We Are Explorers Podcast

Hot off the back of creating their first podcast mini series, Wildlife Ahead hosts, James Worsfold and Elysee Lee, chat with We Are Explorers Editor, Amy Fairall, about their time on the road, exploring Australia, and creating a podcast set in the bush.  Find out what it was like for Elysee to enter into the world of journalism and podcasting without any prior experience, what the pair's new...

When a species becomes ‘un-extinct’, how can their population be bolstered in the wild, but also be reintroduced into culture? Once plentiful in South-West Western Australia, the Gilbert’s potoroo was thought to be extinct for over a hundred years. Since their rediscovery by Western Science in 1994, it has now gained the title of the world’s rarest marsupial, with only just over a hundred individu...

Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef is a beloved international icon, and home to diverse sea life. A tourist hotspot for Australians and people all over the world, the reef sees about 2 million visitors each year. However, its plight is also well known – the coral is being increasingly bleached and killed.  In this episode, James and Elysee investigate if it’s possible to be an ethical tourist in one...

The Australian housing crisis isn't just affecting people, it’s causing an animal housing crisis too. With countless new developments popping up all over the country, James and Elysee talk to experts to find out exactly how it's affecting wildlife, like platypus and koalas, and what solutions there may be for living in harmony with them.  They first chat with Dr Michelle Ryan, an aquatic...

A fish that can’t swim, the rarest fish in the world, needs a hand. Our hosts James and Elysee are in south-east Tasmania, home to several species of handfish, a curious creature that ‘walks’ along the sea bed on fins modified to look like hands. They chat to Dr Tyson Bessell who researches the Red handfish at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, and talk ab...

The long-awaited Great Koala National Park in NSW's Mid-North Coast was announced in September 2025, and will protect over 400,000 hectares of native forest and countless endangered animals including koalas, Greater gliders, and Yellow-bellied gliders.  But behind this announcement has been years of tireless volunteer community work to put pressure on the government to fulfil their conservati...

Like the brushturkey but much more elusive, the Malleefowl is a majestic bird on the decline. James and Elysee track this bird down in the desert-like Mallee region of north-west Victoria, where they learn about its laborious lifestyle and compost-powered incubating mounds. They meet a group of volunteers who head into the bush every breeding season to record important Malleefowl data to help aid...

Welcome to 'Wildlife Ahead', a podcast mini-series about Australia’s unique and threatened animals and the passionate people working to save them from extinction.  This six-part series follows journalists and podcast hosts & creators, James Worsfold and Elysee Lee, on a road trip around Australia as they meet and learn from the invaluable folks dedicating their lives to protecting Au...

This week we have a special edition of the podcast as we get Outback Mike AKA Mike Atkinson's take on the NSW National Park's proposal regarding camping fees. Mike brought the changes to the public's attention through an Instagram reel which has now reached over a million viewers, so we wanted to hear his thoughts firsthand.  Join our host Amy Fairall as she chats to Mike about the...

In this week’s episode, hosts Tim & Amy answer all your ExplorerFest questions, go through their ins & outs for 2025, and discuss their upcoming adventures. ExplorerFest is our first time venturing into the festival space, and in this episode, we unpack what makes ExplorerFest unique, and what kind of activities, workshops, and entertainment you can expect on the long weekend. In the lead-...

We Are Explorers Podcast host, Amy Fairall, chats with Jayden O’Neill (in person!), whose laundry list of titles includes We Are Explorers contributor, MOMENTS film category winner, and National Geographic Photo Instructor and Naturalist. By combining his knowledge from his bachelor’s degree in marine biology with the hard skills he’s learnt as a photographer and videographer, Jayden’s worked all...

Hosts Tim and Amy have been chatting all things spooky in the outdoors, with inspo and tales from our readers. What’s the spookiest thing that’s happened to you on the trail? Maybe you’ve walked through spiderwebs before sunrise or dropped something valuable down a drop dunny. Hosts Tim and Amy deep dive their biggest outdoor nightmares come to life as well as some of our readers. Listen on, if yo...

Dr Sheddy's story is one many people can relate to – finding out your career isn't exactly what you thought it'd be and trying to make sense of it all. But the way Sheddy found balance is pretty unique. Leaving a veterinary clinic in Australia, she moved to China to save bears before buying a sailing boat in Panama. She now sails around Central America treating animals that'd n...

After a huge call from our Assistant Editor that Jatz Tim Tams are better than the originals, we got to thinking – what weird and wonderful snacks do our audience take hiking? We threw the question out to you on Instagram and people came back with some pretty quirky answers. Have a listen! In This Episode The Hot Takes We Cover Are: Hiking snacks Overland Track Hiking nutrition Dehydrating meals R...

Please note! This article and podcast contain references to mental health and suicide. This week Tim is joined by Kane Ford, a Movember ambassador, and founder and guide for Get Outside Australia . Kane opens up about the series of events that led to him quitting his corporate job, reconnecting with nature, and confronting his anxiety. From growing up as a gay kid in a country town, to working a h...

We recently asked about your hot takes and controversial opinions on the outdoors. Tune in to find out which takes they agree with and which they think are just plain wrong. If you have an outdoor hot take you’ve been keeping from the world, now’s the time to let it out! Check out the original Instagram post and share your thoughts. In This Episode The Hot Takes We Cover Are Jess Nehme thinks wate...

From studying spatial science at uni to being diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that changed how he lives, Matt’s story is a tale of dealing with challenges as they come and turning passion and community into a career. Join We Are Explorers Podcast host, Tim Ashelford, as he chats with Matt about his personal journey and how it led him to founding Fractel . They chat about the importance...

In this week’s episode, our hosts unpack how MOMENTS entries are going and the harmony between creativity and the outdoors. They yarn about outdoor sports in the Olympics, and how different this version of each sport is to the activities most of us know and love. Finally, with a variety of articles catching the interest of our audience recently, they go deep into the stories that caused a stir! In...

Join We Are Explorers Podcast host, Tim Ashelford, as he learns how Cezary & Leo dreamt up this unique gap year, and what's gone down in the first six months. Joining the podcast from the Western Treatment Plant (yep, a sewage treatment farm that apparently has great spot bird watching), the pair are over 10,000km and 590 birds into their year-long adventure. They've both deferred un...

Join our hosts as they recap some recent articles that have captured your imagination and take a deep dive into the world of misadventure. They also talk about the recent launch of Explorer Basecamp , our accommodation vertical and MOMENTS , our first creativity and storytelling competition which opens today! There are $15,000 worth of cash prizes to be won and entries are open until the 15th Augu...

Brendan Waters set up his disability service provider Limitless Ability because he believed disability care should be individually tailored to each client. From group camping to gold panning, listen on to hear how he is providing people with disabilities the same coming of age experiences as everyone else. In this week's episode, join We Are Explorers host Amy Fairall  as she chats to Brendan...

Join We Are Explorers Podcast hosts, Tim Ashelford and Amy Fairall in this week’s episode without all the distractions that come with doing a bushwalk at the same time. They chat about recent articles that’ve been published about conservation and accessibility to nature in Australia. You'll also find out how the editorial team writes news and chooses what to publish, plus some more lightheart...

On the 64th day of the show, the winner of Alone Australia Season 2 was crowned. We Are Explorers were lucky enough to record this chat with the winner. *Alone Australia Season 2 Finale spoilers below* We Are Explorers host (and Alone Australia fanboy) Tim spoke to Krzyzstof about bed construction, the edit, Krzysztof’s favourite piece of gear and how the experience changed him. In this chat we co...

Divya Gordon is a visionary outdoor filmmaker who produced and directed the recently released film Maven, showcasing the women at the forefront of Australia's backcountry skiing community. We Are Explorers host Amy Fairall had the chance to talk to Divya about how she got into the outdoors, filmmaking and why it's important to put a spotlight on women in the outdoors. In this chat we cov...

Join We Are Explorers hosts Tim Ashelford and Amy Fairall as they take you on a walk through Sydney Harbour. Find out what the hosts do at We Are Explorers, hear some of their tales from past adventures and what they both have coming up. In this chat we cover:   Tim and Amy go on a walk in Sydney harbour NP Who is Tim Who is Amy Amy in Darwin Tim in Sydney Amy’s favourite thing to do outdoors Tims...