Wild Ideas Worth Living

Last year was a big year for this podcast, and this year we’re boosting our production even more. We’re diving deeper into stories and exploring not just people, but also about topics and ideas that will help you chase down your own wild adventures. From mindfulness to saying yes to fear, hacking your health, and changing how we think about the outdoors, fitness, and technology, we’ve already reco...

Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast’s Idea: To interview top athletes, health experts, adventurers, and authors about their wild idea and share them with you. We are now two years, 97 episodes, and well over a million listens into this podcast. It’s been a wild ride, to say the least. And an incredible one. Thank you for listening and for your support. It’s been a privilege to interview some of the bi...

Jesse’s Wild Idea: To encourage people to achieve massive things in their life and focus on what matters most. Today’s guest eats only fruit until noon. He loves Run-DMC. He wrote the New York Knicks anthem, “Go New York Go,” and he likes to live life out of the box. In his New York Times bestselling book, Living with a Seal , Jesse invited Navy Seal David Goggins to live with him for a month and...

Eric’s Wild Idea: To create a program that helps people optimize performance and alleviate pain.  As an athlete and human, it’s important to be able to move to the best of your ability. Injuries and pain that have kept me from running, surfing, or other adventuring have always been challenging.  Today’s guest, Dr. Eric Goodman, has been recommended to me by many guests of this show. As the founder...

Elizabeth’s Wild Idea: To write about people who adventure for a larger purpose. There are some writers whose words resonate so well and whose descriptions are so deep, their words hit you to the core and transport you into their world.  Today’s guest, Elizabeth Weil, has evoked that feeling for me time and again through her work. The award-winning writer often covers the kind of people I love - t...

Samin’s Wild Idea: To share the power of food with the world and inspire everyone to get in the kitchen and cook with confidence using salt, fat, acid and heat.   If you have been anywhere on the internet lately, you’ve probably seen something about Netflix’s new series, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat . The show follows today’s guest, Samin Nosrat, around the world as she teaches the importance of cooking...

Gabby’s Wild Idea: To continuously learn new ways to optimize health and fitness while helping others be their best selves. Gabby Reece is a woman of many talents. She is a health and fitness expert, a former professional volleyball player, a best-selling author, a model, a TV host, wife to big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, and a mom. She is also the co-founder of XPT (extreme performance training)...

Shannon’s Wild Idea: To work for NASA and spend months aboard the international space station. Shannon Walker first dreamed of becoming an astronaut in the 1960s. After getting her undergraduate degree in physics and her Masters of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy in Space Physics, she got her start with the Rockwell Space Operations Company at the Johnson Space Center in 1987 as a robotics fli...

Tate’s Wild Idea: To climb over 13,000 feet up Grand Teton in Wyoming after seeing an image of the mountain in the hallway where he received cancer treatments. To not let his diagnosis affect his sense of humor and positive attitude.  Today’s guest is a skier, filmmaker, and all around awesome guy who I’ve known for a few years. Tate MacDowell got his start as a filmmaker making ski movies for com...

Rue’s Wild Idea: To start a movement that celebrates diversity, and helps gets more people outside and connected in nature. Rue Mapp is a true force of nature. The activist, nature-lover, and mom of three founded Outdoor Afro as a blog in 2009 and has since grown it to become the nation’s leading nonprofit network that encourages African-American leadership in nature. With nearly 80 leaders in 30...

Pete’s Wild Idea: To surf on the Big Wave World Tour, and create a life and career around surfing. You may have seen today’s guest gliding down a giant wave at Mavericks, or heard his voice behind the microphone as the commentator for the World Surf League. The long-time Quiksilver athlete, WSL commentator, owner of his family surf shop in Santa Cruz, husband and dad, Peter “Pete” Mel has a lot of...

Courtney’s Wild Idea: To battle her autoimmune diagnosis by embracing minimalism, being less busy, having more JOMO, and sharing her journey and tips with the world. If you have social media or are connected to our current tech-savvy world, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced some FOMO (fear of missing out). Or maybe you’ve experienced a sense of feeling overwhelmed, being too busy, or had th...

Alex’s Wild Idea: To climb El Capitan without ropes and tackle some of the world’s most challenging routes, setting records, inspiring others, and giving back through his foundation. *Editors Note: Do not try this at home. Alex Honnold is the most exciting and recognized climber in the world, in addition to being one of the best climbers ever. Last year, Alex completed the most terrifying, challen...

Jamie’s Wild Idea: To overcome asthma and become a world-champion paddleboarder and big wave surfer. To educate himself and the world about sustainable aquaculture practices. Today’s guest exemplifies what it means to make your wild idea a reality. Jamie Mitchell is one of the best athletes in the world and a ten-time winner of the Molokai to Oahu paddleboard race, one of the most challenging, pre...

Andy’s Wild Idea: To reduce the amount of new items we purchase every year by 25% through his company, Yerdle. Andy Ruben has had a unique career path. He never thought he would end up in the business world, but ended up working as the Chief Sustainability Officer for Walmart. After seeing just how many products are bought and never used or thrown out, he decided to do something about it. In 2012,...

Scott’s Wild Idea: To renew his sense of purpose by running the Appalachian Trail (which he also set the speed record for), and chronicling his adventures with his wife in a book called North. Scott Jurek is one of the most accomplished ultra-runners of all time. Among his many accomplishments, Scott won the 153-mile Spartathalon, The Hard Rock 100, The Bad Water 135 Ultramarathon, and he’s won th...

Scott’s Wild Idea: To write about adventure and the outdoors, debunk gurus, and find ways to biohack your body to improve performance and health. Last week, I interviewed “Iceman” and record breaker Wim Hof, who talked about how cold immersion and breathing techniques can help humans achieve better health, happiness, and strength. This week, I thought it was appropriate to follow up our conversati...

Wim’s Wild Idea: To help humans connect to their inner power, heal and achieve big goals by using nature, cold exposure, breathing techniques, and commitment. When I started this podcast, my goal was to talk to people who had made their wild ideas a reality, and Wim Hof has been a dream guest for a long time. Over the last few decades, Wim has broken dozens of records and achieved some wild feats....

Aspen’s Wild Idea: To rebuild her mental and emotional strength by hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail, and her journey in the book, Girl In the Woods Editor's note: This episode contains references to sexual violence and may not be suitable for all audiences. After being raped her second night of her freshman year in college, Aspen Matis grew depressed and was shocked at how her school didn’t b...

Beth’s Wild Idea: To become a world class rock climber, and inspire others to find their own drive and definition of happiness and success.  Beth Rodden started climbing in indoor gyms when she was 14. She quickly won national competitions, and then began climbing outside around the world. She became famous for free climbing the nose on El Capitan. She also completed many other first ascents, like...

Michael’s Wild Idea: To write captivating stories about people who live on the fringes of society and do wild things. Michael Finkel is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, which we dive deep into on today’s show. The story chronicles a highly intelligent man that lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years with...

Rebecca’s Wild Idea: To encourage others to take risks, push themselves physically and mentally, and get everyone in the world on a bike. Today we welcome back Rebecca Rusch, this show’s first repeat guest. Rebecca has been called a modern day wonder woman and the queen of pain for her ability to not only withstand harsh conditions in endurance racing, but for her well-versed career. She has been...

Cheryl’s Wild Idea: To share her story of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, encourage others to get outside, share their stories, and embrace kindness.  Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild about her trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. The book was adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. In addition to writing Wild, Cheryl...

Catra’s Wild Idea: To spend maximum time outdoors trail running while breaking ultramarathon records and helping people and dogs along the way.   After battling drug addiction, Catra Corbett hit her bottom, finding herself in jail. Soon after she got sober, Catra discovered her love of fitness. She also started running, and running more. To date, Catra, aka “the Dirt Diva” has run over 260 maratho...

Karen’s and Adriana’s Wild Idea: To encourage diversity in the outdoors and change how the media portrays who plays outside. Part of living wildly is standing up for what you believe in. After not seeing people who looked like them represented in the outdoors, today’s guests took action. Karen Ramos and Adriana Garcia are two young women who started movements to encourage diversity and representat...