On the Dogwatch

Today On the Dogwatch it is a tremendous pleasure to be able to talk with John Branson, who was a longtime friend of Richard “Dick” Proenneke, and the one who edited and published his journals over five volumes. John lives in Alaska just a five-minute walk from the Lake Clark visitor center for the National Park Service. The region is known for its incredible natural beauty, an

When Lieutenant Commander Ike boards the USS Wasp, the lead amphibious assault ship in the U.S. Navy, people notice. He’s truly unlike any other sailor but immediately commands respect. And we wouldn’t suggest directing any kind of slight at Ike, especially around the Wasp’s crew, which when full is over 3000 people. It’s true, LCDR Ike walks on four feet, chases a ball, an

There are a lot of ways of getting around in the natural world, from hiking to canoeing to biking to swimming. Parachuting is one that few of us have experience with, but is an important historical and current mode of travel. Fortunately, today we have on the podcast someone who has firsthand experience and is the author of two books that relate to paratroopers in WWII.In our conve

Alexandra Horowitz is a cognitive scientist who teaches courses like canine cognition and animal behavior at Barnard College in New York. She’s also an acclaimed author, and a sampling of her books include The Year of the Dog, Our Dogs Ourselves, The Year of the Puppy, and Inside of a dog. Suffice it to say that Alexandra knows quite a bit about dogs, and she’s an expert at sha

Hello, thank you for joining us today On the Dogwatch, where we consider the natural world and the things that help us experience it. On this podcast, it is like we are on a ship’s watch together, staring out at the ocean, thinking about the world as it goes by, and going wherever curiosity takes us. I am Michael Canfield, it is currently 1952 at the end of the Second Dog Watch,

If I’m not mistaken, it was John Keats who said “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.” That pretty much sums up Chelsea Clocks. This company is the oldest functioning clock company in the United States, and they make clocks at the highest levels of refinement and luxury. They still make mechanical clocks with their iconic solid brass case. The breadth of their offerings is si

Hello, thank you for joining us today On the Dogwatch, where we consider the natural world and the things that help us experience it. I am Michael Canfield, it is currently 10:37 on the Forenoon Watch, and this is Episode 61.We are back from a break on the podcast and have prepared some exciting new directions and a lineup of guests and topics that we think you will enjoy. Since we

What can happen when you combine 4,200 dogs and 39,000 people? It turns out a lot of learning and fun. In this episode, we talk with Chuck Delaney of the Armstrong Ranch about Game Fair, a sport and outdoor show located in Ramsey, Minnesota. From Chuck’s perspective after running Game Fair for 42 years, we learn the history of the event, and how it was modeled after similar event

So what is a toothpick, where did these originate, and what happens when you set out to make the finest toothpicks in the world? Our guest today, Peter Smith at Daneson, helps us answer these questions. In our conversation, we discuss the history of toothpicks, and even their use by early modern humans, how these small slivers of wood became status symbols, and eventually fell out

What happens when you both love to travel and want to take some of the comforts of home along with you on your adventures? You guess it, you turn to campaign furniture and its descendents. Today On the Dogwatch we have the opportunity to talk with Christopher Schwarz, the person who literally wrote the book on campaign furniture. Chris is a longstanding fixture in American woodwork