A few months ago, someone mentioned that a dude had walked to Crestone from Pueblo — which is a SERIOUS walk over some very rugged mountains — and that he was some kind of Sasquatch expert. I was intrigued, but I have to admit that I assumed the guy was a wild-eyed wayward soul who’d had a bit too much psilocybin and not enough common sense. Then I met Mateo at a party and after chatting with this totally chill, reasonable, obviously smart dude for a while, I realized … wait a minute, THIS is...

Following the birth of their daughter, Jack McClure and his wife Alana decided to continue their life of adventure. They set their sights on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Canada to Mexico as a family, beginning when their daughter was 9 months old. What followed was a 1,500 mile odyssey filled not only with primeval forests and sweeping mountain vistas but also countless lullabies, hundreds of diaper changes and innumerable tears shed. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com * Can/should we slow down the development of AI? * Frans de Waal: “Because the role of sex in society is such a loaded and controversial issue, scientists have tended to downplay this side of bonobo behavior…. Sexual encounters of the bonobo kind are strikingly casual, almost more affectionate than erotic.” * Andrew…

Adam’s name comes up a lot in Crestone. He and his family have been around for a long time, he runs a local business, currently serves on the Town Board of Trustees, is running for County Commissioner, and seems to be admired and respected by pretty much everyone. This is my favorite kind of podcast to bring you, where I’m getting to know the guest at the same time you are. Among lots of other stuff, we talk about: * what it was like to be a quirky, sensitive kid in Texas (not great), * who...

Michael Henry Dunn is a guy who has been around the block a few times. He’s a classically trained actor, having studied at Juilliard. He’s a musician and an activist. He’s an author, journalist, Substacker and scholar who has delved deeply into the controversies around Shakespeare’s true identity, the Code of Chivalry and global human rights. And he’s a really nice guy who happens to live in this funky little town in the Colorado high desert. Go figure. Information about the retreat in...

We’ve all heard the adage: “Think globally, act locally.” Liza embodies that perspective. She came to the San Luis valley about 30 years ago to work on a buffalo ranch with her husband. Since then, she’s lived a lot of life in this valley. Raising kids, horses, dogs, working as school board president and County Commissioner, and founding and running the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition are just a few of the things that have kept her busy over the years. Everyone around here knows her and...

Trained as a neuroscientist, Elliot is the Principle Scientist at a nonprofit called The Good Food Institute, which is focused on building an innovation ecosystem that will accelerate the development of alternatives to conventional/industrialized production of meat, eggs, and dairy. They believe that we can avoid or mitigate the many negative externalities of industrial meat production by instead making meat from plants or growing it directly from animal cells. I’ve got my doubts, but Elliot...

CHARLES DUHIGG is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on New York Times bestseller lists. His second book, Smarter Faster Better, was also a New York Times bestseller. His latest book, Supercommunicators, is out now. Charles currently writes for The New Yorker magazine. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “Breaking Us in Two,” by Joe Jackson; Outro: “Smoke Alarm,” by Carsie Blanton. For those of you who...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com “Jordi” has one of the most unusual life stories I’ve ever come across — built around a man’s very pure, very unusual love. We talk about being a child of mixed cultures (Spanish and Basque, in his case). What makes someone a “parent” and what constitutes “a family?”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Wes Atkinson grew up kinda wild and largely unsupervised in a very remote part of Colorado. Nature was his sanctuary. As an adult, Wes ran a thriving outfitting business where he guided hunters all over the world. But then a quiet voice suggested it might be time to rethink his life, and he realized that indeed, something important — something sacred — …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Amanda Knox is an exoneree, journalist, public speaker, and author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Waiting to Be Heard. She spent nearly four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Ian is a writer, podcaster (The Mythic Masculine), and filmmaker who is especially interested in exploring a regenerative future and how to get there. We talk primarily about his recent film, “The Village of Lovers.”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A few of the issues I discuss in this one: Snoring and sleep apnea. Is doubt an expression of humility? Are all emotions, at base, an expression of love? Is deepfake porn an invasion of privacy or a protection of privacy? My picks for the NFL playoffs. Music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; “Get Together,” by the Youngbloods; Remix of “Who’ll St…

Teacher, seeker, musician, traveler, visionary, professor, husband, father, scholar…. Lama Thupten is all these and more. I was lucky enough to hang out with him a bit recently here in Crestone, where he was visiting the Yeshe Khorlo retreat center. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Nick has spent a good chunk of his adult life on an island off the coast of Antarctica at McMurdo Station. He’s a cool guy who is living an extraordinary life in a humble, low-key way. I’m really glad to have met him and, with any luck, we’ll be neighbors before too long! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Kyle Thiermann first made headlines as a teenager when he released a YouTube video detailing how Bank of America was one of the largest financiers of dirty energy worldwide. This video garnered international media attention, landed him on the stage at TEDx, and caused people to move significant sums of money out of B of A and into local banks around the country.Through his 20s, Thiermann worked at Discovery Digital Networks as a writer and on-camera host. His work has appeared in Men’s Health...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com American Beauty, Love Has Won, Down By Law, Stranger Than Paradise, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “Narrative Song,” from Lowland Tribes of Ecuador, recorded by David Blair Stiffler; “Harlem 2 Bole,” from Bole 2 Harlem; Outro: “Smoke Alarm,” by Carsie Blanton.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com You know this guy. Big wave surfer, environmental activist, co-creator of the M**********r Awards, world traveler, standup comic, beet taco pusher, driveway squatter and as close to a son as I’ll ever get … the one and only Kyle Barrett Thiermann. This is the first part of a two-part conversation recorded a few weeks ago. We were so much younger then…. …

Matt Evers and Pete Van Horn both moved to Crestone in pursuit of freedom, independence, and community. If those concepts strike you as being in opposition to each other, you may learn something important in this conversation. We talk about the challenges and joys of building your own house, what DIY DOESN’T mean, the tension between being self-reliant and being a good neighbor, the unique qualities of life in Crestone, and a slew of other things. These are two solid dudes who overcame the...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com I talk about some fascinating documentaries I’ve seen lately: * Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (Amazon Prime) * 28 Up (Amazon Prime) * Love Has Won (HBO/Max) How/when/why do our “gods” become our human sacrifices? When does a potential mass murderer qualify as an unknown, solitary hero? How should we handle a nice guy who takes some mushrooms,…

Daniele is one of the deepest, kindest, most thoughtful guys around. He’s an author of several books, a university professor, and the host of the History on Fire podcast, where he unpacks historical figures and events, both known and obscure, with his unique insight and narrative skills. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Anya has produced and hosted her podcast for precisely five years, and she recently decided that was enough. We talk about the experience of letting go of a project that has brought so many wonderful people, so much intrigue and intelligence into one’s life. We talk about the natural trajectory from big ideas to small gestures, from global thinking to local acting. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com In this episode, I chat with a guy we’re calling “Aaron,” about some of the challenges of life and how I’ve approached them, for better or worse. He’s a thoughtful dude, and I really enjoyed our conversation.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com If you saw your friend standing naked on a spire, would you cheer or boo? Have you held bear shit in your hands? How can we measure injustice? Is there any way to stop the wheels of cruelty from turning, generation after generation? Why weren’t we invited to Hanna’s sex party? (Some of these are only addressed in the bonus version.)