Meet modern survivalists who make a living by living outdoors, as well as members of the Kimberley Search and Rescue team. You’ll also hear a harrowing account from a survivor of a grizzly-bear attack in this last episode of season three.

A community-focused music festival, a symphony for a glacier, a small-town spoken word artist: what do they all have in common? An intention to make the world a better place through the power of art. In this episode, we’ll talk to writers, visual artists, storytellers and arts professionals, people whose work and creative practices in the Kootenays are helping to inspire systems to change.

In season one of our podcast, we produced a popular episode titled “Young Dreamers” about Basin youth accomplishing extraordinary things. Well, we're back with Part 2! Meet one of the best female baseball players in the world, 22-year-old Alli Schroder, as well as Keanu Chan, who, at 17 years old, has invented award-winning medical devices—when he's not shredding on the drums.

In this episode, we focus on housing solutions here in the Basin. We start with a “Tale of Two Towns,” an investigation into creative, multi-faceted projects in Rossland and Fernie. Then we jump through Meadow Creek, Kaslo, Procter, and South Slocan to meet Kootenay entrepreneurs who are using surprisingly innovative solutions to address our housing crisis.  

There’s a lot going on beneath the surface in our corner of the world. In this episode, we meet the explorer who has pioneered the deepest cave in Canada. We also dip into an eerie, once-secret Cold War bunker in Nelson, and we make a Kootenay connection to one of punk music’s more legendary bands, D.O.A. Join us as we go way subterranean.

Over the years bike culture in the Basin has had a large impact on action-sports media, technological innovation, and rural economic health. Join us as we explore these stories in our Beautiful Bicycles episode.

Join us as we meet fire experts who are creating a better understanding of what we’re up against and helping us safeguard our homes and communities.

In this episode, we go back in time to learn about and explore some of the Kootenay region's more legendary ghost towns.

It’s surprising how little we know about the freshwater we have in the Kootenays. Meet the people—and animals—working to change that.

The Basin has always been awash with pioneers, free spirits, explorers, adventurers, and innovators. We celebrate them in this episode.

The Columbia River Treaty profoundly changed the Basin. It is now up for renegotiation. Learn more about its impact and why it's so important.

In this episode, we look at all of the ways we've moved around the Columbia Basin, from ancient hiking routes to train travel, and from paddlewheelers to bike rides with seniors.

We head into the woods and the water to meet the people who are working to save keystone animals, like the sturgeon, the mountain caribou, and big-horn sheep. We’ll also find out why stink bugs are taking over!

The Kootenays always produce amazing musical talent, and in this episode, we find out the story runs much deeper. We have an internationally recognized music school here in the Basin, world-respected luthiers, and, of course, some rockin' musicians.

During both the First and Second World Wars, thousands of people, many of them Canadian citizens, were interned in makeshift camps throughout the Columbia Basin. In this episode, we look back on the dark years of Kootenay internment.

There’s something in our mountain water that’s driving a groundswell in comedic talent throughout the Basin. Never have more people wanted to make others laugh in our little slice of the hinterland. In this episode, meet four characters with a gift for the giggle.

In this episode, you’ll hear about an outlier who infiltrated a Slocan Valley commune, Australian entrepreneurs who moved to Canal Flats in search of cryptocurrency, an uncommon residential development, and a woman who runs. And runs.

We’ve got some yarns to tell you. Some real beauties. We swear some are true, while others we can’t quite confirm, except through legend. You’ll hear about rogue circus elephants, cheetahs in the snow, a mysterious giant golden nugget in Kootenay Lake, and the world’s first “unofficial” helicopter.

In the Kootenays, we are blessed with an abundance of forests and a multitude of tree species, with some individual trees over a thousand years old. We revere these towering giants, we also depend on them as a resource. In this episode, we dive into the life of trees with the help of biologists and authors.

Have you ever ventured into the spirit world? Had an encounter with a ghost? Heard voices from another realm? We take you to places in the Columbia Basin very few understand, and where even fewer dare to tread.

It’s the fourth largest waterway in North America and the inspiration for this podcast. The Columbia River has a long, storied, and tumultuous history. We dive into all aspects of the river, from a bizarre idea to join it to the Kootenay River to the man who swam its entire length to the Indigenous Peoples and their powerful relationship to this waterway.

Their stories are as diverse as their backgrounds: A family from war-torn Syria out for an afternoon of disc golf. Jamaican truckers learning new skills on snowy mountain roads. A Kootenay hot-sauce entrepreneur who escaped tyranny in Africa. Russian immigrants lured by the Columbia River’s abundant rainbow trout. In this podcast, we hear from people making a new life in the Basin and those who are helping them.

A young hockey player with a dream to play in the NHL. A teenage musician who serendipitously finds herself singing with a mega-star. A multi-disciplinary talent who plays concert piano and climbs competitively. Meet Columbia Basin youth who are dreaming big and living bigger.

Hang on to your toque! We take you on a highline adventure between mountain peaks; we dive deep into the Revelstoke backcountry with an all-female freeride camp; and we wax poetic on the labyrinth that is your local library. Featuring guest host Patricia Smuga.

A century ago, the Kootenays produced approximately 70 per cent of their food and imported the other 30 per cent. Today, that ratio has flipped. For a region blessed with bountiful water and rich soil, why aren’t we producing more of what we consume? We talk to creative people with their hands deep in the dirt of positive change.

We often talk about how technology is coming to the Kootenays — but it’s here, and it’s having a big impact. We meet the creators of a booming nutrition app based in Revelstoke, tour an internationally renowned particle-accelerator company, and introduce you to Nelson vending machines that talk. Join us on a journey through the region’s newest and most exciting business sector.

Climate change is upon us, and it’s more important than ever to do our part to make a difference. In this episode, we meet three Basin residents who are making an impact in very creative ways. We drop by a shop in Kimberley selling products that yield zero waste. We speak with the young climate activists behind Fridays for Future. And we learn how anyone can cut their carbon footprint by 50 percent by making subtle lifestyle tweaks.

A pacifist sect of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Doukhobors have had a profound impact on the Kootenay region for over a century. In this episode, we travel back in time and meet the great, great grandson of Peter Verigin, an influential leader who was killed in what is considered Canada’s first act of terrorism. Then, we visit a family-owned state-of-the-art sawmill that’s taking forestry into a more value-added future.

The invention of a new snow sports industry. The first 3D-printed house in Canada. The birth of a craft-gear collective. Firefighting clothing designed for women. We introduce you to Columbia Basin residents who are growing big ideas from small places.

We take a quirky, investigative look at various ways to save species. We meet people who are paid to kill invasive frogs, visit a rare taxidermy school, and learn about an Indigenous celebration that calls the salmon home; but don’t get us started on the wild turkeys.