Sep 19 2026
My Constant Wonder
Nearly a year ago, Marcus Smith cold called to see if I’d be willing to be interviewed for his podcast, Constant Wonder. He had just discovered my work online. We talked at length that evening and made a deep connection. The next day he ordered a Kindle version of my somewhat mystical book Apprehensions of What-Is, while I went to his website and checked out some of the podcasts he has done. Then I said yes.
We finally got the ball rolling on this project in June, when his people at Brigham Young University send me a microphone kit. I connected it to my desktop computer and Marcus interviewed me for three hours in July. Those of you who have been around me know that I can be quite chatty. Immediately following the interview, I felt I had said too much.
The podcast, Arguing with the Wind: A Spiritual Journey in Wilderness, has just been released. When I first listened to it, I was blown away. Marcus brilliantly edited my three hours of blather into a one-hour podcast that captures the essence of who I am. He focused mostly on my brief sojourn in the Alaskan bush in ’92 and the succession of events that led to me going there.
I’ve been writing, recounting my backwoods experiences, and shouting my worldview into the world for decades. But my voice is only one of hundreds of millions of voices out there. The world is a noisy place, especially online, so I’ve never really felt exposed… until now.
All I can say is, thank God that Marcus is the one who has told this essential part of my life story! Even though we have never met, he seems to know what I’m all about.
That said, it feels weird to have such an intimate part of my personal life out there in a one-hour podcast for anyone to access. Suddenly I have an overwhelming urge to run off to that remote cabin in the Adirondacks, where I’ve been before, and completely disconnect. Yeah, I’ll get around to that again soon enough.
