Life’s Tough, Explorers Are TOUGHER!
“Exploring is an innate part of being human.” Richard Wiese, spends 30 minutes every week with some of the world’s most compelling adventurers, explorers, and socio-environmental advocates, listening to their distinct adventures, unique discoveries, projects & goals, while discovering their multitude of challenges, surprises, triumphs and set-backs they encounter along the way. Join Richard as he pulls back the curtain on what it’s like to travel around the world and beyond; explore some of the most exotic and often dangerous places; and uncover what makes people, places and our planet so special.
Episodes
18 episodes
Sea Serpents to Science: Adrian Shine’s Loch Ness Journey
In this episode of Life’s Tough: Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese journeys across Scotland’s legendary Loch Ness with renowned naturalist and monster hunter turned scientist, Adrian Shine.Adrian’...
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21:54
Held Hostage in Iran: Morad Tahbaz's Journey
Wildlife biologist and conservationist Morad Tahbaz joins host Richard Wiese to share his harrowing story of being wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. Accused of espionage while on a conservation mission, Morad endured solitary confinement, torture,...
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25:14
Christian Rutz: From Tool-Making Crows to Conservation
In this enlightening episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese speaks with Christian Rutz, an animal-tracking pioneer who has spent decades studying the tool-using behavior of birds—especially the brilliant New Caledoni...
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24:21
The Wasp Whisperer
Entomologist and UCL professor Dr. Seirian Sumner joins host Richard Wiese to challenge everything you think you know about wasps. While most people see them as pests, Seirian makes the compelling case that wasps are unsung heroes of our ecosys...
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29:47
Yosemite Ranger Revives Legacy of Buffalo Soldiers
In this moving episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese sits down with Shelton Johnson, a longtime Yosemite park ranger and passionate storyteller who has spent decades inspiring visitors to reconnect w...
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24:52
How Studying Venus Might Help Save Earth
In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese sits down with planetary scientist Dr. Paul Byrne to explore one of the most misunderstood worlds in our solar system: Venus.Ofte...
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23:21
Wildlife DJ Highlights Nature’s Majestic Sounds
Exploration isn’t just about where you go—it’s about how you listen.In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, Ben Mirin, an explorer, wildlife DJ, artist, and naturalist, shares how he’s mer...
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28:16
Secretary of the Interior & the Badlands
In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese sits down with U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum—former Governor of North Dakota, entrepreneur, and advocate for resilience in explor...
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22:58
The Holistic Conservationist
Saving the planet isn’t just about science—it’s about storytelling, indigenous knowledge, and even art.In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, Dr. Natalie Schmitt shares why conservation n...
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36:04
Endangered Fashion
Exploration isn’t just about venturing into new landscapes—it’s also about uncovering the deeper stories behind cultures, traditions, and creativity. In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard...
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30:40
Mission to Mars with Nina Lanza
Exploration doesn’t stop at Earth’s borders—it reaches into the stars. In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, Dr. Nina Lanza, a planetary scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, takes us on a jour...
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20:54
My Big Amazonian Family
What happens when an explorer’s greatest discovery is himself?In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese speaks with David Good, an explorer, anthropologist, and founder of...
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39:26
Into the Wilderness with RFK Jr.
Exploration comes in many forms—sometimes it’s venturing into the unknown, and sometimes it’s unearthing the past to understand our future. In this episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese sit...
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8:40
Space to Inspire: Dr. Sian Proctor’s Path to the Stars
In this inspiring episode of Life’s Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, host Richard Wiese sits down with Dr. Sian Proctor, an astronaut, artist, scientist, and the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft.Dr. P...
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27:15
Trailer - Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher
This is Life's Tough, Explorers Are Tougher, with your host, Richard Weiss. Scratch the surface of an explorer and you'll find an adventure and a great story. This show is about their tales. This podcast is a proud supporter ...
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0:19
Life’s Tough, but JR Harris is TOUGHER… Learn How This Man from Queens Became a Wilderness Trekker!
When asked what inspired him to get started as a solo backpacker over fifty years ago, JR Harris will tell you it was Richard Burton… and the movie “Alexander the Great.” He was sixteen years old and recalled th...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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37:04
Life’s Tough, but Geoff Green is TOUGHER… Learn How This Explorer Uses Trips to the Polar Region to Teach About Environmental Science
He’s led over 120 expeditions to the polar regions. Many of these trips have been in the company of students, educators, artists, and leaders. While others are planning family holidays, Geoff Green prepares to t...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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34:02
Life’s Tough, but Leela Hazzah is TOUGHER… This Champion Defender of Wildlife Reveals Her Winning Strategy to Save Lions
From her earliest recollection, Leela Hazzah has loved animals of all types. Still, she has been wildly infatuated with lions and elephants. She was raised in Egypt, where Barbary Lions lived before they became...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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30:56