Lara Maiklem is an author with an obsessive hobby: Mudlarking. Also known as the ‘London Mudlark’ she spends hours searching the Thames foreshore for items left behind by the river from the past 2,000 years. Strictly never using a metal detector she patiently hunts for what the river chooses to reveal. From discarded engagement rings, to a glass eye and even a tudor shoe. In this episode Lara tells Matt about her fascination with these objects, the indescribable excitement of finding items which...
Aug 16, 2021•59 min•Ep. 75
Megan O’Neill is an Irish Singer-Songwriter who has opened for Sir Tom Jones as well as performing with the Lighthouse Family and Jamie Cullum. Her love of music has led her on numerous adventures from arriving in Nashville fresh out of university to performing at private Oscars parties in L.A. In this episode Megan tells Matt how pushing herself physically is integral to her song writing - she is always exploring her limits whether it’s trial running or writing her next album. Listen for altern...
Aug 09, 2021•56 min•Ep. 74
Emily Penn is a Skipper and an Ocean Advocate. During a sailing trip around the world, Emily was having a swim and surfaced to find she was surrounded by plastic - from lighters to toothbrushes. Since this moment Emily has dedicated her career to solving the issue of plastic pollution. In this episode Emily tells Matt about how we’re all contributing to the plastic problem and the impact it is having on us. Emily shares some sobering facts about the plastic crisis whilst offering a message of ho...
Aug 02, 2021•57 min•Ep. 73
Episode 072 of The Adventure Podcast sees a return of our dispatches - shorter form content where we delve into a specific subject, issue, idea or story. In this episode Matt speaks with Sophy Roberts (who featured in Episodes 50 and 51). Sophy is an author and journalist, currently in isolation in Portugal having just been evacuated from Nepal due to the rapid spread of the Indian variant of COVID 19. In this dispatch Sophy offers commentary and opinion on the situation on the ground in Nepal, ...
May 27, 2021•21 min•Ep. 72
Corin Smith is a fly fisherman, photographer and salmon farm campaigner. Born in the highlands of Scotland, Corin's working life has taken him from a tech startup in London to fly fishing in the Seychelles. He's never been one to sit still. Now back in his homeland, Corin has taken up the role of ‘activist’, exposing the harsh realities of salmon farming. In this episode Corin talks about the high and lows of remote fly fishing across the world, his complicated relationship with alcohol and his ...
May 17, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 71
Robert Martineau has many strings to his bow, most recently adding ‘author’ to his list of achievements. His book ‘Waypoints - A Journey on Foot’ is about his 1,000 mile walk across West Africa. Robert is also the co-founder of Tribe, a natural nutrition company, running community and charity which fights human trafficking. In this episode Matt and Robert talk about his trip but quickly delve into the reasons we’re drawn to wander. From religious pilgrimages to just putting one foot in front of ...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 70
Henry Fletcher is a facilitator, storyteller and maker. As a facilitator, Henry helps people immerse themselves in nature. As a storyteller, he seeks a positive narrative around our relationship with our surroundings and the environment. As a maker, he creates beautiful cairns – a pile of stones, which when carefully structured, can last centuries. In this episode Matt and Henry discuss concepts of freedom, our ‘eco-identity’ and how nature plays a vital role in finding meaning within our lives....
Apr 12, 2021•57 min•Ep. 69
An ultra-endurance cyclist, Emily Chappell started her biking adventures as a cycle courier in London before cycling from Wales to Japan. The cycling feats didn't end there and in 2016 Emily was the fastest woman home in the 2016 Transcontinental Race. In this episode Emily draws on her Masters in Gender Studies as she discusses the importance of not being defined by your gender and why it's now time for men to join the conversation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-pod...
Apr 07, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 68
David Yarrow is a fine art photographer, conservationist and author. David is best known for his iconic monochrome wildlife photography, as well as for capturing celebrity portraits including Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne. David has many boasts, from taking the historic image of Maradona at the 1986 World Cup to his work in wildlife conservation. He calls himself ‘an artist’ but is also emphatically a businessman, and his commercial success has been built on an earlier career in banking. In...
Mar 30, 2021•49 min•Ep. 67
Reza Pakravan is an explorer, filmmaker and writer. In a past life Reza was working the 9 to 5 but today he documents his epic adventures. From travelling the full length of Africa via the Sahel region to earning a Guinness World Record for crossing the Sahara Desert by bicycle. In this episode Reza is incredibly frank about the commercialisation of exploration, his attitude to breaking world records and how he deals with the necessary risks associated with his work. Support this show http://sup...
Mar 22, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 66
George Butler is an award-winning artist and illustrator who specialises in documenting reportage and current affairs in ink rather than with a camera. In 2012 he walked into Syria from Turkey where he started to capture the war-damaged town of Azaz as a guest of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Since then, his work has taken him to Afghanistan, Ghana, Yemen, Belarus and Myanmar, and in this episode George speaks about the extraordinary moments he has witnessed, the pressure to get his art ‘right’ an...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 65
Describing himself as a "biologist with a lot of other interests", Dr Niall McCann works on the frontline of conservation, and in his spare time has skied across Greenland, rowed the Atlantic and cycled through the Himalayas. In this episode Niall talks to Matt about the accessibility of adventure if you're willing to look for it, his recovery from a near fatal speed flying accident, and the importance of conservation for the future of our planet. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the...
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 64
Steph Jeavons is an author, journalist and adventurer from Wales. The first person to circumnavigate the globe and ride a motorbike on all seven continents, Steph has always led an unconventional and adventurous life, embracing even the ‘darker adventures’ from her youth. At the age of twenty she found herself in prison – looking out of her cell window and making herself a promise: get off drugs, get out of jail, travel the world. And that’s exactly what she did. In this episode Steph talks to M...
Mar 02, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 63
Leon McCarron is a writer, broadcaster and adventurer - originally from Northern Ireland, he now calls Iraq home. Leon’s championing of ‘slow travel’ has taken him across China on foot, walking through the Empty Quarter Desert and riding across Patagonia on horseback. Now based in Iraq, he uses storytelling to address the myriad misconceptions around this country and its people, and in this episode Matt and Leon get philosophical discussing what ‘home’ really means, the importance of relationshi...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 62
Robert Swan is the first person in history to reach both the North and South Poles on foot, and undertook both of these pioneering expeditions in an era before GPS or satellite phones. He has gone on to dedicate his life to protecting Antarctica, and to preserving it as a unique natural reserve for science and peace. In Episode 061, Robert shares his extraordinary experiences of the polar regions, the promise he made to Jacques Cousteau 26 years ago, and how he appears to have a knack for stayin...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 61
Cal Flyn is a writer and journalist who lives on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. Her latest book tells the story of a dozen abandoned places around the world, from Chernobyl to the volcanic Caribbean, and particularly at how nature reclaims and rebounds after humans leave. Cal’s conversation with Matt explores the peculiar connection humans have to abandoned spaces, as well as the concept of ‘ jolie laid ’ – or ‘ugly beautiful’ – and how awe and wonder can be found in the bleakest and m...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 60
Acclaimed journalist and author Ed Ceasar has written on subjects as varied as gorillas in the Congo, an imprisoned Russian billionaire and the world’s longest tennis match. Most recently, his book 'The Moth and the Mountain' tells the extraordinary tale of Maurice Wilson's 1935 attempt on Everest. In Episode 059, Ed shares his stories – and his love of stories – from the quirkier and less conventional corners of the world. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hos...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 59
There are many reasons to venture into the mountains. Matt Sharman is the antithesis of the ‘conqueror’. A gentle but accomplished mountaineer, this episode of the podcast details Matt’s life as a mountain guide, and the formative experiences he’s had at high altitude, and how they’ve changed him. He also tells the story of his personal attempt at Mount Everest and his views on the ever-changing mountain. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See a...
Dec 12, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 58
Explorer, endurance athlete and renowned speaker, Ben Saunders holds the record for the longest polar journey on foot, and has skied more than 7,000km in the polar regions. In this episode he tells the story of these vast journeys on foot, and of the parallel journey of internal exploration over two decades. Ben shares what inspired him at the outset of his career, and what continues to motivate him now. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 57
In this episode, cold water swimmer, rock climber, and deep thinker, Gilly shares her unique, heart-warming and enlightening perspective on the world. Her story takes us through a diverse career path (including stints in a knitting shop in Edinburgh and a fashion brand in NYC) and face-to-face with profound loss and grief that changed her, and how she now sees the world. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 56
Hunter describes himself as a ‘fencing contractor, deerstalker, turner of stones and walker of paths’. Brought up in the woodlands of Gloucestershire, Hunter lives with his hands in the earth. Heavily influenced by the poetry and prose of those who have wandered the countryside before him, Hunter took it upon himself to canoe the length of the Yukon river with no past experience, and entirely on his own. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Nov 24, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 55
Tom Randall used his student loan to trade the stock market and pay his way through university, before moving to London and dividing his time between a brake-neck-paced stockbroking career and more than a dozen climbing trips to Yosemite. Deciding to turn his back on the City, Tom moved to Sheffield to focus on rock climbing full-time, and is now both an accomplished professional athlete and an entrepreneur with multiple climbing-based businesses on his roster. In this episode we explore Tom’s p...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 54
Michael Turek has been taking photographs since he was eight years old. In this conversation with Matt Pycroft - that ranges from a close encounter with a Siberian tiger to a lifelong affection for the Yorkshire Dales - he makes an eloquent case for photography being one of the closest things we have to teleportation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 53
After a fourteen year career in the British Army, Jay Morton found himself catapulted from clandestine special forces secrecy to household-name celebrity. In this conversation with Matt Pycroft, Jay talks about growing up on active military service in Afghanistan in his early twenties, as well as the roles that both commitment and suffering have to play in a life well lived. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 52
In the second half of this two-part interview, Sophy Roberts shares the epiphany that led to her debut book The Lost Pianos of Siberia, and the ‘pursuit of an object’ that ultimately took six expeditions, thousands of miles of travel and three years of her life. Sophy eloquently describes an odyssey through communities living by the rhythm of the earth, and the surprising freedom she found deep in the Siberian wilderness. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hoste...
Oct 05, 2020•53 min•Ep. 51
Sophy Roberts cut her journalistic teeth reviewing luxury hotels for glossy magazines, before turning her back on the world of ‘infinity pools, free lunches and free flights’ to tell the story of a vast swathe of Russia – eleven percent of the earth’s landmass – that is arguably the least luxurious destination on the planet. In the first half of this two-part interview Sophy looks back on the path that led to Siberia. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast . Hosted on...
Sep 28, 2020•56 min•Ep. 50
Filmmaker and producer Emma Crome specialises in adventure and documentary film production. Following an unexpected insight into the decline of Britain’s wild spaces, Emma embarked on a long-term documentary project exploring the contemporary and precarious state of nature in the UK. Along the way she discovered the story of the father and son subjects of John MacDonald’s book ‘The Last English Poachers’, and set about tracking them down. In this episode we hear their tale, and that of Britain’s...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 49
Nick Bullock describes himself, in a self-deprecating manner that is a refreshing hallmark of his storytelling, as “someone who likes to go climbing”. Preferring off-the-radar mountains to well-trodden summits, his 24th expedition was to the rarely-climbed 7555m Mount Gongga, in the Sichuan region of China, “a massive mountain that launches up into the sky out of nowhere.” In this conversation with Matt Pycroft, Nick talks honestly and movingly about his own relationship with risk, ego, ambition...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 48
Five weeks after first arriving in the UK to study, Vedangi Kulkarni set off on her bike with the aim of discovering the country she had chosen to call home. Three weeks later, she stopped pedalling in John O’Groats, having cycled the length of mainland Britain. The story of how she got there is far from the usual bike-packing tale - with no sleeping bag, and an accidental foray onto the M27 - but one of dogged resilience, brave determination and an unwillingness to give up; qualities that were ...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 47
In 1989, George Monbiot travelled to Brazil to explore the troubling stories emerging from the rainforest. He lived in Manaus - in the heart of the Amazon - for two years, learning Portuguese and immersing himself in the country. George describes this time as “the beginning of my political education”, and his story spans a series of encounters that trump any Hollywood film, with investigations into local Brazilian land seizures leading to his reported death in the national press, and his dogged ...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 46
