Episode 227 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife camera operator and television presenter, Declan Burley. Declan grew up in Luton, dyslexic and working on building sites. Nobody around him went into the arts and no one really knew what a wildlife camera operator was. In this episode, Declan talks to Matt about the long road to where he is now: three months in the Amazon at 23 that changed everything, years of being flat broke, and a cancer diagnosis in his late twenties. He explains what camera trapping actually involves, and what it was like to work across six critically endangered species for The Wild Ones, from snare-riddled jungle in Malaysia to mine-field leopards on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. They also cover the class divide in British wildlife television, what slowing down teaches you about the natural world, and whether conservation storytelling can actually change anything - or whether it's just preaching to the converted.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown

0:00-06:15: Growing up in Luton, building sites, dyslexia, and why becoming a wildlife camera operator wasn't something anyone around him had ever done or suggested.

06:15-14:13: Class, access and the 8% statistic.

14:13-26:36: Three months in the Amazon at 23, learning to move slowly, borderline trench foot, and why that trip settled everything.

26:36-34:48: Declan talks about receiving a cancer diagnosis in his late twenties, and how camera trapping became his specialist skill and calling card.

34:48-42:00: What camera trapping actually is.

42:00-50:18: The Wild Ones - six critically endangered species, six countries, and what Declan saw on the ground.

50:18-58:00: Whether conservation storytelling can actually change anything, the three choices when faced with environmental despair, and why commissioners need the audience to keep watching.

58:00-1:00:00: What scares him, what brings him hope, and why he puts animals and humans on exactly the same level.

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Episode 226 of The Adventure Podcast features ex-England Rugby Captain, sailor, rower, and world-record holder, Ollie Phillips. After over a decade of elite sport and multiple Player of the Year awards, an unknown injury suddenly stopped Ollie's career. In this episode, Matt and Ollie cover what it's like to grieve a career and a life you dedicated yourself to, and what happens after. They talk about Ollie's last minute decision to say yes to the Clipper Round the World Race, having never sailed before, a world record expedition to the North Pole, and more recently, a charity row across the Atlantic. Ollie is funny, direct, and genuinely honest. And it turns out the gap between who you were and who you're becoming is where the most interesting stuff happens.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown

00:00- 06:22: Who Ollie is now and the twelve-year rugby career that started it all.

06:22-14:48: Why sports people and soldiers gravitate towards adventure, the ten-out-of-ten feeling that real life rarely matches, and what the corporate world gets wrong.

14:48-22:43: Community, shared experience, and why Ollie has never started a story with "this one time, when I was on my own."

22:43-33:24: How a spinal injury ended his rugby career in four hours, and why saying yes to a last-minute call from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston changed everything.

33:24-39:14: Getting on the Clipper Race with no sailing experience, going from novice to second-in-command in three months, and the useful delusion that rugby might still be waiting at the end.

39:14-49:13: PwC, the North Pole, and a fifteen-month legal battle just to play one last game of rugby at Twickenham for closure.

49:13-1:00:51: What that final game meant, and the moment outside a basement flat that made Ollie realise he needed to change.

1:00:51-1:05:03: Therapy, validation, fatherhood, and why not expecting anything from anyone has made everything better.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.

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Episode 225 of The Adventure Podcast features marine biologist and TV host, Melissa Cristina Márquez. Also known as the 'Mother of Sharks'. Born in Puerto Rico, Melissa's spent her career trying to make people care about one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. In this episode, Matt and Melissa cover a lot of ground - from Jaws and Baby Shark to a three-metre crocodile bite on her first ever Shark Week shoot. They touch on the psychology of inflammatory media language, and the hundreds of thousands of years of indigenous knowledge that Western science has largely ignored. Melissa is warm, funny, deeply informed and completely disarming. She has a way of making you realise how much of what you think you know about sharks has been handed to you by Hollywood. She challenges the idea that fear and respect can't coexist, argues that diversity in science isn't just about fairness but about asking better questions, and explains why a species that's survived 450 million years may not survive us. While this conversation starts with sharks, really it's about how we relate to the natural world and whether caring - loudly, specifically, and imperfectly - might be the most important thing any of us can do.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown

00:00-07:05: Growing up in Puerto Rico, falling in love with sharks, and fighting to build a career.

07:05-16:48: Why diversity in science changes the questions we ask.

16:48-25:28: The language of fear and the lasting damage of Jaws.

25:28-38:11: The empathy gap between sharks and other endangered animals, and what early education can do to close it.

38:11-50:34: No villain animals, the case for fearful respect, and the crocodile bite nobody saw coming.

50:34-1:02:12: Sharks as keystones, trophic cascades, and why Melissa remains an optimist about the future.

1:02:12-1:08:32: Why science communication belongs to everyone, and what visibility does for the next generation of scientists.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.