America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

It’s the hottest place on Earth, but Death Valley is remarkably full of life. Baratunde Thurston seeks out the extremes of this national park and finds an outdoor mecca for those who embrace its heat, isolation, and natural beauty. Meet an ultra-marathoner who runs in the brutal heat of summer and an elder of the Timbisha Shoshone tribe, who helps us see that this is a place where life blooms.

Life on the American frontier is evolving. To find out how, and what it means, Baratunde Thurston ventures into the wilds of Idaho in search of its outdoor culture. He finds ranchers and backcountry pilots sharing the wilderness with newly resettled refugees and sees how climate change is playing havoc with the age-old salmon fishery.

Baratunde explores his adopted hometown of Los Angeles to learn how Angelinos connect with the outdoors in their sprawling city. From kayakers saving a polluted river to urban gardens nourishing a community, and Black surfers claiming their place on the waves - even as climate change brings on the sharks - preserving access to outdoor LA is something worth fighting for.

Appalachia may seem like a place locked in time, but its people know a thing or two about change, especially when it comes to the outdoors. Baratunde meets the people driving a revolution in how we see and interact with nature, from a record-breaking hiker, to a 21st century forager to former coal miners working with bees and advocates working to make the outdoors accessible to everyone.

Along the coast of North Carolina, there’s more to the outdoor life than sun and surf. As he treks through a daunting swamp, soars above the dunes on a Wright Brothers glider, explores a way of life drowning from climate change and tracks wild horses on the beach, Baratunde discovers how these outdoor environments were shaped by a surprising force: history.

What does the wild mean to Americans today? To find out, Baratunde journeys into Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region, one of the last places where you can hike or paddle your way into the remote wilderness. From passionate birders to harvesters of wild rice, he encounters a fascinating cast of characters—and hears from them why wilderness means so much.