugal. The Man. PTM is now based in Portland, Oregon but Zach’s passion for rivers, fish and music remain the same. On this week’s episode of SWYL, Mark and Zach talk about creativity through Covid; Zach most cringe-worthy moment on stage; the PTM Foundation’s inspired work supporting Indigenous sovereign...

She makes beautiful things in her work as a Mom, entrepreneur, chef and author. She and her husband Bobby are raising their daughters, Cora and Ayla on the edge of the wilds near Ithaca, New York. Together, they own and operate Firelight Camps - a glamping oasis perched on the edge of Buttermilk Falls State Park. Emma's the author of a kick-ass, wild-centered cookbook called Feast By Firelight. Sh...

In this episode, Joe and Mark talk about SCHOOL, Joe's international piece of living art, rooted in blown-glass wild salmon and steelhead. Joseph Rossano is a multidisciplinary artist, environmentalist and outdoorsman. His work explores themes of natural history, extinction, taxonomy, DNA, and conservation, in the genres of assemblage and installation art.  Check out Joseph's work:⁣ www.josephross...

April Bencze is a brilliant photographer, writer and visionary who lives on Gilford Island, British Columbia. Do yourself a kindness and take an hour to listen to April talk about hunting at night, underwater, with a wild Pacific Octopus; Being as opposed to always Doing; healing our trauma in the Wild; and that moment when life transforms from gray-scale to color. Check out Apay'uq Moore and her...

Based in Juneau, Chris has been with Rivers Without Borders since 2001. He has worked on environmental issues for over 25 years in Washington, Montana and Alaska, including nuclear weapons testing, Columbia River dams and salmon, forest campaigns and transboundary issues. Chris engages tribes, commercial fishermen and communities advancing watershed conservation. In this episode, Chris and Mark ta...

Richard Chalyee Eésh Peterson is the 4-term President of the Tlingit and Haida Council in Southeast Alaska. On today’s episode Mark and Richard talk about perseverance and resilience in the face of fear; real accountability & transformation; and of course, wild salmon. Richard is a stalwart leader and a brings hope in saving the things we love through his own deeply personal story of transform...

If elected, Colleen would become the first Indigenous Woman to lead the city of Seattle, the only American city named after an Indigenous leader, Chief Sealth. On today's SWYL podcast, she expounds on Seattle's Homeless Crisis; accountability by police and citizens alike and leadership rooted in indigenous wisdom.  Check out Colleen Echohawk and her campaign:  echohawkforseattle.com ⁣⁣ @echohawkfo...