Palm Springs is a must-visit for cinephiles, history buffs, adventure seekers, architecture enthusiasts and foodies, but this desert city is better known as the home of glitz and glamour.   Today, we are stepping back in time to when Palm Springs was Hollywood’s favorite hideaway, when mid-century architecture shaped the town and suavely clad folk sipped martinis by the pool. In this episode, we’re going to visit Frank Sinatra (or his house and favorite restaurant at least), tour the Shag...

“People can't believe how we live out here on the land, and under the stars. Maybe it's just the freedom of it. Once you get that red dirt in your blood and your socks, you can't get rid of either one of them. It just stays with you, and you’re going to find that out if you stick around very long.” Norris Church, Kanab The Western is as finely layered as the red rock deserts and dusty towns that serve as their backdrop. Ever since they first appeared on the silver screen, Westerns have been...

“I'm dangling 250-feet above a canyon, and I'm about to get dropped. This is what AlUla is all about. It's got desert treasures, it's got 200,000 years of history, but it's also got adventure. And we're going to start ours by soaring through the air. Are you ready? Let's do this …” Aaron Millar, host  In this series, we’re going to take you on a journey into the heart of one of the most ancient kingdoms on Earth. Located in the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia, Alula is an oasis in the...

“There was one time when one of the young wolves was licking my face, and his canine went up my nose, and I was like, oh, okay, don't move. He wasn't trying to bite me; it was just excitement. But it was an awesome, eerie, and strangely wonderful experience.” - Jamie Dutcher Before the arrival of European settlers, it is estimated as many as 500,000 wolves roamed freely across the continental United States. By the 1970s, after decades of systematic eradication, there were fewer than 1000...

At the start of every month, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton preview what’s coming up on Armchair Explorer, play their favorite clips, and reveal the stories they’re most excited to share. A cross between a highlight reel, an interview, and two people telling travel tales down the pub, our Pathways episodes are your guide to choosing your adventures with us. October episodes: ADVENTURE: Wildlife film makers Jim and Jamie Dutcher spend six years living with a pack of wolves in...

“I was lying in a coffin in the catacombs beneath London Bridge while a clairvoyant called to the spirits around me to make themselves known. To say this was not a normal Saturday night would be to grossly understate the point.” And so begins, the second of our Halloween specials – a bucket list ghost hunt in the London Tombs. When these ancient catacombs were being excavated in 2007, they were found to house the remains of plague victims who had been buried there centuries before. The...

They called it the ‘End of the Line’. For over a century, Brushy Mountain prison held some of the most violent murderers, rapists and serial killers in the country. If you wore out your welcome at another prison or your crime was among the most unspeakable committed, this was where you ended up. And once you walked through the doors, almost no one walked out.  Located in the remote hills of Eastern Tennessee, the prison was closed in 2009. But the ghosts of the brutality that was committed...

“So, take down your box and bow, and play the strings. Whistle up your travellin’ tune. Listen to the sound the water makes, in the Diamond Stream.”  Ed Snodderly, The Diamond Stream This episode is the first in our Performance series, where we showcase music from around the globe. Today, we’re joined by Tennessee Music Legend Ed Snodderly at his live music venue The Down Home, in Johnson City, Tennessee.    Ed describes himself as a songwriter with a strong Appalachian sense of place. His...

Rodeo in the United States is a reflection of the spirit of the American West, and a tradition rooted in the folklore and culture of the country. But in South Dakota, it’s not only the official sport - it’s a way of life.  Join us as we go on a wild ride at the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo where over 300,000 people from all over the world descend on Rapid City to watch more than 120 different events. We join a father and son team at the ranch rodeo, cheer on Gill the border collie at the...

“We’re fighting to make the world less boring. Our planet used to slap us about the face-cheeks with iron fists of adventure every day.  Maps had edges to walk off. Whole continents lay undiscovered. But now, the entire surface of the Earth has been scanned by satellites and shoveled into your mobile phone, tagged with twattery about which restaurant serves the best mocha-latte-frappeshite.  We live to find ways to make the world a bit more difficult. To bring chaos into our...

“… it’s incredible to get that picture of watching the caravans arrive on the horizon, and you don't know what they're going hold. You don't know what mysteries. People with strange languages, different clothes, and different smells. And they set up around the fire at night and play music you've never heard before; tell stories you've never heard before …” In this series, we’re going to take you on a journey into the heart of one of the most ancient kingdoms on Earth. Located in the...

“I look out the window towards K2 and it's this splitter blue day with this little wisp of white snow coming off the top of the second highest mountain in the world and I'm feeling this sense of terror and this realization of, oh shit: What have I agreed to?” Cory Richards is one of the world’s most renowned mountaineers and adventure photographers. He has climbed Everest without oxygen, been on the front cover of National Geographic and is the first American to climb an 8000m peak in...

At the start of every month, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton preview what’s coming up on Armchair Explorer, play their favorite clips, and reveal the stories they’re most excited to share. A cross between a highlight reel, an interview, and two people telling travel tales down the pub, our Pathways episodes are your guide to choosing your adventures with us. October episodes: ADVENTURE: National Geographic photographer and mountaineer Cory Richards takes us on a journey to the...

Here’s to those who Wisconsin … that’s what they say in this part of the world.  Because traveling here is not so much about exploring a place as discovering a mindset.  In this two-part documentary series, recorded on location, we’ll be searching for that Wisconsin state of mind. Today we’ll be looking for it through the lens of its music, architecture, theater - and motorbikes. It’s a story about how art can connect us more deeply with the land, and how the land inspires it. Wisconsin is...

“The best way to travel? Dare to be lonely, lost, and bored.” – Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding Today’s special episode is in honor of World Travel Day, which was set up by the United Nations over 50 years ago and is celebrated today, on September 27th, every year. Here’s what they have to say about it … Tourism as an instrument for peace Tourism, often highlighted for its role in economic development, also plays a significant role in fostering peace. On a global level, where nations...

In the heart of the California’s Sonoran Desert the city of Palm Spring’s emerges like a green oasis surrounded by a sea of red. It’s known for food, art, glamour, glitz but head outside the city boundaries to Greater Palm Springs and there’s plenty of adventure too. Today we’re going to be exploring the region’s wild side - and we’re not talking about lavish pool parties (more of that later in the series). We’re going horseback riding through canyons beside palm-fringed creeks, snowshoeing...

"Bluegrass will lift you up and sweep you along like the fast-flowing waters of the Tennessee River...it's foot stomping, hand clapping, blazingly fast songs hotter than a match." In this episode, dive into the world of Tennessee bluegrass and learn why this is a genre of music that can only be truly experienced live. Join host Aaron Millar as he sits down in a 100-year-old country store for a one-of-a-kind show; dives into the history of legends like Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs; and meets...

Follow world-renowned explorer Ed Stafford on the expedition that made his name: walking the entire length of the Amazon River, on foot. People thought that it was impossible, that he would die trying; and they were nearly right. He was attacked by a tribe of angry machete wielding indigenous peoples, he faced Narco drug traffickers and giant anacondas. But gradually, step by step, over the course of two and half years, through some of the toughest and deadliest terrain on the planet, he...

“Nobody's down here except for us ghost people and the hotel staff. And some of the hotel staff in the past wouldn't come down here by themselves. Things happen in here. Things have happened to me.” – Kate, Ghost Tour Guide at the Bullock Hotel, Deadwood Tales of the Wild West and lawless frontiers are ingrained in American culture - and in Deadwood, the discovery of riches in the southern Black Hills in 1874 kicked off one of the largest gold rushes in America. Not long after, Deadwood...

Imagine a road trip up the southern Californian coast stopping off at cool little beach towns along the way. But instead of doing it in a car, on the highway, getting stuck in traffic, with nothing to do or see … you surf it instead. The Pacific Surfliner train travels 351 miles from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, through Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and more … and for much of that journey you are literally hugging the coast so closely you can almost smell the ocean. In today’s...

Maiku. Yá'át'ééh. And hello!   You can't really know a place without hearing from the people who have always been there. Utah is the sacred and ancestral home of eight different tribal nations, including the Paiute, Navajo (Diné), Shoshone, Goshute, and more. And today, we're learning as much about their histories and cultures as we can.   Join us as we listen to Southern Paiute music under the stars, see a traditional Diné fireside dance, sample fry bread with a unique twist, step inside a...

Follow world-record breaking explorer George Bullard on a world-first kayak from Greenland to Scotland across one of the most dangerous stretches of water on the planet. No one thought they could do it. Most people assumed they would die trying – and they nearly did, more than once. But, despite the odds, over six weeks, George and his expedition partner Ollie Hicks, crossed 1,200-miles of open ocean from the edge of the Greenland Ice Cap to Iceland, then on to the Faroe Islands, and from...

In Antarctica, time is measured in ice. Entire worlds form and dissolve in the marbled blue sheets and shimmering peaks, which rise and return from glacial seas. Half of the year is soaked in eternal sunlight; the other, cloaked in perpetual darkness. And throughout this cycle of melting and freezing, sunsets and vibrant auroras, there is a group of people who are living and working in an unassuming group of buildings on Ross Island. Matty Jordan is one of those people. He has been to and...

Follow award-winning Aaron Millar on a road trip across the Tennessee Music Pathways from the graveside of Sonny Boy Williamson, the grandfather of The Blues harmonica, to Chattanooga, home of the Big 9, and one of the original breeding grounds of The Blues.    Along the way we will hear how The Blues became, perhaps, the most influential genre in all of music, inspiring everything from rock n’ roll to hip hop, R&B, and everything in between.    But more than that, we’ll discover how The...