Last Empty Places
Season 1
by Peter Stark and Jimmy Mac
Everybody is a little lost this week. With Clare Marie gearing up for a performance, Peter searches for a clear signal in the Puget Sound while Jimmy Mac takes a break from broadcasting at The American Truck Historical Society's truck show in Missouri. This brings up the topic of getting lost while on a schedule. Late for work, expected at an important event, or any time people are counting on you to arrive on time adds the additional anxiety of not only not knowing where you are but also the prospect of letting yourself or others down. Somehow this throws our adventurous podcasters into the sea, with Peter lost in a fog bank off the shores of Nantucket. And in the midst of it all, a young lady named Lilly ends up at Jimmy's conference booth looking for a little swag. If you're lost, listening will clarify everything. Visit the American Truck Historical Society at aths.org. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Fresh off a Kilimanjaro hike for a worthy cause, veteran and Sierra Delta founder BJ Ganem joins Peter and Jimmy for a conversation about adventure, purpose, and the strange ways we find our bearings in life. Drawing on his deep passion for our four-legged companions, BJ explores how man’s best friend may also be the best safeguard against ever truly getting lost. Along the way, Peter travels across Canada with a dog sled team, while Jimmy reflects on why sharing your life with a pet might be the closest thing we get to a preview of heaven. Learn more about Sierra Delta at sierradelta.com and find the Waterboys at waterboys.org. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
From “The D.H. Lawrence Room” in a New Mexico hotel, Peter joins Jimmy for a conversation that begins as a continuation of their discussion about contingencies for getting lost, before drifting somewhere stranger and more transcendent—into the idea of abandoning past and future entirely in order to exist fully within the immediate wilderness. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
It isn't an adventure without the risk of being lost. Accepting that reality could be the difference between life and death. Peter and Jimmy discuss the difference between being lost with a plan versus the terror that comes with realizing you have no way home. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Jimmy and Peter head into Hollywood’s treacherous development hell with returning guest Michael Punke, author of The Revenant, and celebrated screenwriter Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist). What begins as a conversation about screenwriting and adaptation opens into something deeper: mountain men, Jeremiah Johnson, the creative power of empty places, and the value of stripping a story down to its bare essentials. Along the way, they kick around the question of whether's America’s independent spirit began with a man in buckskins trying to sell a beaver pelt? Follow Tab Murphy @talbotmurphy on Instagram. Follow Michael Punke at @mwpunke on Instagram and @MPunke on Twitter. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Peter and Jimmy discuss being lost, the art of historical fiction, and getting lost in Hollywood development with Michael Punke, author of "The Revenant." While in their conversational wanderings, they find time to reflect on how physical ailments, injuries, and mental health issues amplify what it means to be without a map. Michael also takes a moment to describe building a rifle. Follow Michael Punke at @mwpunke on Instagram and @MPunke on Twitter Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. Follow us @lastemptyplaces on Instagram A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Dehydration on Mt. Rainier, white water rapids, pulling a 100 foot house boat with rope, and slot canyon-level focus. Peter Stark and Jimmy Mac welcome Army combat vet Sarah Lee, founder of Waypoint Vets, a charity that provides transformative wilderness adventures for veterans. Sarah discusses how losing the identity and structure of military life brought her to rock bottom, how getting lost kept her from losing herself, and the clean slate feeling of an empty place. She also explains how Waypoint Vets curates adventures for seekers of all levels and abilities that help vets find meaning and rewrite what they thought they were capable of through shared experiences and trust in others–and themselves. Find Waypoint Vets at waypointvets.org. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Peter Stark and Jimmy Mac uncover metaphors for loss as they discuss the transformative experience of starting anew–including Peter’s very own origin story that took him from the depths of the 1973 oil crisis to the peaks of the Himalayas, and back again. Plus: What to do when you want to panic, what happens when the center does not hold, what incites the world’s greatest stories–and a look at Lord of the Flies. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
What does it mean to be lost? Peter Stark and Jimmy Mac wander through literal and figurative lands, as they explore losing bearings, the terror of losing your way both in the mist of a snowy mountain peak or the suburbs, the American tradition of losing yourself to find yourself, and the times when even a seasoned world adventurer like Peter simply cannot believe his own compass. They also cover the fascinating science discussed in "Why People Get Lost" by Paul Dudchenko. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com, and on YouTube. A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com
Before heading out to get lost on their adventure in podcasting, author-adventurer Peter Stark and wandering broadcaster Jimmy Mac catch up listeners with their friendship’s origin story, which begins with Peter’s acclaimed book Young Washington. What follows is tales of America’s founding father’s wilderness expedition, barge trips in France, musing on why we yearn to “head out,” and, ultimately, deciding exactly what a last empty place is. Visit us at peterstarkauthor.com. A Planet Clare Production | planetclareproductions.com