Lake Superior Podcast
We are made stronger by story and there’s no better source than the continent's largest body of freshwater, Lake Superior. Join hosts Walt Lindala and Frida Waara as they highlight the five National Parks that ring this Greatest of the Great Lakes - meeting the people, touring the places and learning about the projects that make these parks and body of water so remarkable.
Join our podcast community! Please share your own stories, comments and podcast episode suggestions (www.nplsf.org/community).
Brought to you by The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation (www.nplsf.org).
Theme song: King Whirl by David Huckfelt (www.davidhuckfelt.com).
Photo Credit: David Guttenfelder.
Podcast sponsored by Café Imports, a Minneapolis-based importers of fine, specialty green coffees.
Episodes
73 episodes
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S6 E11: The Road Less Paved: Biking the Wild North — with Josh Rizzo
Biking in the Superior Country is more than just a way to get around—it’s a way of life. From gravel roads to rugged trails to family bike packing along Big Blue’s shoreline, the region offers two-wheeled adventure in every season. In this epis...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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35:14
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S6 E10: What Lies Beneath: Lake Superior’s Underwater Cleanup – With Diver Don Fassbender
Lake Superior is not only the largest of the Great Lakes, but the water quality is also some of the clearest. Yet, historically, the Lake was often a dumping ground for all kinds of debris. "Out of sight, out of mind” was an all-too-commo...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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32:32
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S6 E9: Mining the Past: How Copper Shaped the Keweenaw and Its World-Class Museum - An Interview with John Jaszczak
"If you didn’t grow it, you’ve got to mine it,” says John Jaszczak, Director and Curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum in Houghton, Michigan. Since 1838--just after Michigan became a state--geologists and miners have been collecting rock a...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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31:19
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S6 E8: Isle Royale: Trip Planning, Wildlife, and Wilderness Safety – An Interview with Chris Amidon
Isle Royale National Park is the Great Lakes Mecca for backpackers. This archipelago of islands is also one of our most remote National Parks so preparing for a visit takes extra planning. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lind...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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34:47
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S6 E7: Coffee, Community, and the Power of the Big Lake – An Interview with Sarah Jorgenson-Hallberg
Minnesota’s North Shore has been a gathering place for centuries. Whether heading into the Boundary Waters or out on Lake Superior, Grand Marais ranks a favorite Base Camp. While it may be small in population, it’s big in spirit. Life her...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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36:13
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S6 E6: Fort Wilkins, Copper Harbor, and Living History in the Keweenaw – An Interview with Barry James
Long before the Keweenaw Peninsula became a destination for hikers, bikers, and Lake Superior rock hounds, it was the stage for a national copper rush. Shortly after Michigan became a state in 1837, Geologist Douglas Houghton was sent to ...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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30:11
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S6 E5: Isle Royale in Winter: Survival, Science, and Secrets in the Snow – An Interview with Jonathan Pauli
Winter Study at Isle Royale National Park has a decades long history, but just a few scientists ever get the chance to spend time on this isolated archipelago in Lake Superior. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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37:58
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S6 E4: Tourism, Economic Growth, and the Magic of Munising - An Interview with Kathy Reynolds
Our National Parks are important places, not just for their preservation of natural beauty and resources, but also for the economic impact they bring to gateway communities. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sees n...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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34:57
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S6 E3: The Lake Trout Resurgence In Lake Superior: A Conservation Success Story - An Interview with Shawn Sitar
Since the 1940’s, Lake Trout have been extinct in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. Pressure from commercial fishing as well as the invasion of sea lamprey devastated this native species, and the population in Lake Superior also suff...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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28:22
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S6 E2: Michigan Ice Fest – Where Adventure Meets Community – An Interview with Bill Thompson
Winter can be a sleepy time at the National Parks on Lake Superior, but at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan, visitors come to snowmobile, mush dogs, snowshoe, fish and cross-country ski. But the biggest event to bring f...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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31:27
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S6 E1: Chasing Sunrise On Lake Superior: An Interview with Bugsy Sailor
New Year Resolutions, if you don’t make them, chances are you thought about it. But do those promises keep? In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with Bugsy Sailor, the Official Unofficial Ambassador of ...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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34:38
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S5 E14: The Estivant Pines Story - 50 Years of Conservation with Charles Eshbach
The forests that ring Lake Superior are some of the most magical on the continent. At the tip of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, in Copper Harbor, you’ll find the Estivant Pines. This 570 acres of old-growth pine has lured hikers for decades. Bu...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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37:51
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S5 E13: Foraging - Rediscover and Reconnect With Nature - An Interview with Tim Clemens
Since time began humans have been foragers. Survival depended on connecting to the natural world. Today, when most of our food comes from a grocery store or is eaten in a restaurant, that link has been lost. But not for Tim Clemens. In this epi...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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33:04
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S5 E12: Capturing the Magic of The Northern Lights: An Interview with Ogetay Kayali
Witnessing the Northern Lights checks a bucket-list for many. The first time you see the sky erupt in waves of pulsing white, green, red, or even blue light makes lifelong memories. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala and...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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31:11
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S5 E11: Pictured Rocks: Where Conservation Meets Recreation - An Interview with Hannah Bradburn
Nearly a million visitors came to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 2023, contributing over $45 million dollars to the nearby economies. For Alger County--with a population of less than nine thousand people—the ...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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31:13
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S5 E10: Isle Royale Through The Lens - An Interview with Tom Haas, Photographer and Author
For those who have backpacked Isle Royale, you know it’s a rugged place. Imagine carrying a 20 pound camera and wooden tripod around, along with a stash of 4x5 black and white film. In 1967, Tom Haas, a 19 year old college student from Connecti...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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27:39
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S5 E9: Great Lakes Shipping - An Interview with Sam Hankinson, Development Coordinator at the Port of Monroe
While we see trucks and trains moving freight around the country, goods are also traveling by freighter, and some of those ships are 1,000 feet long. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with Sam Hanki...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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38:40
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S5 E8: The Lutsong Music Festival - An Interview with Co-Founder Scott Schuler
Music. Why is it important? For most--on a personal level--music stirs feelings, memories and sensations. But sharing music is also a way to for people to connect, bond thoughts and emotions when words won’t do. Lake Superior’s waves have been ...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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29:43
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S5 E7: Jon Prain - "The Isle Royale Guy"
A backpacking trip to Isle Royale heads up the Bucket List for many, but with 165 miles of trails and 36 campsites, planning a trip can be overwhelming, particularly for first-timers. Experience counts. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podc...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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31:14
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S5 E6: Jerry Dennis - Award-Winning Great Lakes Author - Traverse City, Michigan
Jerry Dennis is one of the country’s most prolific outdoor writers. With by-lines in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Orion, American Way, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Gray's Sporting Journal as well as 13 books--and most re...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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32:44
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S5 E5: Aidan Lee - Owner of Trek & Trail - Bayfield, Wisconsin
When it comes to kayaking this Sweetwater Sea, a paddler has 2,726 miles of spectacular shoreline to explore as well as three National Parks: Isle Royale, Apostle Islands and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores. But it’s also a destination where...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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31:59
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S5 E4: Tyler Penrod - Program Manager with the Superior Watershed Partnership - Marquette, Michigan
Changing climate is impacting Lake Superior. The lack of ice cover this past winter effects coastal erosion, water levels, fish populations and wildlife. Plus, the unseasonably warm weather has economic and cultural impacts on the shoreline com...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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29:53
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S5 E3: Dan Fountain - Author, Shipwreck Historian and Researcher
Lake Superior is home to an estimated 550 shipwrecks, with approximately half of them still undiscovered. In this episode of the Lake Superior podcast, hosts Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with Dan Fountain, author, shipwreck historian, and ...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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30:14
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S5 E2: Phyllis Green - Former Superintendent of Isle Royale National Park - Ballast Winter
Lake Superior tops the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem as well as the longest deep-draft inland waterway, extending from Duluth, Minnesota, to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly 10,000 cargo ships pass through the Soo ...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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27:20
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S5 E1: Dr. Sarah Hoy - Research Assistant Professor at Michigan Technological University - Isle Royale Winter Study Suspended
Unseasonably warm weather along Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie to Grand Portage has canceled a host of winter events from sled dog and cross-country ski races to snowmobile rides and ice fishing tournaments. But it’s not just tourism that ...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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24:22