Ask yourself, when you turn on your faucet and water comes out, where did that water come from? Did it fall as snow, rain? Where was it collected? Is it from an aquifer? What feeds the aquifer? Then ask yourself, when it goes down the drain, what is its path to where it hits the ocean?
— Steven Rinella
Steven Rinella (@MeatEater, @StevenRinella) is the host of the Netflix Originals series MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast. He’s also the author of seven books dealing with wildlife, conservation, hunting, fishing, and wild foods, including the forthcoming The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival, coming out on December 1st, 2020.
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SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear an episode about wolf restoration efforts? Listen to my conversation with Turner Endangered Species Fund Executive Director Mike Phillips in which we discuss the pros and cons of predator reintroduction, radioactive wolves, the extinction crisis, what conservationists most often get wrong, and much more.
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with Steven Rinella:
Website | Facebook | Instagram: @MeatEater / @StevenRinella
- The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival by Steven Rinella (December 2020)
- MeatEater | Netflix
- The MeatEater Podcast
- When I Went Caribou Hunting with Steven on MeatEater | tim.blog
- The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
- Le Guide Culinaire by Auguste Escoffier
- The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine: How I Spent a Year in the American Wild to Re-create a Feast from the Classic Recipes of French Master Chef Auguste Escoffier by Steven Rinella
- Hunting in Wisconsin | Travel Wisconsin
- Huron-Manistee National Forests | USDA
- Decline In Hunters Threatens How US Pays for Conservation | NPR
- Endangered Species Act | US Fish & Wildlife Service
- Deer Hunter Demography: Projecting Future Deer Hunters in Wisconsin | Applied Population Laboratory, University of Wisconsin in Madison
- Migratory Bird Program | US Fish & Wildlife Service
- It’s a Mistake to Focus Just on Animal Extinctions | The Atlantic
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Turkeys in Traffic – and Bears, Elk and Moose, Oh My! | Great Lakes Echo
- Ducks Unlimited
- Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
- The National Wild Turkey Federation
- Trout Unlimited
- PETA Finds Itself on Receiving End of Others’ Anger | The New York Times
- The Persuasive Power of the Wolf Lady | The New Yorker
- Mike Phillips — How to Save a Species | The Tim Ferriss Show #383
- Rocky Mountain Wolf Project
- Wolf Restoration at Yellowstone National Park | US National Park Service
- Why We’re So Divided Over Saving Wolves | National Geographic
- Spotted Owl Became Symbol in 1990s Controversy | The Seattle Times
- Why Face Masks Became Political in the US | Vox
- True North: Alaska North Slope Caribou | MeatEater TV
- DEET Is the Most Effective Bug Spray. But Is It Safe? | Time
- Grizzly Bear | National Wildlife Federation
- Caribou (Reindeer) | National Geographic
- The Brooks Range | Travel Alaska
- The Revenant | Prime Video
- Hypothermia Symptoms and Causes | Mayo Clinic
- Horrible Details of Ted Stevens Crash Emerge | NPR
- Coming into the Country by John McPhee
- Outdoor Channel
- Sportsman Channel
- Son of the Morning Star: Custer and The Little Bighorn by Evan S. Connell
- Arctic Dreams by Barry H. Lopez
- Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan
- Story of the Battle: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument | US National Park Service
- Condemning Indigenous Hunting Practices: Are We Throwing Stones from Glass Houses? | Sentient Media
- Ode to the Lowly Tussock | Scientific American Blog Network
- Carhartt
- Cumberland Gap National Historical Park | US National Park Service
- American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella
- The Extermination of the American Bison by William T. Hornaday | Project Gutenberg
- Map Illustrating the Extermination of the American Bison | Library of Congress
- Bison Skulls to be Used for Fertilizer, 1870 | Rare Historical Photos
- Gettin’ Jiggy by Steven Rinella | Outside Online
- Dawn Patrol by Steven Rinella | Outside Online
- Fitzcarraldo | Prime Video
- Burden of Dreams | Prime Video
- A Guide to Hunting Javelina | MeatEater Hunting
- White-Lipped Peccary Species May Be in Steep Decline | The New York Times
- This is Water by David Foster Wallace (Full Transcript and Audio) | Farnam Street
- The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley
- The Seasons, the Equinox, and the Solstices | National Weather Service
- Streamflow and the Water Cycle | US Geological Survey
- How Does Garbage End Up in the Ocean? | Gorilla Bins
SHOW NOTES
- The Anti-Hunter’s First Hunt: How Steven and I first met, and what he and his encyclopedic knowledge did to help me overcome a lifetime of negative association with hunting and hunters. [05:42]
- Though he admittedly would have fit my negative stereotype of hunters when he was growing up in the Midwest, how did Steven make the transition into a more conscientious hunter-conservationist? [09:43]
- Why Steven finds the decline in hunting and fishing license sales in the United States worrisome — and why even nature lovers who aren’t comfortable with the idea of hunting and fishing should share his concerns. [16:47]
- For those in the back, what does “extirpate” mean from a conservation perspective? [24:08]
- What is the role of hunters in ensuring prey species remain plentiful, and how do hunters tend to feel about the reintroduction of predator species (like wolves and bears) to environments from which they’ve been extirpated? [29:09]
- The problem with conservation efforts that become overly politicized. [38:26]
- That time Steven and I were visited by a hungry grizzly bear while caribou hunting in Alaska, and a rundown of some of the other grisly, less cinematic fates faced by people in the wilderness. [42:55]
- Son of the Morning Star by Evan S. Connell, Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez, and Boone by Daniel Morgan: why do these titles top Steven’s list of book recommendations? [56:03]
- Acknowledging the devastating damage American hunters have historically wreaked on animal populations in the past — like the once-ubiquitous North American bison. [1:09:12]
- When Steven’s plan A — to become a professional trapper — didn’t quite work out as a career, he had to go with plan B: writer. What was his first piece that sold, and why is he still mad about another piece’s title even 20 years later? [1:14:10]
- Was Steven always an able writer, or was it something he gradually developed when he considered it as his plan B? [1:18:04]
- What would Steven’s approach look like if he were to teach a college-level writing class? [1:21:07]
- What writers craft work of such incredible quality that they inspire a sensation of envy in Steven? [1:23:05]
- With more than 100 episodes of MeatEater under his belt and the travel adventures that made them possible, are there any that stand out as favorites to Steven? [1:24:25]
- In what ways have Steven’s travels expanded his awareness? [1:27:51]
- What would Steven recommend to someone seeking reconnection, engagement, and kinship with nature? [1:31:48]
- Parting thoughts. [1:37:25]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
- Auguste Escoffier
- Pat Durkin
- Karin Vardaman
- Mike Phillips
- Dave Mech
- Nick Brigden
- Ted Stevens
- John McPhee
- Evan S. Connell
- Barry Lopez
- Robert Morgan
- George Armstrong Custer
- Chief Gall
- Dan Doty
- Daniel Boone
- Davy Crockett
- William T. Hornaday
- Bob Heaton
- Joan Didion
- Ian Frazier
- John McPhee
- David Foster Wallace
- Werner Herzog
- David Allen Sibley