Tim Brown, on adventure & tintype photography, impacts of photography’s tech evolution, 1980s housing affordability, and heartbreak & healing

Overview: Tim Brown probably is most known for his tintype photography these days. But he also had many exciting years of globe-traveling as a rarely skilled kayaker-slash-adventure photographer. He talks about both with Adam.  As well as his dive into the mid-19th century techniques of tintype photography after opportunities for Read more…

Ken Brandon, of Box of Bubbles, on Dalí & da Vinci, Absurdism & Stoicism, & channeling a character of love, joy & weirdness on a bicycle

Overview: Ken Brandon seems to be a kind of philosophical Stoic, Buddhist, absurdist Spartan, who is known for riding a bicycle around Salida, Colo., while wearing a giraffe head and a three-piece suit. And yet he describes himself as “boring.” Ken also is a designer, a painter and a screenwriter, Read more…

Anna Heinauer, on nutrition & MyPlate, diet culture & ‘tricky foods,’ being a positive force in the food system & her children’s book, ‘Alice and the Garden’

Overview: Anna Heinauer is an integrative nutrition health coach and she’s co-owner of The Lettucehead Food Company. Host Adam Williams talks with Anna about many things nutrition. Like, what is it, really? And why should we care about it? They talk about the value of local food sources and the Read more…

Jason Marsden, on GARNA, the state of journalism today, being a cocktail party diversion at Harvard, and his friend Matthew Shepard

Overview: In this episode of We Are Chaffee’s Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Jason Marsden, executive director of the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association (GARNA). Adam talks with Jason about his early years growing up on a farm, his studying post-WWII poetry at Harvard, and his time as Read more…

Jennifer Dempsey, on the value of social circus, Belfast during ‘The Troubles,’ creating resilience through humor and being the world’s worst waitress

Overview: In this episode of We Are Chaffee’s Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Jennifer Dempsey, founder of the Salida (Colo.) Circus and former director of the Belfast Community Circus in Northern Ireland. They talk about what a social circus is and the good it serves in a community. Read more…

Shane McNeil, on ‘Guy with the Chevy Tattoo,’ straight-edge punk, three chords and the truth, psilocybin, PMA & living in the gray

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Shane McNeil, singer-songwriter-guitarist, auto mechanic and jack-of-all-trades.  In this conversation, Adam talks with Shane about tattoos and Shane’s autobiographical song, “Guy with the Chevy Tattoo.” They talk about the early influences in Shane’s life, Read more…

Jed Selby, South Main developer & former pro kayaker, on affordable housing, building the future, his love of live music & what motivates him

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Jed Selby, co-developer of South Main in Buena Vista, Colorado. That includes the Surf Hotel, the bar and restaurant Wesley & Rose, and the concert venues of the Ivy Ballroom and the Lawn, among Read more…

Alf Rudd | We Are Chaffee's Looking Upstream Podcast

Alpheus “Alf” Rudd, 10th-generation master blacksmith, on times gone by, the value of old-world skills and self-sufficiency, and ‘Forged in Fire’

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Alpheus “Alf” Rudd, a master blacksmith with a family lineage in the trade, dating back to at least the 1600s. Adam and Alf take a ride through history and stories of a time gone Read more…

Keith Baker, County Commissioner and retired U.S. Navy Commander, on growing up in a ‘golden era,’ working with Gen. Colin Powell and servant leadership

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Keith Baker, Chaffee County (Colo.) Commissioner, retired U.S. Naval Commander, and former owner of The Trailhead (Buena Vista, Colo.), to name just a few chapters in Keith’s story. Keith talks about his country roots Read more…

Kimi Uno, on Riot Grrrl, ‘Howl’, her family’s experience of internment camp during World War II, and the importance of fighting for what’s right

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with entrepreneur and activist Kimi Uno. Kimi shares about the influence of the  movement on her life when she was coming up in the Pacific Northwest. She and Adam talk about female empowerment and feminism, Read more…

Rick Bieterman & Katy Welter, of Watershed Ranch, on adventure & leaps of faith, leadership & community, land conservation & historic preservation

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Rick Bieterman and Katy Welter. Rick Bieterman and Katy Welter. Katy and Rick are married partners in a life of ranching and historic renovation, and other adventures. They met on a 75-day outdoor leadership Read more…

Elisia Parham, on slam poetry, Black Lives Matter, allyship, confronting her own biases, activism out of love, and having difficult conversations

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Elisia Parham, poet, activist and social worker. Elisia is a poet who grew up in unconventional circumstances. She and Adam talk about how those circumstances helped her to develop resilience and her voice, Read more…

Wendell Pryor, on civil rights and public service, family values, the importance of Internet for rural connectivity, and only semi-retiring in his 70s

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Wendell Pryor, the retired former executive director of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in Chaffee County, Colo. Wendell tells about growing up in what was then a rural area outside Denver, coming up Read more…

Lenny & Amy Eckstein, of the craft distillery Deerhammer, on big career changes and taking risks, leadership and crafting company culture, and squirt boating

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Amy and Lenny Eckstein, the married couple and entrepreneurial energy behind the craft distillery Deerhammer. Lenny and Amy tell about their East Coast origin story, how they met and made their way west, Read more…

Les Messamer, on growing up fundamentalist, being shunned for enlisting during WWII, being a seagoing cowboy on the Pacific, and more 

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Les Messamer, a 96-year-old World War II veteran who one might swear has lived multiple lives simultaneously. Adventurous ones and otherwise. Les tells about his upbringing in a fundamentalist religious farm community in Read more…

Dominique Naccarato, dir. of GARNA, on growing up in Salida in the pre-Internet era, waves of change and a look into the 22nd century

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Dominique Naccarato, executive director of the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association (GARNA) and city council member in Salida, Colo. Dominique’s story is Salida’s story, at least in part. She talks with Adam about Read more…