Paul Kirtley

In the Spring of 2017 Justin and his dog Saku set off on a a traverse of Newfoundland. Starting on snowshoes and hauling a sled, Justin switched to backpacking and pakrafting once the conditions allowed. 68 days and 700km later, Justin and Saku had crossed the island of Newfoundland from West to East, beginning on the Gulf of St Lawrence and ending up in Cape Broyle on the Atlantic Ocean. Justin joins me on Paul Kirtley Podcast episode 38 to talk about this and other adventures he’s had in his native Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada…

Mors Kochanski and Jon McArthur join The Paul Kirtley Podcast to discuss the motivations behind, and the aims of, the Global Bushcraft Symposium. Along the way, Mors shares a few anecdotes too…

Anna Lewington, ethnobotanist and author, joins me to talk about adventures in the Peruvian Amazon, writing the seminal book Plants For People, being an inspiration for the Eden Project, being part of the BBC’s Rough Science series, reviving traditional rush crafts, documenting food plant festivals and her latest work, Birch, a new book that is a celebration of the practical and cultural importance of the birches…

In this episode I am joined by Louis Rudd, MBE. This interview with Lou was recorded in late October 2018, shortly before he departed for Chile and then onto Antarctica to attempt a solo, unsupported and unaided crossing of the Antarctic Continent via the South Pole. This means simply manhauling everything he needs for the trip, accepting no assistance and not using any aids such as kites to pull him along. It’ll be entirely under his own steam. This is a challenge no-one has previously successfully completed…

Kevin Brownlee, Curator of Archaeology at the renowned Manitoba Museum, joins me to discuss indigenous archaeology and working with indigenous communities to raise awareness of ancient heritage and archaeology of the boreal forest and sub-arctic…

Back in Sweden again. This podcast brings you interviews from the wonderful Bushcraftfestivalen, with Lars Fält, Julia Kalthoff, Juha Rankinen and Jonas Als. I also briefly catch up with Rupert Brown of Brown’s Bushcraft to get his impressions of his first time at the event…

Will Lord grew up on the land that holds Grimes Graves, a prehistoric flint mine in Norfolk. Will’s parents were custodians of the land, which is an English Heritage site. During his formative years, Will was surrounded by flint-knapping and experimental archaeology. Flint-knapping, bow-making, hide-tanning and other stone age skills have continued to fascinate Will to this day. In this podcast interview, Will shares some of his passion for the skills and the era…

Dr Cassandra Quave joins me to discuss her work as a medical ethnobotanist, teaching about medicinal plant use and researching botanical remedies used in the traditional treatment of infectious disease….

Leon McCarron FRGS is an adventurer and storyteller, who has used both the mediums of video and text to vividly convey aspects of his journeys and a tangible sense of the places and people he has encountered along the way. In this podcast interview Leon joins me to discuss the people, places and practicalities of walking 1,000 miles through the varied landscapes and cultures of the Middle East, from Jerusalem to Mount Sinai…