Outside Podcast

In the mid-90s, the cultural collision of music and sports was everywhere in pop culture. You saw it through the brand new X Games and MTV Sports, in movies like “Point Break” and “Airborne,” and you heard it through what we used to call “alternative rock.” The band Third Eye Blind was a staple of this era, so you’d think that frontman Stephan Jenkins might have followed a similar trajectory to his rock god peers of the era. But you’d be wrong. Stephan, a surfer since childhood, grew up in the Bay Area and his break of choice is San Francisco’s notoriously big, dangerous, and sharky Ocean Beach. And he’s not just out in the water looking for stoke; he's a tireless ocean advocate. For as long as he’s surfed, Stephan has fought for kelp restoration and plastic reduction along the California coastline. He also regularly volunteers with the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, which helps veterans treat PTSD through surfing.  This connection endlessly—even subconsciously—influences the music Stephan makes. Turns out, when you spend your life in the water and making music, the two things combine in ways that it takes a lifetime to understand.

You’re on a hike and the faff of daily life won’t stop clanging around your head. Then, all of a sudden, the to-do list instantly evaporates when you notice dappled light dancing on the trail. Calm sweeps over you and you’re filled with a great sense of connection and gratitude. This is the phenomenon of awe and it’s not just an ooey-gooey feeling; it’s a new area of scientific study. Just ask social psychologist Dr. Paul Piff. Through ingenious experiments conducted on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, Piff and his research team have identified that corner of California as potentially the epicenter of awe. After hiking along its shores and gazing upon its iconic waters, Piff’s Tahoe participants have responded with increased feelings of selflessness, empathy, and happiness. And the good doctor believes that if we can harness the effects of awe we can tackle the greatest societal issues of our time:  the loneliness epidemic, digital addiction, and even the intractable polarization of society. This is all investigated in great detail in Outside TV’s new show “ Beyond Awestruck: The Scientific Search For Connection”, out now. And in this chat Dr. Piff outlines how our time outside is far more meaningful than cool views and handfuls of GORP.

You’re on a hike and the faff of daily life won’t stop clanging around your head. Then, all of a sudden, the to-do list instantly evaporates when you notice dappled light dancing on the trail. Calm sweeps over you and you’re filled with a great sense of connection and gratitude. This is the phenomenon of awe and it’s not just an ooey-gooey feeling; it’s a new area of scientific study. Just ask social psychologist Dr. Paul Piff. Through ingenious experiments conducted on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, Piff and his research team have identified that corner of California as potentially the epicenter of awe. After hiking along its shores and gazing upon its iconic waters, Piff’s Tahoe participants have responded with increased feelings of selflessness, empathy, and happiness. And the good doctor believes that if we can harness the effects of awe we can tackle the greatest societal issues of our time:  the loneliness epidemic, digital addiction, and even the intractable polarization of society. This is all investigated in great detail in Outside TV’s new show “ Beyond Awestruck: The Scientific Search For Connection”, out now. And in this chat Dr. Piff outlines how our time outside is far more meaningful than cool views and handfuls of GORP.

Outdoor folks love to push themselves to go farther, faster, higher, etc., and there’s a good reason for it: When you climb a big mountain or finish that half marathon or ski that steep run, it can translate into a confidence that makes hard things in the rest of our lives seem less daunting. But most of us are just as—or maybe more—familiar with the feeling of talking ourselves out of big goals, because they seem too complicated or scary to pull off. When that happens, we’d all do well to listen to skier and artist Chris Benchetler. Chris’s latest film, “Mountains of the Moon”, literally stretched the boundaries of what’s possible in adventure filmmaking. The movie was shot almost entirely at night, often in sub-zero, rugged backcountry terrain where massive lighting installations were built to paint the darkness and capture the athletes in their one-of-a-kind glowing skeleton suits (did we mention all the music is from the Grateful Dead?). It’s astonishing that the film even got made, but Chris has built a career and a life based on a simple principal: don’t avoid doing the hard thing just because it’s hard.

“Chill”, “mellow”, and “relaxed” are probably not words you think of when you hear about the latest climbing feat from Alex Honnold.  ”Terrified” and “mesmerized” likely better describe what it felt like watching live as the ropeless wonder scaled the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 skyscraper. So you might be surprised to learn that Alex recently did something else for the TV camera that was, in fact, pretty chill, mellow, and relaxed. A new show on Outside TV called “Get a Little Out There”, showcases a side of him rarely seen—the one where he’s a husband and a father who just likes to get outdoors and explore everything his adopted home state of Nevada has to offer. It’s fascinating because, while watching Alex enjoy decidedly non-life-threatening adventures like stargazing and mountain biking and hanging out with a donkey in a bar—you know, normal Nevada stuff—he comes across as down to Earth and full of insights and ideas that will resonate with anyone looking for more everyday adventure in their own lives.