The Origin of the Common Land Podcast:
In 2018 the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA was celebrating its 25th anniversary and the Wild Lens Collective was contracted by the Bureau of Land Management (the federal agency responsible for managing the NCA) and the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership (the non-profit “friends” group associated with the NCA) to assist in the production of an oral history series.
Radio Boise came on board as a partner early on, and discussions soon began about using the oral history interviews to produce a radio documentary series that would tell the full story of how the Snake River Canyon was protected. Wayne Birt, the programming director for Radio Boise, came on board as a producer and work began on the series by the end of 2018.
Common Land’s Host and Producer:
Matthew Podolsky
Matthew is a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, long distance hiker, and a former wildlife biologist. He co-directed the Sundance award winning film, Sea of Shadows, along with the Emmy-nominated Bluebird Man. In addition to producing Common Land, Matthew is also a contributing producer for Earth to Humans, a bi-weekly interview series focused on environmental issues.
Our Season One Team:
Wayne Birt
Wayne is a hopeless radiophile, having been a station programmer at student-run KBSU in the 80s when he was a student at Boise State University, then working commercially at Boise station KIDO, before joining the Radio Boise effort in 2005. Besides his role with Radio Boise, Wayne has an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University, has published a handful of short stories and is prone to unreasonably long backpacking and rock climbing trips. He calls it his long-range therapy for his longstanding pathology for community radio. Wayne is a producer for Common Land.
Steve Alsup
Steve is a raptor biologist and co-founder of the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership, a “friends” group associated with the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. Steve was drawn to Southwest Idaho in 2003, when he was hired to help conduct raptor surveys down in the Snake River Canyon. This experience inspired him to pursue a career in raptor biology, and he began a graduate program at Boise State University a few years later - the only graduate program in the country in raptor biology. In 2015, when a coalition of partner groups came together to form the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership, Steve stepped up to take the lead in the establishment of this new organization focused on supporting the management and conservation of this unique NCA through science, education, outreach and partnerships. In addition to working with the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership, Steve is also a Research Associate with the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University. Steve is a producer for season one of Common Land.
Speedy Gray
Bobby “Speedy” Gray first hit the road at age 12 as a guitarist for The New Day Singers, traveling the South performing at colleges, churches, and a multitude of fairs etc. He later participating in the New South movement with other early Indie acts such as REM, The Dbs, Dexter Romwebber and The B52s. First recording experiments were performed on a 50s tube powered 1/4 tape machine, then an internship at The White Room in Charlotte, NC. He spent terms as FOH engineer at the World Famous Milestone plus many other live venues. Speedy is also the singer/songwriter/leader of the roots rock band Like A Rocket, who are currently recording their 4th album in Speedy’s recording studio, The Workshop, while leading the Live Engineering team for Radio Boise. Speedy wrote and performed original music for season one of Common Land both with his band, Like a Rocket, and as a solo artist under his pseudonym, Ragged Coyote. He also served as a story and sound design consultant.
Season Two of the Common Land Podcast:
Our first season of the show, focused on the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA, was released in January-March of 2020, and featured ten 30-min episodes chronicling the history of the Snake River Canyon and the unusual events that led to its protection.
Season two of Common Land will explore the story of the Appalachian Trail, a 2,180+ mile long hiking trail managed as a National Scenic Trail by a diverse group of partners including the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Production was scheduled to begin in late March, 2020, when producer Matthew Podolsky planned an attempt to thru-hike the entire length of the trail, but was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Season two is currently scheduled for release in the spring of 2025.
What the future holds for the Common Land Podcast:
Our team is currently working to establish a broad network of partners from both land management agencies and the non-profit organizations that provide support for and conduct advocacy efforts on behalf of protected areas. We are also assembling a team of expert producers capable of the high level documentary style audio production and storytelling that we strive for. We hope to expand both the range of protected areas whose stories we are able to tell, as well as the diversity of voices responsible for conveying these stories.
Each future episode of Common Land will represent a unique partnership between land managers, community members, and the organizations working to protect and enhance the unique patches of common land that our modern society has decided to set aside for future generations.