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Michael Anthony is the 36-year-old author of the new graphic memoir JUST ANOTHER MEAT-EATING DIRTBAG, published by Street Noise with art by Chai Simone. While Michael describes his new book as essentially a ‘love story’ between two seemingly distinct characters with different outlooks on life and death in the human and animal kingdoms, it draws in part – as did the entirety of his first two books, Mass Casualties and Civilianized – from his experiences serving in the US Army in Iraq in the 2000s and the PTSD he suffered upon release from duty. After penning his way out of his troubles, which included additional substance and drug abuse, Anthony became a writing mentor to other Army veterans so that they too, can learn to live with their experiences by putting them on paper. In this discussion with host/fellow author Tony Fletcher, the pair tackle all manner of subjects: the merits of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bloody field hospital operations that Anthony assisted in, the sense of failure knowing that Iraqi lives saved in surgery were likely lost once the Americans left, the cowardice and deception of certain military ‘leaders’, the prevalence of PTSD and suicide among veterans, how writing can help, how writing directly from experience can help even more, how Anthony came to pen a graphic memoir, and the all-important role of the illustrator. Especially, he discusses the relationship, detailed in Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag, with the love of his life, ‘Coconut’, a vegetarian and animal rights campaigner who Anthony describes as having a soul like ‘exposed nerve endings’. As their relationship develops, the memoir follows Anthony’s attempts to go ‘under cover’ by becoming a vegetarian in the hope of converting Coco, who had been fat-shamed by her mother as a child, back to meat. The conversation wraps up with a discussion about slaughterhouses in the food industry and on the battlefield, the surprising prevalence of vegetarianism among 'bad-ass army dudes', the movie The Game Changers, and the difficulties of giving up life-long habits, from meat to cigarettes. It is, believe it or not, an upbeat conversation! More info about Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag, including links for purchase: https://www.streetnoisebooks.com/just-another-meateating-dirtbag Michael Anthony is at https://masscasualties.com/ He can also be contacted directly through his website. Street Noise is at https://www.streetnoisebooks.com/ Chai Simone is at https://www.instagram.com/limina_1999/ One Step Beyond on socials: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Logo photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What it's like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Your host Tony Fletcher documented his own experiences climbing to the Roof of Africa, as narrated in real time, alongside interviews with fellow climbers and guides, and on-the-mountain 'field' recordings; these were then combined with detailed historical and contextual studio narrative to form a four-part documentary with which One Step Beyond was originally launched. On this special episode, those four parts are edited together for the first time, their repetitive introductions and credits eliminated, and presented as one lengthy but complete documentary that you will hopefully find educational, entertaining, informative and, who knows, maybe inspirational. Here's what I wrote back at the launch: In August 2019, I set off from Kingston, New York, with four friends and a Tanzanian-born guide, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. At 19,341 ft, or 5895 meters above sea level, Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa, and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. About 50,000 people a year attempt the summit; not all of them make it. The intense demands on the body in ever-thinning air cause many people to give up before they can reach the peak. I’m a writer and broadcaster by trade, so I brought my recording devices along with me for the journey up the mountain. Over the course of this mini-series, it’s my hope that you’ll be able to experience a little bit of what it’s like to go on an adventure like this, and that by the time we are all done, you’ll be ready to embark on one of your own. The starting time for each episode is given in the summary below. Feel free to pause and come back. And if you want to join us on a trip some time, make contact: details at the bottom of the show notes! EPISODE 1 (3:30): Meeting, planning, getting to know each other - Tony, Tim, Gwen, Steve and Marie, plus tour guide Protus - and heading out from Arusha to Mawenzi and the base of Kili itself. EPISODE 2 (33:30): Phallic trees, a first sighting of Kibo, an encounter with the Spice Girls, and a serious attack of altitude sickness. EPISODE 3 (1:01:30): Shrinking glaciers, blistering winds, sudden snow, and a two-hour nap at extreme elevation before an attempt on the Kilimanjaro summit. EPISODE 4 (1:30:10): Our team wrestles with a seemingly endless overnight slog up the side of a volcano, serious attacks of altitude sickness, and a long and desperate slog on the last stretch to the roof of Africa. Do we all make it to the summit? Let's put it this way: there are celebratory dinners and dances at the end of it all. E-mail the show with questions or comments. Subscribe to the newsletter. Find us on social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter Use of 'One Step Beyond' by Madness with permission. Logo by Mark Lerner of Rag & Bone Shop. And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Yandell is a 27-yr old traveler and artist who has managed to take her art on her travels and even have it help pay for her travels. She and Tony met in October 2021 at Arte Sumapaz in Colombia (check Episode 7 of One Step Beyond for more about Arte Sumapaz), a country with which Claire fell in love and lived for eighteen months, until just recently. (She intends to return in the New Year of 2023.) In this ‘reunion’ conversation, the American-born Claire tells Tony about her extensive travels since the age of 18, why she abandoned art school, how she fell in love with Colombia, the attractions of the country, its people, its geography and its culture, and how she has bartered art for accommodation and otherwise taken commissions on her way to painting approximately 20 murals across Colombia to date. Understanding that traveling means lowering one’s financial expectations, Claire has volunteered as a cook, a yoga teacher, an artist and in the fields, and chosen to stay with local families rather than in hostels, all as a means to live economically and to better understand the culture. She and Tony also talk about their time at Arte Sumepaz, how to eat successfully in a country like Colombia as a non-meat-eater, visa problems, plus the recent Presidential Election and what it means for the future of this convoluted country.   Claire Yandell can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/claire_yandell/, where she shows and periodically sells her art in various forms and mediums. Episode 7 of One Step Beyond: From the Catskills to Colombia, can be found at: https://shows.acast.com/onestepbeyond/episodes/ep-7-from-the-catskills-to-colombia-and-back Colombia Calling podcast is at https://colombiacalling.co/ Baggage Claim podcast is at https://www.instagram.com/baggageclaimpod/ Washington Post article on the challenges facing the new President Gustavo Petro: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/petro-colombia-marquez-election-farc-peace-environment/ Questions/comments/suggestions? Email Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net. Find One Step Beyond at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme sons are 'Yes Men' and 'Action' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Logo photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The O Positive Festival, held in Kingston, New York, in early October every year, presents a weekend full of music, art and wellness activities across all genres and disciplines, for all age groups, indoors and outdoors, and all for the price of a donation. But it's behind the scenes that O Positive has the biggest impact. The festival confronts the lack of affordable and free health care amongst the USA's artistic community by exchanging 'The Art of Medicine' for 'The Medicine of Art' by which "underinsured artists and musicians create and perform in exchange for a variety of services donated by doctors, dentists and complementary care providers." For this Episode of One Step Beyond, Tony Fletcher speaks with Art Director Lindsay Wolkowicz and Music Director Lara Hope about the specific health problems working artists face going about their manual labour, and how O Positive seeks to make a lasting change in the landscape of USA health care - or rather, the lack of it. Tony also takes his tape recorder around the various concerts, wellness activities, and interactive art displays, which range from tours of the Festival's celebrated Murals program, to a Mindfulness walk, an interactive book-gifting art display, and music by such varied acts as Mercury Rev, Roxiny, Sonny Singh, Amanda Palmer and the Mac & Cheeze Balkan Power Trio. More information about the O Positive festival can be found at https://opositivefestival.org The O Positive 2022 Festival Music Preview playlist can be found at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3qNZ6CRBHwACM3T7tYw3JM The IlluminatiO+n immersive art, music and wellness audio tour is available at: https://opositivefestival.org/illumination/ Rebecca Kelly G is at https://www.rebeccakellyg.com/ Three of this year's commissioned murals depicted below, depending on your streaming platform: Questions/comments/suggestions? Email Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net. Find One Step Beyond at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Logo photo taken at Arte Sumepaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Damian Hall is a British trail runner with several Fastest Known Times to his name, including a famed record-breaking 261-mile run on the UK’s Pennine Way in 2020. A former journalist, he has become equally well known for his environmental activism, qualities that come together in his new book We Can’t Run Away From This: Racing to Improve Running’s Footprint In Our Climate Emergency. In this interview with Tony Fletcher, Damian discusses why our outdoor lifestyle choices - including but not limited to running - are frequently, if unintentionally, bad for the planet, what we can do about it, and why we should stay positive about having a positive impact in the long run. Tony then reports on his research into the clothing/shoe companies he purchases from, and reflects on his own dietary and travel imprints from running. The show ends with the new Dear Boys song ‘Action’, written about the climate emergency and coincidentally released as a 7” single the same day as this show.    Specific subjects discussed: The three main components of our athletic environmental footprint: Gear/Kit, Diet, Travel. Why shoe companies should make less shoes, and why we should buy less of them and repair/reuse/recycle more of them. Why Race Directors need to stop giving away unwanted shirts, medals, and other paraphernalia. The responsibility that ‘Sponbassadencers’ (© Damian Hall) like himself have towards educating their followings – and also to the companies that give them free gear. Why he became a Full Annoying Vegan (© Damian Hall) and how switching from a carnivorous diet to a plant-based diet can reduce our carbon footprint from food by a staggering 70% - or approx. 18% of our overall carbon footprint. Why he stopped flying to races. But might still do so. Why it is better to embrace hypocrisy than do nothing. Why he picked up litter/trash on his Pennine Way FKT in 2020 (and on his failed attempt to reclaim that title in 2022). And how you can get three of his books for one British steak. Damian Hall can be found at ultradamo.com and his social media via https://linktr.ee/ultra_damo 'We Can't Run Away From This' is published by Adventure Books https://www.adventurebooks.com/products/we-cant-run-away-from-this which also published his book 'In It For The Long Run' https://www.adventurebooks.com/products/in_it_for_the_long_run The film Underdog about his 2020 Pennine Way FKT is at imdb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13968750/ Company policies discussed by Tony: Patagonia: Worn Wear and 'Our Impact' https://wornwear.patagonia.com/ https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/ Vibram 'Sustainable Way' https://us.vibram.com/sustainable-way-page.html Inov-8 'Sustainability' https://www.inov-8.com/us/sustainability Altra Running 'Our Values' https://www.altrarunning.com/who-we-are/our-values.html Enda Sportswear 'Social Impact' https://www.endasportswear.com/pages/impact Feetures 'Giving Back' https://feetures.com/pages/giving-back Osprey 'Sustainability' https://www.osprey.com/us/en/sustainability Clif Bar 'Who We' Are https://www.clifbar.com/who-we-are The Game Changers movie on the protein myth: https://gamechangersmovie.com/food/protein/ 'Action' by the Dear Boys is available on all streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/thedearboys and at https://thedearboys.bandcamp.com/track/action 50% of proceeds go to Friends of the Earth Written by Tony Page. Used with permission. Copyright control. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken Posner recently completed the 211-mile John Muir Trail in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains... barefoot from start to finish. On this episode, he takes host Tony Fletcher onto a trail in the more forgiving Shawangunk Mountains of the Hudson Valley to explain, and demonstrate, the benefits of hiking barefoot, on easy trails like this but also on the toughest parts of the John Muir Trail. Ken was previously the guest on Season 1, Episode 15 of One Step Beyond, when he took Tony on a 'bushwack' hike up one of the Catskills peaks, without navigation. Ken's list of achievements is impressive for a late starter and someone who still holds down a desk job. In 2013, he achieved what was then the Fastest Known Time (9 days) for Running The Long Path through New York, and wrote a book about the experience. The following year, he set a still-standing FKT for the Badwater Double, a 146-mile, near 15,000-ft climb from the lowest point in the Continental US to the highest point, at the top of Mount Whitney – and back again, covering the 292 miles in under 4 days. He has also gone barefoot in conducting the Grid - all 35 of the Catskills 3500ft peaks in all 12 months. Ken Posner's blog can be found at https://thelongbrownpath.com/ He can be found on Twitter, Instagram and on YouTube. Also in this episode: Tony reports back on his Marathon March in aid of the Palace for Life foundation, taking on all 26.5 miles, all four 3500ft+ peaks, and all 6-7000ft elevation of the Cat’s Tail Trail Marathon a week after the foundation’s annual sponsored marathon walk around south London. Tony's aim was to complete it within the 10-hr cut-off time set for runners - without running. Did he succeed? Listen in to find out. You can support Tony's fundraising at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tonyfletcher64 The Palace for Life foundation is at https://www.palaceforlife.org/ Questions/comments/suggestions? Email Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net. Find One Step Beyond at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Photo taken at Arte Sumepaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To get us warmed up on this first episode of our long overdue new series/season, Tony talks to Matt Fitzgerald, an endurance coach, nutritionist and prolific author about physiology and running, the joys of exercise, the ABCs of fitness, and the 80/20 philosophy of training that puts the emphasis on keeping most workouts easy. Matt also explains the pitfall of Superhumanization in regard to East African running dominance, the reality of the Group Effect within sports, how what biologists call Convergent Evolution resulted in the proven 80/20 method, discusses his Coaches of Color program, and talks about his long battle with Long Covid.  In part 2, around the 1-hour mark, Tony describes how an overdue new challenge was inspired in part by conversation with Matt about his book How Bad Do You Want It?. On October 1, Tony will be hiking rather than running, and hopefully within the 10-hour cut-off, the Cat’s Tail Trail Marathon in support of the Palace for Life foundation’s annual south London Marathon March. In the final section,Tony checks in with Jim Daly of the FYP Podcast in the midst of the main march on Sep 24, and plays an excerpt from his own appearance on the FYP Podcast discussing his personal challenge in detail. Please support Tony's efforts, if only to offer encouragement, at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tonyfletcher64 The Palace for Life foundation is at https://www.palaceforlife.org/ The FYP Podcast is at https://fypfanzine.uk/podcast.html Matt can be found at: https://www.8020endurance.com/ and https://mattfitzgerald.org/ Matt's podcast can be found at https://www.8020endurance.com/80-20-podcast/ The Coaches of Color Initiative is at https://8020foundation.org/initiatives/ The Running Public interviews with Matt Fitzgerald can be found here; on the most recent one he talks in greater depth about Long Covid and also about his new book, Race Pace. Questions/comments/suggestions? Email Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net. Find One Step Beyond at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Photo taken at Arte Sumepaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One Step Beyond, the podcast all about positively engaging with the world outside our door, is back. Yes, we’ve been away for a full year, but fear not, a new season will be returning to your podcast feed as of the last week of September 2022. What can you expect from the first few episodes? Well, there’s an interview with sports author, endurance coach nutritionist and all-round good guy Matt Fitzgerald on why exercise is fun…   We will be talking to record-breaking British fell-runner and accidental climate activist Damian Hall about his new book We Can’t Run Away From This, on the environmental damage caused by the running industry and what we can do about it, and I will be taking off my shoes and socks alongside Ken Posner, who recently barefoot hiked the entire 211-mile, vertiginous John Muir Trail in California to find out why he so strongly believes that we should get out into the woods with the only padding on our feet being the soles we were born with.   And for charity, I will be hiking rather than running– hopefully within the 10-hr cut-off – the annual Cats Tail Trail Marathon, in solidarity with the Palace for Life Marathon March that takes place across South London this time of year, raising funds for programs that support disadvantaged and disabled youth from the area in which I grew up. If you would like to support my fundraising hike, please follow the link below. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tonyfletcher64 There will be other episodes recorded in the field, there will be travel stories, interviews with people who have made significant life journeys metaphorical or physical, people who have campaigned for positive change or simply started an initiative themselves, essentially anything that gets us out and about, and enjoying the beautiful planet we inherited and the remarkable bodies we are equipped with, hopefully without doing further damage to either.   Look and listen out for Season 2 of One Step Beyond wherever you get your podcasts. Questions/comments/suggestions/free beer? Use this e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Theme song is 'Yes Men' by The Dear Boys. Listen in full here. Logo by Mark Lerner. Photo taken at Arte Sumepaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, the last in Series 1 of One Step Beyond, we flip the script, and allow regular host Tony Fletcher to be interviewed by guest host Paula Lucas about his recent brain hemorrhage - and how lucky he feels to have fallen into the small percentage of people who get to walk away unscathed. Paula asks the questions surely pounding away in the back of your mind (ouch!), like: How did the hemorrhage come about? Is it true that a hemorrhage manifests as your 'worst headache ever'? Is it true that 'your worst headache ever' is like 'your biggest migraine on Motörhead'? Is every hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm, and if not, what's the difference What is the difference between a subachnaroid hemorrhage and an intracerebral hemorrhage? Where does hyponatremia and hypertension fit into this? Does there have to be a triggering incident? How does it feel to go over 48 hours without caffeine? What is an angiogram? And how does it differ from a CT (or Cat) scan? And can anyone other than a neurosurgeon pronounce the words "Perimesencephalic non-aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage" without getting tongue-tied? Actually, a few of those questions were not asked during the interviews, which is why the answers are given above! Seriously - because this was serious - we ask and we attempt to answer this question: does a healthy and active, even athletic lifestyle invite a hemorrhage, or does it make it more likely we can survive one? At the end of this Episode, Tony says farewell to One Step Beyond - for now - as he launches The Jamming! Fanzine Podcast and you get to hear the trailer. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or via https://shows.acast.com/the-jamming-fanzine-podcast Questions/comments/suggestions/free beer? Use this e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s not every 17-year old who gets the chance to interview Paul McCartney for three hours, especially at the point, back in early 1982, that Macca had barely been heard from publicly since the assassination of his former Beatles band mate John Lennon on that tragically book-marked day of December 8, 1980. That 17-year old was your One Step Beyond host, Tony Fletcher, and the story you will hear on this Episode, The Day I Met Macca, ties in to two of his ongoing book projects. One is The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-1986, and it comes out on September 23rd in the UK and November 25th in the USA. The Paul McCartney interview referred to in this short story was published at the time in Jamming!, which was started by Fletcher back at school in the late 1970s, and is reprinted verbatim in this new compendium. In fact, if you squint at the logo for this particular episode of One Step Beyond on your phone, you should be able to see Fletcher holding up a reprint of the McCartney interview from the a hot-off-the-presses copy of The Best of Jamming. The second project is the sequel to Fletcher's memoir Boy About Town, which detailed those formative years growing up in South London in the 1970s, as a kid transformed by punk and new wave. The Day I Met Macca is an edited extract of a full chapter from that sequel, publication date to be determined. The Best of Jamming! will be launched with its own podcast series, featuring conversations with former contributors and interviewees. Consider this short story a teaser for the upcoming books and the associated podcast. Oh, and if you were wondering why One Step Beyond failed to publish a new episode this August, it's not because we spent the month on the beach. Rather, your host found himself in Intensive Care - the subject, no doubt, of a future Episode, and another reason this current Episode may feel like a detour from the usual outdoors/travel/health/athletic subject matter. The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-1986 is available through all good bookshops or order online from outlets such as: UK: UK.Bookshop.org hive.co.uk Waterstones.com Omnibus Press US: Bookshop.org Indiebound.org Barnesandnoble.com And yes, if you must, from Amazon. More information about Boy About Town and Tony's other books here. Questions/comments/suggestions/free beer? Use this e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. The One Step Beyond website is here. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Incidental music is by Noel Fletcher And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following on from Episode 31, Running An Ultra, which featured Mike Siudy, co-Race Director of the Manitou's Revenge ultramarathon in the Catskill Mountains, this episode features a round-table discussion with five people who have all themselves completed at least one Manitou's Revenge, and were all involved in this year's event either as competitors or volunteers. Joining host Tony Fletcher are Sheryl Wheeler, one of the great trail runners in the East but as unpretentious as they come, Max Gruner, Alanna Moss and Benno Rawlinson. The discussion attempts to answer such questions as: What the hell is the attraction of a 54-mile course that has about 16,000ft of elevation? Why do we come back for more? What attributes do you need to take on an ultra-trail events? Is it true good walkers do as well as good runners? How important are poles? Headlamps? What about footwear? What do you do for sustenance when you start at 5am and need to stay fueled for up to 24 hours? And most important of all, who was the Yeti on this year's Manitou's course? More seriously though - or perhaps not - the idea behind this discussion is to share some of the camaraderie found in what is perceived as a solitary sport, and hopefully attract others to compete in similar events - or just to find their own challenge, and see it through. Links for this episode: Manitou's Revenge website Manitou's Revenge Facebook Cat's Tail Trail Marathon website Escarpment Trail Run Benno Rawlinson web site Ultra Stories podcast with Sheryl Wheeler Run To The Hills with Beth Pascall I'll Have Another podcast with Lindsay Hein The Running Public podcast on Big Mountain Races: some excellent advice on pre-race routines and nourishment. Questions/comments/suggestions/free beer? Use this e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Incidental music is by Noel Fletcher And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever considered upping your outdoor game to take on an ultra marathon? Or do you consider those who willingly subject themselves to something like Manitou’s Revenge - the 54 mile race through, or rather, up and down the Catskill Mountains, and which One Step Beyond's Tony Fletcher just completed for the second time – to be complete lunatics worthy only of an almost morbid fascination? Either way, this episode is for you. Rather than bore you with his own race account, Tony talks instead with Manitou’s co-director Mike Siudy. They discuss what it takes to run an ultra marathon in terms of being on your feet for up to 24 hours, and what it takes to run an ultra marathon in terms of hosting an event where there are frequently hours between aid stations, weather is unpredictable, some racers will inevitably drop out, and the volunteers can be on the mountains for longer than the runners. Mike knows of what he hosts: he has competed in six of the eight Manitou’s held since the inaugural event in 2013, and holds the fastest known time for tackling all 35 of the Catskill Mountains 3500ft peaks in one fell swoop, in 2018, 144 miles, in 57 hours and change.  And this from a man who says he hates 100-miler events and prefers hiking to running. Which brings us to the main point: ultra marathons like this may be appear masochistic from the outside, but they are strategic, varied, beautiful, involve substantial amounts of hiking and above all they are – though not always in the moment – FUN! You will hear Mike and Tony exchange a few laughs about the course, and if you enjoy this episode, you will love the next one, in which five competitors from Manitou’s sit around a Zoom call and reminisce about the highs and lows of a race that takes in over 15,000 ft of climbing – and an additional 1,000 feet of descent. Links for this episode: Manitou's Revenge website Manitou's Revenge Facebook Cat's Tail Trail Marathon website Escarpment Trail Run Mike Siudy's "Catskill 35 Direttissima" (FKT for all 35 x 3500ft peaks) Charlie Gadol, Race co-director, on the Long Path in support of the NY/NJ Trail Conference Ultra Sign-Up - for future ultra events Questions/comments/suggestions/free beer? Use this e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter. Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 Incidental music is by Noel Fletcher And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Tony Fletcher reads another short story from his Round The World, backpacking trip of 2016 with wife and 11-year old son: A Travel Day, set in Morocco. Doing so inspires him to discuss the definition and purpose of travel, to consider how the joy is to be found in the sum of its parts, not in largely mythical grand epiphanies or supposedly magical destinations. “Great travel experiences are often about the moments in between those destinations. They come from the days where you simply aspire to get from A to B, but as you will hear in this story, getting from A to B means going via C with additional detours, distractions, disappointments and, inevitably, delights en route.” Tony’s recent journey back to the United Kingdom finds him unearthing his mother’s own extensive travel diaries, from shared family camping adventures in the 1970s through to her own frequent journeys to the Middle East. This inspires Tony to discuss the merits of keeping and preserving such diaries, especially when they can unlock memories that may have been closed shut by the passing of time and the onset of dementia. And he offers a few more observations of his own travels this past month, finding previously unexplored beautiful destinations more or less on his birth town’s doorstep. If you enjoy this episode, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Original incidental music in this episode is 'Two Struggling Chicago Musicians' by Noel Fletcher. Music used in the short story A Travel Day: Abdoulaye Alhassane Touré - Kurbu, Timala and Maru Kiray Imdukal'N' El Hussain Safir - LamanVA - gnawa on the streets of Rabat, and Djemma el Fna in lo fi splendor Eric Carlson - Train tunnel, Scott County, Virginia Giraffe - A Bus Out of Here Checkpoint 303 - Bus 21, Jerusalem to Bethlehem, All from the Free Music Archive used under a Creative Commons License Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second half of our interview with Erin Blankenship, a former professional football player in leagues around the world and the co-founder of Equal Playing Field, we talk more about the initiative’s all-female, full-size pitch, full length football match on top of Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest ever played). We then learn about the challenges and triumphs of its second record-breaking game, the lowest played on earth following a 100km hike down to Jordan’s Dead Sea, 500m below sea level. Erin also talks about how Equal Playing Field supports specific grass roots initiatives for women’s engagement in football all around the world, especially in underserved countries and communities, and concludes by considering the great strides the women’s game has taken in recent years – and the many challenges it still faces. All discussed with considerable humor – Equal Playing Field believes in doing the crazy, after all. In addition, Tony talks about discovering new outdoors landscapes in his old stomping ground of Yorkshire, after returning from his first international journey since before the pandemic. The joys of new travel adventures can, he figures, be found surprisingly close to home. Links to stories mentioned in this episode: Photos from Equal Playing Field’s record-breaking Dead Sead hike and match. The Guardian on the English FA paying women the same performance pay as men. The FA History on women’s football in England, including the many years it was “banned”. The BBC on Lewes FC as the first club team in the UK to pay its female players the same as its males. KNVB on how Holland’s success in the 2017 WEuros boosted the women’s game in that country. KNVB on women’s football internationally. The Guardian from Nov 2018 breaking the story of the sexual, physical and emotional abuse that plagued members of the Afghanistan women’s team. The Guardian from July 2020 on the life ban subsequently meted out by FIFA on the Afghan football federation’s male president. The New York Times on the U.S. Women’s Team’s Equal Pay Dispute with U.S. Soccer And: Equal Playing Field web site BeInSports Equal Playing Field documentary about the Kili climb Equal Playing Field YouTube channel (many short clips about programmes/camps/World Records) Equal Playing Field Instagram Equal Playing Field Facebook Equal Playing Field Twitter Erin Blankenship Instagram Laura Youngson Instagram Ida Sports website If you enjoy this episode, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever considered arranging an official 90-minute football/soccer match, on a full-size pitch, at 18,746ft/5714 meters above sea level, in the oxygen-starved atmosphere on top of Mt Kilimanjaro? Erin Blankenship did; in 2017, she helped co-ordinate a World Record for the highest altitude match ever played, one in which every participant, from 22 different countries, was female.   Erin was born in the USA, grew up in Saudi Arabia, played college soccer in the States, professional football in the UK, in competitive leagues in Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, the US, China, Afghanistan and Jordan, and trained with the US Olympic Team for Modern Pentathlon. For her day job, Erin works for the UN World Food Programme as the Regional Peace and Conflict advisor for the Middle East and North Africa. She is also the co-founder of Equal Playing Field, a “grassroots, non-profit initiative to challenge gender inequality in sport and to promote sports development for girls and women globally, especially in marginalised country contexts,” with an evident focus on football/soccer. Following its initial foray up Kilimanjaro, Equal Playing Field has gone on to set four more world records, including one for the lowest altitude game ever, in the Dead Sea of Jordan, to demonstrate the need for top-to-bottom change in sports gender equality. In the first half of a two-half conversation (45mins + stoppage time each) Erin discusses with me the challenges she experienced as a female player, the subsequent birth of Equal Playing Field, the logistical challenges of the team climb up Kilimanjaro and the game that followed, and some of the organization’s other achievements, both at World Record and Grass Roots levels. A second half will follow. The show will not go to penalties. Links for this show: Equal Playing Field web site BeInSports Equal Playing Field documentary about the Kili climb Equal Playing Field YouTube channel (many short clips about programmes/camps/World Records) Equal Playing Field Instagram Equal Playing Field Facebook Equal Playing Field Twitter Erin Blankenship Instagram Laura Youngson Instagram Ida Sports website If you enjoy this episode, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Peters is the rare rock star to have an MBE after his name - awarded not for his musical successes with Welsh rock band The Alarm, considerable though they have been, but for his charity work with the Love Hope Strength foundation. That story starts In 1995 when, on the eve of an American tour, Peters was informed that he had Non Hodgkin's Lymphona, or cancer of the blood cells; deciding to push on through the tour, cloak himself in a fighting attitude, and turn down a bone marrow transplant, Peters' disease appeared to right itself, only to return in 2005 as leukemia. Rather than bemoan his bad luck, Peters instead recognized the enormous good fortune of having quality free cancer care on the National Health Service in a world where there is so much health inequality, and in 2007 he co-founded Love Hope Strength, with the belief that "all people deserve quality care, a marrow donor if needed, and most importantly, hope." Since then, Peters, with partner James Chippendale, another leukemia survivor, has hosted concerts on top of Mt Everest Base Camp, Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Fuji, established the 'Get On The List' drive at concerts to sign up potential bone marrow donors, and recorded the world's longest song, The Scriptures, to promote bone marrow donor initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians. Money raised has served to fund a mammography machine in Nepal, build a Children’s Cancer Unit in Tanzania, and to fund cancer projects within the UK. Mike Peters first met One Step Beyond host Tony Fletcher in 1981, after calling him to pitch a copy of the debut single by The Alarm, 'Unsafe Building'. The two built a close friendship in the early 1980s, and Fletcher's first trip to the USA, where he would later move, was as part of the press for The Alarm's April 1986 Spirit of 86 concert at UCLA broadcast live worldwide by MTV. Though they fell out of touch for 25 years, they recently had cause to renew contact, leading to this interview. Mike, a keen hiker, runner, climber and footballer, is supported in his daily mission by his wife of 30 years, Jules Peters, also a cancer survivor, and the subject of two recent BBC Wales documentaries on her own battles to overcome breast cancer surgery. Together, their positive outlook has enabled them to outrun cancer and raise a family. Mike released a new album as The Alarm, Raw, earlier this spring, and is about to set off on a sponsored walk of Offa's Dyke, which runs down the English-Welsh border. Listeners are invited to join in virtually. You can find Mike Peters' music at TheAlarm.com Love Hope Strength can be found at lovehopestrength.org or lovehopestrength.co.uk The Mike Peters documentary Man In The Camo Jacket can be found at https://maninthecamojacket.com/ Info on the documentary 'Mike and Jules: While We Still Have Time' and 'Jules Peters: My Cancer Journey' can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08ryqrw The Alarm YouTube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUxf6WCerflAEhwtniLeaNg The Alarm on Instagram can be found at https://www.instagram.com/thealarm/ If you enjoy this story, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, we revisit India in the form of another short story I wrote about our travels backpacking round the world, with then wife and then 11-year old son, in 2016, for almost the whole year. It’s set in the hills of Karnataka, and it's called You Do Not Need A Guide. This story has been on my mind to read for you for a while now, but I’ve been pushed to move it up the timeline because of the covid crisis convulsing India right now. In the intro to this episode, I talk a little about the India I came to know and love that year, however brief the experience, and how much I yearn to go back there. Referenced in this episode: Kolkata Calcutta by Finn Reilly with foreword by Tony Fletcher Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe New York Times Daily podcast: Inside India's Coronavirus Crisis Honey Valley estate Music used in this episode Deep Karnataka by DubRaJah Night In India by Shamil Evenheim Little India by Les Cartes Postales Delaymania by Noel Fletcher If you enjoy this story, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One Step Beyond is one year old, and to celebrate, we revisit some of our best episodes and catch up with the guests, each of whom was invited to answer four questions about how they coped with this past pandemic year and how they are staying optimistic and motivated moving forwards. A dozen of them responded, sending in their recorded replies from five different continents, and over the course of this episode, you’ll hear from authors, runners, painters, adventurers, film-makers, musicians, skiiers, medical volunteers, zen teachers, walkers, travelers, barefooters, minimalists, entrepreneurs, high school teachers, hikers, vegans and, above all, from people who have taken a step outside their comfort zones to enrich their lives. It's a feast of food for thought. Thank you to Tim Kelly, Paula Lucas, Ric Dragon, Navalayo Osembo, Bill Hoffman, Zuisei Goddard, Olie Hunter-Smart, Trevor Warman, Adam Fletcher, David Watts Barton and Julie McGuire for taking part in this special episode. Thanks to all the other guests from the past year, and to all of you, the listeners and supporters, for making this such a successful first 25 shows. This episode runs longer than usual, and it was later than usual in landing, but it’s hopefully worth the wait and should be worth its length, too. People, places and entities featured in this Episode: Arte Sumapaz Carla Rhodes article on the Greater Adjutant in the New York Times Enda Sportswear Mountain Dog Running Vanessa Zuisei Goddard Olie Hunter Smart The Nomadic Backpacker David Watts Barton Julie McGuire on Facebook For questions or comments, or to subscribe to the newsletter, e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net   Join One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following on from Episode 15.5, and the short story "You Don't Believe In God?" I return to our round the world backpacking trip from 2016 and pick up where that last short story left off... In Morocco, disembarking an all-night bus in Merzouga, on the edge of the Sahara. If you enjoy this story, and especially if you’d care to hear more like it, please do let me know via e-mail at Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net, where you can also subscribe to the newsletter.   Or, find One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Incidental music for the short story "Saharan Sundown": "Amazigh" "Sidi Rabi" and "Live Improv" by Brahim Frigbane "Marhaba" by Lahcen Akil "Ismar Kkis" and "Tighoufiwin" by Imdukal'N' El Hussain Safir All used under a Creative Commons License via the Free Music Archive Noel Fletcher's YouTube Vlog "Sahara Desert" from January 2016 Noel Fletcher's Extended Placebo EP with artwork from Dar Tafouyte and the Sahara Desert of Erg Chebbi The Dar Tafouyte guesthouse in Takoujte, Merzouga. Also mentioned in this Episode: Greetings from Somewhere podcast Aleksander Doba obituary Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three years ago, Julie McGuire, a High School English teacher in the South Bronx, came home from work eager to set off on another weekend in the Catskills, only to find her wife waiting to declare the end of their marriage. The sudden announcement threw Julie into a deep depression fueled by days full of self-loathing and nights full of NyQuil; she admits that she lost the will to live. Julie slowly regained her mojo by throwing herself into her love of backcountry skiing - hiking uphill, away from the resorts of the Catskill Mountains, and skiing her own routes back down. To better plan her winter Catskills descents off the beaten paths, she took to hiking the mountains out of ski season, and after completing the region's 35 peaks above 3500ft, plus the four mandated additional hikes in winter, she recently became – by pure coincidence – the 3500th member of the Catskill 3500 Club. She now routinely wears a ‘Queen of the Catskills’ t-shirt and posts colorful pictorial essays about her almost daily adventures hiking and skiing the back country, usually accompanied by a Double IPA (or two). In this interview, Julie and I talk openly about divorce, the outcome for 39% of American marriages, and the healing process that takes longer than expected. Julie walks me, an avid if amateur 'on-piste' skiier, through the attractions and technical aspects of backcountry skiing, explains why she endures the challenges of the mountains, and why she is hosting back country clinics limited to women and people of color. To try and match the giddy heights of Julie’s daily achievements, I recorded all my voice overs while hiking Blackhead Mountain in deep snow and ice as I close in on my own 3500 Club badge. Find Julie McGuire on Instagram and on Facebook The full Zoom interview on YouTube. Excerpts from Julie McGuire's essay on hiking the 3500s as a way out of divorce. The Catskill 3500 Club web site Ski Touring for Beginners in Ski magazine How to start Backcountry Skiing: A primer video from Mappy Hour. An introduction to splitboards. Catskill Outpost, for your very own Queen of the Catskills t-shirt. For questions or comments, or to subscribe to the newsletter, e-mail Onestepbeyond@ijamming.net   Join One Step Beyond on social media at: Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher Twitter is OneStepBeyondP1 And your host can be found here: tonyfletcher.net Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/onestepbeyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.