Common Land Trail Ambassador Program
Are you passionate about the podcasts that you listen to while hiking the Appalachian Trail?
Do you enjoy learning and sharing about interesting aspects of the trail’s history?
Common Land is a documentary-style podcast and radio series that explores the creation stories behind protected areas. Our second season of the show is being released this summer and fall, and it’s focused on the Appalachian Trail.
Show host/producer Matt Podolsky thru-hiked the AT in 2022 and recorded lots of audio documenting his trip. He recorded interviews with a variety of experts and interesting people who are associated with the trail, and now the series if ready to be released! The first two episodes will be released on the Common Land podcast feed on Wednesday, July 2nd, and we’ll have our first radio broadcast on New Hampshire Public Radio on Saturday, July 5th. Episodes will be released on a weekly basis throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall. There are 12 half-hour episodes in total.
The series will explore the history of the AT, as well as modern threats to the trail’s ecosystems. It will dive into trail culture, and show what it’s like to complete a thru-hike. You can listen to our teaser here to get a sense of the style of storytelling.
What’s expected from Common Land trail ambassadors?
We’re seeking 3-4 trail ambassadors to help us spread the word about this podcast/radio series throughout the AT community.
Trail ambassadors are expected to engage in word-of-mouth promotion of the series throughout the remainder of their AT experience. This means talking with fellow hikers, folks you meet in town at hostels, and anyone else who’s interested about the AT.
We’ll provide stickers with a QR code that links to the show’s podcast feed for you to share around - in shelter logs, as hostels and other popular stops for thru-hikers.
If you are using social media to post updates and share about your AT hike, we also expect that you’ll share posts and updates about Common Land on your social media feed.
What do you get in return?
We will grant a stipend of $300 to each of our trail ambassadors. Half will be paid up front, and the other half paid once you complete your journey and successfully promote the series through word-of-mouth and/or social media promotion.
We’ll send a care package to your next resupply point with stickers that you can use to promote the show, and a few other goodies.
We’ll give you advance access to episodes of the show, so you can listen ahead and share how stoked you are for the next episode to drop.