*Season 2 of “America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston” kicks off on PBS on September 6 and we caught up with the host to find out what he’s most excited about fans experiencing this time around.
Thurston serves as an executive producer this season, which allowed him to see “more of the operation, which helps me do the job in the field when I understand how we got to choose this spot,” he said at a press event, Yahoo reports.
The second season will focus on the link between outdoor time and human wellness.
In season two of this popular PBS series, Thurston “travels across the U.S. to uncover more amazing stories about how we work, play and interact with the outdoors,” per the synopsis.” In a country as diverse as America, Baratunde is on a mission to see how culture, history, and the land itself are shaping what we do when we step through our front doors to embrace an outdoor way of life.”
The synopsis continues, “From a champion climber in Utah to BIPOC mountain bikers in the Ozarks, from biologists saving snapping turtles on the Suwanee River to a scientist revealing what happens to the human body when we spend time in nature, Baratunde meets a fascinating cast of Americans with one thing in common: a passion for the great outdoors.”
Many people find it challenging to disconnect from their digital devices and fully engage with nature. I asked Thurston how he hope this series inspires the audience to step away from their TV/computer/mobile device screens and embrace the outdoors for leisure and rejuvenation.
“I hope that people give enough attention to this screen to ignore the other one and to channel in, like, some ways feel what I feel and feel what our contributors feel,” he told EUR’s Ny MaGee at a press event.
“There’s a different energy when you are physically in the world versus virtually in the world. There’s more, there’s facial expressions, there’s vibe, there’s heat. There’s a different way to experience all the emotions when you’re doing it physically and nature has a way of slowing us down,” he explained.
“I’m going to put the mayor on the spot here because, you know, we’re asking about young people and their disconnection from devices, and I’m curious how you interpret, this question and maybe what you’ve seen, you know, in your own life with the young people and outdoor access as this heritage trail has come to to Elaine.”
At this point, Lisa Gilbert, Mayor of Elaine, Arkansas, chimed in to say … “I often see our young people are so in tune with nature here. I mean, we’re small, we’re rural, they come from generations of farmers, generations of hunters, people fishing. So I often have young people who just walk down Main Street getting ready to cross over the bike trail to go fishing and they have fishing poles and tackle boxe,” she explained.
“And so I think with that question, I feel a little blessed that this community has a way, and especially young people don’t have problems detaching themselves from their devices because they’re so surrounded by nature and they grew up with it and it’s just pretty much in their DNA,” Gilbert added.
“Thanks for letting me put you on the spot, Mayor, and you reminded me, when I was in New Mexico, we went to the town of Gallup, right on the edge of Dene country, the Navajo Nation reservation,” Thurston said. “Spent the whole day with 10-year-old boys on a mountain biking –- kind of a bike facility. They weren’t on their phones one second,” he explained.
“So I — from an audience perspective, I hope people see that as well, they pick up on that. Okay, when you’re out on the range, when you’re on the lake, when you’re on the bay, when you’re on the bike path, you’re in it,” he told EUR. “Your attention is fully required and if you’re trying to Candy Crush while you’re doing those things, you’re not going to have as much fun.”
Tune in to “America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston” on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS.
READ MORE: Comedian Craig Robinson Talks New Season of ‘Killing It’ | EUR Exclusive
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
