‘Out There,’ telling intimate stories about the great outdoors, joins the growing H&S family
Boston, MA—September 29, 2022 — Out There, an award-winning independent podcast created by former Wyoming Public Radio reporter and host Willow Belden, has become the newest show in Hub & Spoke’s outstanding lineup. The podcast explores big questions through intimate outdoor stories.
Belden announced the news in Out There’s September 29 episode, which follows a young man into the woods for his first-ever hunting trip and explores whether we all have it in us to pull the trigger. The episode is an apt illustration of the show’s mission to understand how the outdoors—whether that means the remote wilderness, or a city sidewalk—can help us navigate life’s big questions and make sense out of our world.
“I started Out There because no other podcast was telling the kinds of stories I wanted to tell,” Belden says. “Traditional outdoor journalism tends to focus strictly on adventure. It’s all about conquering summits and setting speed records—proving your superiority over the natural world and the people around you. I’m more interested in how the outdoors can change us and help us understand our own humanity.”
In their storytelling, Belden’s team works hard to make everyone feel welcome. “So often, nature is portrayed as a playground for privileged white people,” Belden explains. “We want to change that. We believe the outdoors is for everyone, regardless of where you were raised, the color of your skin or anything else about you. If you’ve stepped outside for any reason, you have a connection to nature. We celebrate those connections and work to amplify voices that are often sidelined.”
For example, Out There has told the story of an art student from China who rekindled her creative energy through stargazing; they’ve explored how Live Action Role Play helped one Black woman recognize her own beauty; and in an award-winning episode about an intersex runner, they’ve shown why “fairness” in sports is more complicated than you might think.
“We’re thrilled to be joining Hub & Spoke,” Belden says. “I’ve been in love with their shows ever since I started listening. It’s some of the best audio storytelling around. And just like Out There, the Hub & Spoke shows are all driven by big ideas and boundless curiosity. I’m honored to have found a home here—to be part of a community of storytellers who believe that introspective storytelling is inherently worthwhile, and that thoughtfully produced independent podcasts have a place in this world.”
“I’m a longtime Out There listener, and also an avid hiker, and I’ve always admired Willow’s ability to get people to open up about what the outdoors means to them,” says Wade Roush, co-founder of Hub & Spoke and producer of SOONISH. “The show broadens the conversation about ‘getting outdoors’ beyond the affluent people you see shopping at REI or hayriding on L.L. Bean catalog covers, to talk about the way Black Americans, people experiencing poverty, and other groups engage with the outdoors. On top of all that, Willow puts herself into the action whenever possible. In her award-winning episode about the soul-crushing Enduro mountain bike race outside Laramie, Wyoming, I felt like I was struggling up those hills right alongside her.”
Out There launched in 2015 and has received numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Public Media Journalists Association, and Public Radio News Directors Inc. It’s also been short-listed for its first international award. The show is produced and hosted by Belden from her base in Laramie, and its team includes audience growth director Sheeba Joseph and advertising manager Jessica Taylor. Belden works with freelance storytellers across the globe, and she’s looking forward to mentoring a new cohort of interns for Out There’s next season.
Out There is the eleventh show in total, and the third this year, to join Hub & Spoke. In August the collective welcomed Vanessa Lowe’s Nocturne, a podcast about the surprising things that happen to us at night, and in early September it added Lori Mortimer’s Mementos, a show about the deeply personal stories embedded in our heirlooms and keepsakes.
This rapid growth is part of a deliberate strategy to identify high-quality, longform, story-focused, unaffiliated podcasts that can benefit from—and in turn enhance—Hub & Spoke’s mission to carve out a more stable place in the podcasting marketplace for independent shows.
“We’re trying to prove that independent shows can thrive even as the rest of the podcasting industry consolidates and corporatizes,” Roush says. “Our producers benefit from professional support, cross-promotion, and—if our fundraising efforts succeed—production grants to help keep their shows going. Out There is a perfect example of the kind of thoughtful, humanistic, high-quality audio content we want to support.”
About Hub & Spoke
A project of the nonprofit Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, Hub & Spoke is a collective of audio storytellers dedicated to promoting and sustaining high-quality independent podcasting, outside the structures of public media or the commercial streaming networks. We provide our member-producers with social and professional support and cross-promotional opportunities, and our nascent fundraising effort is aimed at providing members with direct financial support to offset the costs of independent audio production. Learn more about all of our shows at hubspokeaudio.org.
