The MeatEater Podcast
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The MeatEater Podcast

Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will sur...

Episodes 710
Books 414

Recently mentioned

Latest Recommendations

True Grit: A Novel cover

True Grit

Charles Portis

Mentioned 5 months ago

Ep. 833: Game On, Suckers! MeatEater Trivia CCIII

A character in the novel reportedly had an injury and stated something swelled up tighter than Dick's hat band.

Do you know what Charles Portis' novel, True Grit? A guy says... Someone has an injury. I can't remember if he gets bit by a snake. And he says it's swelled up tighter than Dick's hat band.

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The Free and the Dead: The Untold Story of the Black Seminole Chief, the Indigenous Rebel, and America's Forgotten War cover

The Free and the Dead

Jamie Holmes

Mentioned 5 months ago

Ep. 832: Osceola, Native American Slavery, and The Seminole Wars

This was Jamie Holmes's third book and it was about the Seminole Wars, focusing on complexity that turned preconceived notions about the war on their head. The book featured deep archival research, leading to a very extensive notes section that was almost as long as the book itself.

His third book's out. Just out. I'm holding my hand here. It's called The Free and the Dead, The Untold Story of the Black Seminole Chief, The Indigenous Rebel, and America's Forgotten War.

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12 Seconds Of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon cover

12 Seconds Of Silence

Jamie Holmes

Mentioned 5 months ago

Ep. 832: Osceola, Native American Slavery, and The Seminole Wars

This was Jamie Holmes's second book, which focused on World War II and a group of scientists who invented a new weapon to shoot down airplanes, which they used successfully against a Nazi super weapon. He fell in love with archive work while researching this book, which served as a bridge from his first book on science to his third.

The bridge is my second book, which is 12 seconds of silence, which is completely within this genre, which is historical narrative nonfiction with a ton of archive work.

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The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald cover

The Gales of November

John U. Bacon

Mentioned 5 months ago

Ep. 826: Like Nuts on a Cat

The book about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was mentioned as an example of the type of content that would appear in the new interview show format of the podcast.

recently we had on a guy talking about his book about the Edmund Fitzgerald. Okay. For instance, that which is called the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That's the interview show.

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Bobcat of North America (Wildlife Management Institute Classics) cover

Bobcat of North America (Wildlife Management Institute Classics)

Stanley P. Young

Mentioned 5 months ago

Ep. 826: Like Nuts on a Cat

A book about bobcats from 1960 was mentioned as containing interesting historical information about the animal, despite lacking modern collaring data.

I've got a very interesting book for you. I was going to bring it on this trip, but I forgot it. And the title of it is the Bobcat of North America.

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The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays cover

The Interpretation of Cultures

Clifford Geertz

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 607: MeatEater Radio Live! Whitetail Buck Beds, Deer Sex, and Mauled By a Black Bear

The podcast host used an excerpt from this book's essay "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" to compare the cultural significance of Balinese cockfighting to the deer hunting traditions depicted in the movie *Escanaba in the Moonlight*. The essay discusses how seemingly irrational behaviors can hold profound meaning within a cultural context.

What sets deer hunting apart from the ordinary course of life lifts it from the realm of everyday practical affairs and surrounds it with an aura of enlarged importance is not, as a functionalist society would have it, that it reinforces status, but that it provides a metasocial commentary upon the whole matter of assorting human beings into fixed hierarchical ranks and then organizing the major part of collective existence around that assortment.

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MeatEater's Wild + Whole: Seasonal Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Wild Game Cookbook cover

MeatEater's Wild + Whole

Danielle Prewett

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 604: MeatEater Radio Live! An Alaska Moose Hunt, Utah Wants Your Land, and Buffalo Scapulas

This cookbook, an ode to seasonal cooking with wild and foraged ingredients, was described as containing over 80 recipes inspired by ingredients one can hunt, fish, forage, or grow. It was praised for its accessible recipes and beautiful, full-color photographs.

We've got a new book coming out in the meat eater universe, and for the first time, it is not one of mine.

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Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening cover

Undaunted Courage

Stephen E. Ambrose

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 597: Game On, Suckers! MeatEater Trivia CXXIX

It was discussed as a New York Times bestseller about Lewis and Clark, selling over 200,000 copies in its first month, and a planned HBO series based on it was canceled.

What is the name of the New York Times bestseller about Lewis and Clark that was written by Stephen Ambrose?

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The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter and Angler cover

The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook

Steven Rinella

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 594: Game On, Suckers! MeatEater Trivia CXXVIII

This cookbook contains over 80 recipes that use ingredients one can hunt, fish, forage, or grow in their garden, often pairing ingredients from different seasons; it is described as having gorgeous, full-color photographs.

MeatEater's Wild and Hole. Seasonal recipes for the conscious cook

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The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook: Wild Game Recipes for the Grill, Smoker, Campstove, and Campfire cover

The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook

Steven Rinella

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 598: MeatEater Radio Live! A Salmon Smokehouse, Killer Jerky, and the 6th Biggest Yukon Moose

The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook was referenced when discussing a cola ancho jerky recipe, which was made in a dehydrator instead of a smoker and also featured Kashmiri chili powder instead of ancho chili.

So I went to the new Meter Outdoor Cookbook and went to Cola Ancho Jerky.

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Wild Country (World of the Others, The) cover

Wild Country (World of the Others, The)

Anne Bishop

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 588: Game On, Suckers! MeatEater Trivia CXXVI

It was mentioned that Mark Kenyon may have learned about the Jefferson and Madison Rivers from writing this book.

Learned this from writing his book that wild country.

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Night of the Grizzlies cover

Night of the Grizzlies

Jack Olsen

Mentioned 1 year ago

Ep. 585: Game On, Suckers! MeatEater Trivia CXXV

This 1969 book, originally a three-part article in *Sports Illustrated*, details the fatal maulings of two young women in Glacier National Park.

Most Recommended

The Wild Game Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Hunters and Gourmets Cover

Mikael Einarsson

The Wild Game Cookbook

Simple Recipes for Hunters and Gourmets

It was mentioned that the cookbook contains creative ways to prepare wild game, and a recipe for backstrap with cauliflower puree was specifically recommended for Thanksgiving.

"

You have our wild game cookbook?

— Episode: Ep. 198: Hunting with the Home Run King

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Episode: Ep. 198: Hunting with the Home Run King

It was mentioned that the cookbook contains creative ways to prepare wild game, and a recipe for backstrap with cauliflower puree was specifically recommended for Thanksgiving.

"

You have our wild game cookbook?

Yeah, I mean. Very, very Thanksgiving-y. Perfect.

I think you should make that because it's a very, it's like you're going to have your wife's family over?

And that's a way to kind of, I'm not saying like, kind of put like an elegant twist on something from the field. And that's why I wanted to get the book.

American Legend: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett Cover

Buddy Levy

American Legend

The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett

It was described as a biography that explored the mythos of Davy Crockett, including his controversial life and legacy. The podcast host discussed details from the book, including Crockett's childhood, political career, and death at the Alamo.

"

In today's dollars, three billion in 19, I think it was like in 1955 and today's dollars would have been $3 billion. Like his name.

— Episode: Ep. 197: Eating Folks in the Arctic

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Episode: Ep. 197: Eating Folks in the Arctic

It was described as a biography that explored the mythos of Davy Crockett, including his controversial life and legacy. The podcast host discussed details from the book, including Crockett's childhood, political career, and death at the Alamo.

"

In today's dollars, three billion in 19, I think it was like in 1955 and today's dollars would have been $3 billion. Like his name.

You know how in the end of your Crockett book, you step back and look at the mythos of Crockett.

Salt the cow to catch the calf.

Crockett was the first American to be famous for being famous.

You gotta root hog or die.

Bite, Sting, Kill: The Incredible Science of Toxins, Venom, Fangs, and Stingers (National Geographic Kids) Cover

Julie Beer

Bite, Sting, Kill

The Incredible Science of Toxins, Venom, Fangs, and Stingers (National Geographic Kids)

The podcast mentioned a book by entomologist Justin Schmidt about insect toxins. It was referenced in the context of how young scientists make great discoveries because they are less concerned with established opinions.

"

he has a early in his book, he has a thing he's pointing out like this is no offense to you because the reason all the great discoveries are made by young scientists is because they don't give a shit...

— Episode: Ep. 196: A Sea of Bones

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Episode: Ep. 196: A Sea of Bones

The podcast mentioned a book by entomologist Justin Schmidt about insect toxins. It was referenced in the context of how young scientists make great discoveries because they are less concerned with established opinions.

"

he has a early in his book, he has a thing he's pointing out like this is no offense to you because the reason all the great discoveries are made by young scientists is because they don't give a shit about what everybody thinks. And then you come up with something and then most of them then spend the rest of their life trying to defend their initial idea and encircle their initial idea because they're really reluctant to be that they were wrong.

Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War Cover

Mark Bowden

Black Hawk Down

A Story of Modern War

The book was mentioned in relation to a discussion about flip-flops; specifically, the author describes tensions within military ranks in Somalia, with one point of contention being the wearing of flip-flops while on guard duty.

"

You remember that book Blackhawk Down? You might be able to give some perspective on this.

— Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

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Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

The book was mentioned in relation to a discussion about flip-flops; specifically, the author describes tensions within military ranks in Somalia, with one point of contention being the wearing of flip-flops while on guard duty.

"

You remember that book Blackhawk Down? You might be able to give some perspective on this.

I read the book Blackhawk Down and in it, the author Mark Bowden talks about some developing tensions within the ranks of people in Somalia. And one point of contention was that certain guys on this base were allowed to wear flip-flops while on guard duty.

Worth Dying For Cover

Lee Child

Worth Dying For

This book explores global security and includes a chapter on the topic of killing, according to the author.

"

And then the second book is called Worth Dying For, which talks about security throughout the world, talk about my experiences on the battlefield. I have a whole chapter on killing, w...

— Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

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Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

This book explores global security and includes a chapter on the topic of killing, according to the author.

"

And then the second book is called Worth Dying For, which talks about security throughout the world, talk about my experiences on the battlefield. I have a whole chapter on killing, which is one of my favorite chapters.

Feeding Problems in Children: A Practical Guide, Second Edition Cover

Angela Southall

Feeding Problems in Children

A Practical Guide, Second Edition

This documentary film explores the complex issue of elk feeding grounds in Wyoming, discussing the historical context, ecological consequences, and political challenges associated with this practice.

"

It's called Feeding the Problem.

— Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

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Episode: Ep. 189: Boxing With the Last Grizzly

This documentary film explores the complex issue of elk feeding grounds in Wyoming, discussing the historical context, ecological consequences, and political challenges associated with this practice.

"

It's called Feeding the Problem.

That's a very leading title, man.

Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch Cover

Dan O'Brien

Buffalo for the Broken Heart

Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch

The book was mentioned in relation to the guest's bison ranch and the natural harvesting and butchering process of the animals.

"

He wrote Buffalo for the Broken Heart.

— Episode: Ep. 188: Yvon Chouinard on Belonging to...

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Episode: Ep. 188: Yvon Chouinard on Belonging to Nature

The book was mentioned in relation to the guest's bison ranch and the natural harvesting and butchering process of the animals.

"

He wrote Buffalo for the Broken Heart.

Producing Quality Whitetails Revised Edition Cover

Al Brothers

Producing Quality Whitetails Revised Edition

This book from 1974 was discussed as the origin point of a paradigm shift in deer management, moving away from simply protecting and recovering deer populations to managing for deer health and habitat health.

"

There was a book, um, named producing quality whitetails. That's the title of the book.

— Episode: Ep. 184: Managing Bambi

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Episode: Ep. 184: Managing Bambi

This book from 1974 was discussed as the origin point of a paradigm shift in deer management, moving away from simply protecting and recovering deer populations to managing for deer health and habitat health.

"

There was a book, um, named producing quality whitetails. That's the title of the book.

Beetle Battles: One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery Cover

Douglas J. Emlen

Beetle Battles

One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery

This book, written by Doug Emlen, was described as a narrative nonfiction aimed at teenagers aged 10-14. It tells the story of his journey and research into beetle battles.

"

And it's aimed at teenagers, sort of 10 to 12, 12 to 14 year old kids. It's narrative nonfiction. It's called Beetle Battles, One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery. And i...

— Episode: Ep. 180: Teeth, Horns, and Claws

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Episode: Ep. 180: Teeth, Horns, and Claws

This book, written by Doug Emlen, was described as a narrative nonfiction aimed at teenagers aged 10-14. It tells the story of his journey and research into beetle battles.

"

And it's aimed at teenagers, sort of 10 to 12, 12 to 14 year old kids. It's narrative nonfiction. It's called Beetle Battles, One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery. And it comes out in December.

Hidden War: How Special Operations Game Wardens Are Reclaiming America's Wildlands From The Drug Cartels Cover

John Nores

Hidden War

How Special Operations Game Wardens Are Reclaiming America's Wildlands From The Drug Cartels

It focuses on the hidden war against illegal pot growers on public lands, detailing the dangers faced by game wardens and the environmental damage caused by cartel-backed operations. The author discussed the use of toxic pesticides and booby traps by the growers.

"

Reading that book, man, I was reading the book over the weekend. People are going to figure out what the book is about because we're going to talk about a bunch, but it's about like the Hidden...

— Episode: Ep. 179: The Weed Warden

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Episode: Ep. 179: The Weed Warden

It focuses on the hidden war against illegal pot growers on public lands, detailing the dangers faced by game wardens and the environmental damage caused by cartel-backed operations. The author discussed the use of toxic pesticides and booby traps by the growers.

"

Reading that book, man, I was reading the book over the weekend. People are going to figure out what the book is about because we're going to talk about a bunch, but it's about like the Hidden War is the war against illegal pot growers on public lands.

Even otherwise, just around. Reading it, I had like a hundred questions come up and I want to get into some background on you and stuff, but the main question I think that needs to be dispatched right away is like you're retired now. Game warden, Lieutenant. Right.

But you're a game warden. Right. You came out of like busting people for not having their fishing license, having too many trout on the old stringer. How in the world did it become your guys' responsibility to like take on like cartel backed illegal growers?

And you know, like all of us at the table here in the studio, I grew up loving to hunt fish. The outdoors were kind of the spiritual cornerstone of where I was at.

And as we get further into it and Hidmore really goes into what we learned later on since my first book, War in the Woods of how easy it is for them to get here, how, you know, involved business wise, the infrastructure of the cartel organizations are and how many are really spread out through not only California, the epicenter of the weed part of what they do, but the methamphetamine production nationally, human trafficking, you know, the synthetic heroin fentanyl that's poisoning a lot of people and killing them.

Folsom (The End of Men Book 1) Cover

Tarryn Fisher

Folsom (The End of Men Book 1)

The book tells the story of George McJunkin, who discovered the Folsom site, and details the process of understanding the site and its significance. It highlights how the initial focus was on large bones, and later discoveries revealed valuable insights about the environment and daily life of the people.

"

In your book, you tell the story of George McJunkin.

— Episode: Ep. 178: Hunting Mammoths

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Episode: Ep. 178: Hunting Mammoths

The book tells the story of George McJunkin, who discovered the Folsom site, and details the process of understanding the site and its significance. It highlights how the initial focus was on large bones, and later discoveries revealed valuable insights about the environment and daily life of the people.

"

In your book, you tell the story of George McJunkin.

One of the things you get at in your book Folsom is you talk about the Folsom type site and what the people who first dug it were looking for.

My Side of the Mountain Cover

Jean Craighead George

My Side of the Mountain

This book was mentioned among other books that the speaker recommends to their children to help them understand the different perspectives on hunting in children's literature.

"

That's why you got to read your kids light in the forest, hatchet My Side of the Mountain.

— Episode: Ep. 175: If Cabbages Had Legs I’d Hunt T...

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Episode: Ep. 175: If Cabbages Had Legs I’d Hunt Them Too

This book was mentioned among other books that the speaker recommends to their children to help them understand the different perspectives on hunting in children's literature.

"

That's why you got to read your kids light in the forest, hatchet My Side of the Mountain.

Distant Summer Cover

Sarah patterson

Distant Summer

It is a travelogue detailing the author's experiences in Northern Canada during the 1930s, and it was mentioned that the book details how the Chippewan Indians would nickname white people based on their appearance.

"

He was reading a book, Distant Summers, which is there's this, there's this explorer, PJ down, PG downs. And he has a travel log about being in Northern Canada in the 1930s doing rive...

— Episode: Ep. 169: Gut You Like A Fish

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Episode: Ep. 169: Gut You Like A Fish

It is a travelogue detailing the author's experiences in Northern Canada during the 1930s, and it was mentioned that the book details how the Chippewan Indians would nickname white people based on their appearance.

"

He was reading a book, Distant Summers, which is there's this, there's this explorer, PJ down, PG downs. And he has a travel log about being in Northern Canada in the 1930s doing river trips. And he talks about the Chippewan Indians would make up names for white people based on visual attributes.

Inspiring Bard Cover

Inspiring Bard

The speaker expressed their intention to write a book-length essay about the acceptability of disliking Shakespeare after retiring from their current job.

"

I want to write a book called in defense of not loving the bard and it'll be like like a Book-length essay about how it's okay to dislike Shakespeare

— Episode: Ep. 164: It Shall Be Delicious

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Episode: Ep. 164: It Shall Be Delicious

The speaker expressed their intention to write a book-length essay about the acceptability of disliking Shakespeare after retiring from their current job.

"

I want to write a book called in defense of not loving the bard and it'll be like like a Book-length essay about how it's okay to dislike Shakespeare

Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to Take the Best Buck of Your Life Cover

Robby Denning

Hunting Big Mule Deer

How to Take the Best Buck of Your Life

The podcast mentioned Geist's book on mule deer, particularly his theory about their evolution as a recent hybridization event between white-tailed and black-tailed deer, approximately 10,000 years ago. His ideas, though sometimes considered unconventional, sparked discussion and further research on the topic.

"

I remember someone saying that he will kind of like light a fuse and then leave the room by tossing something in.

— Episode: Ep. 162: Landscape of Fear

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Episode: Ep. 162: Landscape of Fear

The podcast mentioned Geist's book on mule deer, particularly his theory about their evolution as a recent hybridization event between white-tailed and black-tailed deer, approximately 10,000 years ago. His ideas, though sometimes considered unconventional, sparked discussion and further research on the topic.

"

I remember someone saying that he will kind of like light a fuse and then leave the room by tossing something in.

Yeah, I've read Val Geist's book and there was a...he talks about basically it mule deer were crossed between black tail and white tail deer.

So under Geist theory they're basically been around 10,000 years.

And when I read that I instantly thought well I was skeptical. Also as within anything with science there's usually some counterpoints and I got digging around and there's other theories of maybe glaciers separated deer and then they evolved into those different species that we know today.

So it's a Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.