The writer-performer gets both personal and political on her new Instagram Live show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Sam are joined by two special guests, Sarah Jones and Marshall Steinbaum, who return to the show to take stock of where we're at: our failed response to the pandemic, the connections between the pandemic and the protests, and how all this might play out in November.  The four of us range widely—but be warned, this is not the most inspiring conversation. Are there any reasons to be hopeful? Listen and find out.

Sources Cited and Further Reading:

Eric Levitz, "Coronavirus is Killing Our Economy because It Was Already Sick" (New York Magazine)

Sam Adler-Bell, "Conservative Incoherence" (Dissent)

Sarah Jones, "Eugenics Isn't Going to Get Us Out of This Mess" (New York Magazine)

Sarah Jones, "The Coronavirus Class War" (New York Magazine)

Matthew Sitman, "Why the Pandemic is Driving Conservative Intellectuals Mad" (The New Republic)

Know Your Enemy bonus episode: What Are Intellectuals Good For? (with further thoughts on the protests that followed George Floyd's murder)

In this episode, I speak with award-winning performer and writer , Sarah Jones.

Called a "master of the genre" by The New York Times, Sarah Jones is a Tony® Award-winning performer and writer known for her multi-character, one-person shows (Broadway hit Bridge & Tunnel, originally produced by Oscar® winner Meryl Streep, and her current, critically-acclaimed show Sell/Buy/Date).

Renowned as “a one-woman global village”, Sarah has given multiple main-stage TED Talks garnering millions of views, performed for President and First Lady Obama at the White House, and developed a docu-series based on her characters with Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment. Sarah has also appeared in film and TV projects ranging from Sesame Street to Broad City to the Oscar nominee, Marriage Story. Most recently, Sarag launched Foment Productions, a social justice-focused entertainment company. Sell/Buy/Date the play, which was commissioned by the NoVo Foundation, was its first production.

In this episode, Ciaran chats to Sarah Jones, the artistic director of Mess up the Mess theatre company. Mess up the Mess make work with, by and for young people in the Carmarthenshire area, but also throughout South Wales. Here Sarah talks about her career and how Mess up the Mess has developed as a company in the last twelve years.

In today's episode of Backpacker Radio, presented by The Trek, we are joined by Sarah Jones Decker, author of the new gorgeous photobook "The Appalachian Trail: Backcountry Shelters, Lean-tos, and Huts".  We learn what goes into a project as massive as doing a photo essay of all of the AT's shelters, Sarah's personal favorites, the history of these structures, which have the best privies, and much more.  Sarah is also the co-owner of Root Bottom Farms, an organic farm based in North Carolina, and we selfishly pick her brain on how to suck less as plants.  

We close out the show with a triple crown of things that start with "W", a pupdate, some suggestions for using trail runners on rocky terrain, and another edition of Backcountry Matchmaking. 

• BACKPACKER RADIO MERCH
• Interview with Sarah Jones Decker "Harvest" 
  • Website
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  • AT Shelter Book
  • Instagram
• QOTD: “Why is it so hard to keep houseplants alive?" 
• Save 15% at GossamerGear.com by using code "ATDRINK15" at checkout.
• Save 5% at Zpacks.com by using code “THANKSZACH” at checkout.
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• Intro Song: Walking Slow by Animal Years
• Intro beats: Pauly Boy Shallcross
• Check out Trail Correspondents
• Check out The Attempt! 

[divider]

00:03:00 - Sarah’s Backpacking Resume 

00:04:00 - Sarah has hiked the AT twice!

00:05:15 - Differences on the AT in 2008 vs. 2018-2019?

00:07:37 - What was your inspiration to thru-hike the AT?

00:08:25 - Are thru-hikers now the same as when you were 16? 

00:08:50 - What is your educational background?

00:10:37 - Give us the intro to your AT Shelters book!

00:13:00 - Have you always been into history?

00:14:00 - How did you document while hiking? 

00:14:38 - What are the most inconvenient shelters to get to? 

00:18:40 - Is breastfeeding ever an issue on trail? 

00:19:30 - When did the initial shelter book idea come to you? 

00:20:00 - Did you fall into any type of routine?

00:21:00 - Additional contributors 

00:23:00 - Elevator Pitch of AT shelters

00:26:34 - How many shelters can you get pizza delivered to? 

00:31:00 - Camera Gear Setup

00:32:55 - What’s your favorite shelter? 

00:37:47 - What’s the most underrated shelter? 

00:40:00 - Double Shelters

00:45:00 - What shelter has the most history? 

00:47:00 - What is it like to release a book during a pandemic? 

00:48:00 - How many events did you have to cancel? 

00:49:15 - What is the oldest shelter?

00:54:09 - What’s the biggest shelter? 

00:54:54 - Which shelter has the best view? 

00:57:00 - Conflicting Information

00:58:50 - Best Privy on the AT? 

01:07:20 - One shelter you wouldn’t sleep in?01:11:57 - What shelter has the best water source?

01:14:33 - What is the Priest shelter? 

01:15:03 - Top tips for trail shelter etiquette 

01:17:27 -  The Shelter Graveyard

01:18:20 - The Only Shelter That Was Ever Stolen 

01:19:20 - Tips for people who want to pitch a book to the ATC? 

01:30:12 - Someone had a baby in her house and lied about it 

01:33:18 - What tips do you have for starting photographers?

01:36:30 - You are a mom? 

01:37:50 - Carrying a baby 

01:39:54 - How does hiking change with a child?

01:41:38 - What about Falling with a baby? 

01:43:17 - Advice for hiking with a baby? 

01:45:17 - How do you manage diapers while hiking? 

01:46:29 - Tell us about your poster of 444 different AT signs? 

01:47:35 - The AT poster

01:50:25 - Can we talk about gardening? Introduction to Rootbottom Farm.

01:54:20 - What’s killing our plants??

01:56:30 - Tricks for a Fiddle Leaf Fig? 

02:01:03 - Which plants are friends? 

02:02:30 - 101 for starting a raised bed garden?

02:07:33 - Can you tell us about microgreens?

02:16:00 - Where to find Sarah?

02:17:00 - Triple Crown of things that start with W.

02:23:42 - Pupdates

02:31:20 - Did Chaunce watch the Last Dance? 

02:32:50 - Mail Bag

02:37:28 - 5 Star Review 

02:39:29 - Stickers? 

02:40:26 - Backcountry Matchmaking

• Katie, @katiecoryell
• Ross, @Ross_Berry
• Debi, Email: debirodriguez4@gmail.com Instagram: @Bluemoonrising2021,  or Facebook: Debi Rodriguez (BlueMoon).

Have any praise, questions, praise, comments, praise or praise for Backpacker Radio?  Reach out to podcast@thetrek.co.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes (and please leave us a review)!  Find us on Stitcher and Google Play.

A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon: Andrew, Austen McDaniel, Christopher Marshburn, ineedcoffee 17, S11N, Sawyer Products, and Thomas Fullner.

A big thank you to our Cinnamon Connection Champions from Patreon: Dcnerdwallet, Jacob Northrup, Jason Lawrence, Jeff LaFranier, Jeffrey Miller, Mark Snook, Mitchell, Peter, Peter Ellenberg, Zoe Jenkins

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This week, we have a book theme in the show, with a giveaway of six signed books. The principal guest is Sarah Jones Decker, or Harvest, who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2008, but that wasn't the primary reason that we have Sarah as a guest. She has photographed and written about all the AT shelters in a beautiful book that evokes all the memories we share at those often rundown places.

You can connect with Sarah and buy a signed copy of her book at https://www.sarahjonesdecker.com/

Sarah's question as part of our six-book giveaway contest is: What is the largest non-hut shelter on the AT?

Bruce Matson also came back to the show to talk about the three books that he has written since his thru-hike. You can find his books on Amazon at this link. https://amzn.to/3ccmmrU

Bruce's question is: In which town do participants in the Curly Maple Pizza Challenge purchase the beer and pizza necessary to complete the challenge?

I've added my two signed books about my 2014 thru-hike and my question is: What shelter has the highest elevation on the trail?

Answer ALL THREE questions correctly, email your answers to me at steve@mightyblueontheat.com, and you'll be entered into a draw for ALL SIX signed books. Best of luck.

Finally today, Grandma Gatewood faces a storm in both her personal and hiking lives. She also teaches us a lesson that was being learned the hard way, for some, in the 1950s.

If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. The donate button is on the Mighty Blue podcast page at https://mightyblueontheat.com/the-podcast/

Any support is gratefully received.

The gang tackles the complicated questions around sex trafficking and the legalization of prostitution. They talk about the Equality Model with survivors. And everyone holds their breath while Keith speaks.

Warning: This episode features graphic depictions of sexual abuse and violence. Discretion be advised.

To learn more about sex trafficking, visit Polaris Project - https://polarisproject.org/

To get help if you or someone you know is impacted by this issue, call Polaris Project's National Human Trafficking Hotline - 1 (888) 373-7888

Find out more about the work done in NYC by Empower Clinic- https://www.empowergyn.org/ - and Sanctuary for Families - https://sanctuaryforfamilies.org/

Listen in the learn how Sarah Jones Simmer has created and sustained such an incredible culture both in the Bumble team and in their customer base.

"We're showing what is possible for a company that puts women in the driver's seat and puts kindness as a core value." - Sarah Jones Simmer.

Learn more about this episode of The Mentor Files with Monica Royer at www.monicaandandy.blog/79

Twerking for the revolution! Make it clap so we can heal! In this ep, we cry laughing with Tony Award-winning writer/performer Sarah Jones as she  embodies the voices of many different characters to help us all get to the root of what we're fighting for. She tells Alicia and Ai-jen how her family inspired the varied voices that brought her from downtown cafes to Broadway, and why making people laugh is such an essential part of her work.

Sunstorm is a project of the NDWA, in collaboration with Participant Media.

Sunstorm is executive produced by Alicia Garza, Ai-jen Poo, Kristina Mevs-Apgar, and Jess Morales Rocketto. Sunstorm is produced by Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer of The Mash-Up Americans. Producers are Jocelyn Gonzales, Shelby Sandlin, Mary Phillips-Sandy, and Mia Warren. Original music composed by Jen Kwok and Jody Shelton.

Sunstorm provides a platform for a diversity of viewpoints on policies and current events that are important to the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and its members. Guests on Sunstorm do not represent or speak on behalf of NDWA.