Episodes Feed
EP 155: Caleb Robinson
Caleb Robinson is an ex-competitive soccer player, elite boulderer, route setter, and photographer. He started climbing at age 17 and sent his first V13 in just four years. We talked about the biggest lessons he learned from competitive soccer, how deadlifting fixed his back, a typical week of training, his finger training journey, the power of consistency over time, finding his artistic expression in photography, and much more!
EP 154: Fundamentals Part 2
Fundamentals (Part 2 of 6) — In part 2 of this series, Jesse and I dive deeper into specific tips and pitfalls for going on a bouldering trip. We covered a wide range of topics including training and preparation, crash pad and kit recommendations, how to manage skin and energy, good bouldering ethics, how to boulder in a group, and much more.
EP 153: Ollie Torr
Ollie Torr is an ex-gymnast, high-end rock climber, and co-founder of Lattice Training. We went deep in this conversation and covered Ollie’s top exercises for different types of climbers, how to climb more like Aidan Roberts, how to find your own superpowers and become a specialist, the secret to finger strength, balancing strength and fitness, overtraining vs. under recovering, taking action is six-week blocks, and much more!
EP 152: Fundamentals Part 1
Fundamentals (Part 1 of 6) — In this episode, Jesse and I each share our top tips and pitfalls for going on a climbing trip. Whether you are planning your first-ever climbing trip, or are a seasoned climber, we think you’ll find some helpful nuggets here. We learned these lessons the hard way. Hopefully, you won’t have to.
EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt
Anna Hazelnutt is a professional climber who specializes in difficult single-pitch trad and slab climbing. But don’t let her specialization fool you—she’s an all-around badass! We talked about two of her biggest climbing achievements to date, leaning into her superpowers, top training exercises for slabs, dealing with negative comments online, embracing empathy, comedy as a mechanism for change, and much more!
EP 150: Luke Mehall
Luke Mehall is the creator of The Climbing Zine and The Dirtbag State of Mind podcast. In this episode, we take turns interviewing each other. I ask Luke why he started The Climbing Zine, what lessons climbing has taught him, what themes connect the stories he selects, and how to sustain creative work. He asks me about my origin story with The Nugget, what all of these interviews have brought to my life, and the difficulties I’ve faced along the way.
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee
New interview featuring me! Isabel von Rittberg is a good friend of mine and the host of Kegels and Coffee. She interviewed me on her podcast earlier this year to talk about my experience with my first-ever panic attack in December of 2021. We talked about what led up to the panic attack and how it was a wake-up call for me, how to stay sane while getting the work done, and much more.
*This was one of the most vulnerable interviews I’ve done. And it’s one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy :)
EP 148: Alan Watts (Repost)
I often get asked, “what is your favorite interview you’ve ever done?” Firstly, I don’t have a favorite. But if I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE, it would be this episode. Alan Watts is a fascinating character in climbing history and a personal hero of mine. This interview was such a treat. I loved revisiting it for this repost. Enjoy!
*This episode was originally published in EP 04, in February 2020.
EP 147: Alayna Joy
Alayna Joy is a queer content creator and YouTuber, and newly obsessed climber. We talked about her journey of discovering she is gay, coming out publicly on her already-successful YouTube channel, how climbing has become an anchor for her, compulsory heterosexuality, questions we should ask ourselves, queerness in climbing, why our climbing progress slows down over time, and much more.
EP 146: Todd Perkins
Todd Perkins is one of those local legends who you’ve probably never heard of. That is unless you’ve climbed on some of his routes around St George, Utah. We talked about growing up in the Mormon church, the mind-opening effects of cannabis, climbing his first 5.14 in the 90s and maintaining that level for 25 years, near-death experiences, the intelligence of the cosmos, aliens, and much more.
EP 145: Katie Lamb
Katie Lamb is one of the top female boulderers in the world. We talked about her early climbing and falling in love with bouldering, climbing her first V14 and what led to her breakthrough in the last two years, projecting tips, superpowers, lifting weights, balancing training with outdoor climbing, what it will take for her to reach the next level, and working in climate data science.
EP 144: Marisa Michael
Marisa Michael is a registered dietitian nutritionist with 20 years of experience who specializes in eating disorders in athletes and climbers. We talked about the characteristics of eating disorders, the line between eating for performance and disordered eating, why losing weight won’t make you climb harder, recommendations for climbers and youth athletes, intuitive eating, Marisa’s sweet tooth, and much more.
EP 143: Matt Heyliger
Matt Heyliger, DPT is one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve talked to when it comes to climbing-related injuries and rehab. We talked about climbing together in Ten Sleep, how he is currently helping me treat carpal tunnel syndrome, how to achieve long-term health and performance, his skiing injury and the eyeball story, top recommendations for climbers, lessons from living in Spain, and much more.
EP 142: Aidan Roberts
Aidan Roberts is a 23-year-old from the UK, who has emerged as one of the strongest boulderers in the world. We talked about training for his trip to Switzerland to try Alphane V17, differences among top boulderers, how Aidan developed his climbing style, addressing finger weaknesses, training using replicas, his goal-setting philosophy, plans to train for Burden of Dreams V17, considering our environmental impact as climbers, and much more.
EP 141: Robbie Phillips
Robbie Phillips is a professional adventure climber and filmmaker from Scotland. We talked about his recent trip to the Western Isles of Scotland, his path from competitions to adventure climbing, top rope soloing to project hard routes, things he learned from climbing with Dave MacLeod, processing grief, capturing memories through filmmaking, and much more.
EP 140: Tommy Caldwell
Tommy Caldwell is the most accomplished big wall free climber alive. He is best known for having free climbed The Dawn Wall, the most difficult big wall free route in the world. We talked about his achilles injury, doing the FA of Flex Luthor, training for V12 boulder problems on The Dawn Wall, undone lines on El Cap, exploring the limits of human endurance, being vulnerable through writing a book, parenting, and much more.
EP 139: Lynn Hill
Lynn Hill is a living legend. She is best known for being the first person to free El Capitan via The Nose in 1993. We talked about what it is like to be Lynn Hill in the modern climbing world, her upbringing, what sets her apart, the story of freeing The Nose, tips for shorter climbers, her mindset and affirmations, self-belief, how she makes a living these days, upcoming video projects, and much more.
EP 138: Q&A 6 (feat. Taylor Fragomeni)
My close friend Taylor Fragomeni joins me for Q&A 6! We talked about ways to improve your climbing if your access to the gym or crag is limited, and we tackled Patron questions about bouldering at night, best bang-for-your-buck strength exercises, beta videos, daily hangboarding, how to warm up for max hangs on a lifting day, and route and boulder pyramids.
EP 137: Drew Ruana & Cameron Hörst
Drew Ruana is back on the podcast and is joined by his friend Cameron Hörst, who is one of the best young sport climbers in the country. We talked about lessons they’ve each learned from recent sends, what it was like growing up as kid crushers, training for bouldering vs. sport climbing, how to stay strong while projecting, Drew’s thoughts on climbing V18, and Cam’s thoughts on climbing 5.15c.
EP 136: Dan Varian
Dan Varian is an elite boulderer from the UK and the cofounder of Beastmaker. We talked about a finger strength test that Dan had me do, how to measure the load distribution across our fingers, silver bullets in finger strength, how to activate lazy fingers, why Dan is focusing his training on high angle crimps, his recommendations for me, and wrist training for Fontainebleau.