Armchair Explorer

In this third episode of our seven-part road trip through Arizona, we explore one of the most unusual national parks in America: Petrified Forest. But this isn't like any forest you've ever seen. Here, giant trees that fell more than 200 million years ago have turned to stone, their insides glowing with reds, purples and yellows and their crystals sparkling in the sun. There are many places in the world where you can see fossils, but this is one of the few where you can actually reach out and touch them.
We hike through fire-painted badlands and fields of rainbow-colored logs, uncover 13,000 years of human history carved into the rock, and go behind the scenes with the paleontologists still unearthing creatures from the dawn of the dinosaurs.
This is Arizona - the Wonder of the Forest.
Episode Highlights:
A Forest Turned to Stone
Walk among the fallen giants of the Rainbow Forest on the Giant Logs Trail, home to "Old Faithful," a petrified log almost ten feet wide at its base. Then follow the Crystal Forest Trail, where quartz glitters along the path like stars in the midday sun.
Into the Painted Desert
Travel the park's single 28-mile scenic road through badlands striped like candy corn and past the Tepees, cone-shaped hills banded in rust and white.
Back to Time
Travel back more than 200 million years with Dr. Bill Parker, to a time when Arizona lay near the equator and looked more like Costa Rica than desert. Picture towering conifers lining an Amazon-sized river, ferns and cycads underfoot, and not a flower or blade of grass anywhere. Then find out how volcanic ash turned those fallen trees to stone.
Messages in Stone
Discover 13,000 years of human history, from Ice Age spear points made of petrified wood to an ancient pueblo built from it.
A Real-Life Jurassic Park
Go behind the scenes with lead paleontologist Dr. Adam Marsh as he reveals the skull of a Postosuchus, a crocodile relative that looked like a T. rex and ruled this land more than 200 million years ago. It's one of only a handful ever found.
What's Latin for Funky Worm?
Find out why paleontologists named the world's oldest known caecilian after a 1970s funk song, and hear our humble request for the next new species found in the park.
PLAN YOUR TRIP
This isn’t just a podcast. It’s a road trip you can take. Recorded entirely on location over two extraordinary weeks, Wonders of Arizona follows a new, bookable itinerary designed and road-tested by presenter and award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar (The Times, National Geographic Traveller and more), told through the voices of the people who know these places best. Hear it first, then make the journey your own.
To find out more go to:
USA and Worldwide Listeners: wondersofaz.com
UK Listeners: search up Wonders of Arizona at HaysTravel.co.uk ... Or phone: 0800 408 4048.
Thank you to our guests:
Dr. Bill Parker, Chief of Science and Resource Management, Petrified Forest National Park
Dr. Adam Marsh, Lead Paleontologist, Petrified Forest National Park
Matthew Smith, Museum Curator, Petrified Forest National Park

Plan your visit: nps.gov/pefo
FOLLOW VISIT ARIZONA:
Instagram: @visitarizona
Facebook: @visitarizona
CREDITS:
The Wonders of Arizona podcast is written and presented by Aaron Millar. Field recording and audio production by Jason Paton. Pre-production and itinerary by Brian Thacker. Produced by Armchair Productions for Visit Arizona.
Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around
the world
This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email advertising@voyascape.com or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

In today’s episode, we’re traveling in style. You probably know the film maker Wes Anderson. He makes those stylized, slightly absurd movies like the Royal Tenenbaums, Grand Hotel Budapest, Life Aquatic and more. His sets transform the real world into peculiar, perfectly symmetrical scenes that look like a cross-between a stage play and an acid trip.
Accidentally Wes Anderson has flipped that idea on its head. They set out into the real world to find places that look like they belong in one of his films, places that are accidentally as bizarre and beautiful as his imagination: the unique, the symmetrical, the atypical, the most interesting, idiosyncratic locations on Earth. Since 2017 they’ve built a community of millions, with best-selling books, exhibitions and an utterly beautiful Instagram page.
In this episode, host Aaron Millar takes you inside one of those images to spend a night in an asylum. Voluntarily. Recorded entirely on location, the episode tells the story of the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, a vast, castle-like 19th-century building that has been partly restored as a hotel. The rest still lies abandoned, untouched since the last patients left in 1974 (creepy wheelchairs and all).
But this isn’t a ghost story. It’s a story about how what we build shapes how we feel.
Join Aaron as he explores both sides of this extraordinary building, climbs a single ladder to the top of a terrifying tower, and tries to make it through one night in the asylum.
Did he sleep with the lights on? Curtains, please.
PLAN YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE:
Discover more of the world’s most interesting, idiosyncratic places, find location guides and submit your own photos at accidentallywesanderson.com
Join the AWA Community on Instagram and Facebook @accidentallywesanderson
Find out how to stay at the Richardson Hotel yourself at richardsonhotelbuffalo.com
THANK YOU TO TODAY’S GUESTS:
Paris Roselli, President of the Richardson Center Corporation: richardson-olmsted.com
Derek Noble, Principal at Shepley Bulfinch: shepleybulfinch.com
KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THIS?
If you enjoyed this episode, send it to one person who’d love it. The friend who photographs every symmetrical doorway. The one who reads hotel histories for fun. Maybe they’ll buy you a cheeky pint.
FOLLOW US:
Instagram: @armchairexplorerpodcast
Facebook: @armchairexplorerpodcast
armchair-explorer.com
CONNECT WITH US:
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on whatever podcast player you’re reading this on right now. Go on, do it! It helps us grow the show, and continue to bring this content to you.
CREDITS:
Written and presented by Aaron Millar
Produced by Wally Koval for Accidentally Wes Anderson and Aaron Millar for Armchair Productions. Armchair-productions.com
Field recording and audio production by Jason Paton
Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around
the world
This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email advertising@voyascape.com or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

In this second episode of our seven-part road trip through Arizona, we head for the Sky Islands: isolated mountain ranges that rise out of the desert like islands from a sea. This is the most biodiverse region in North America, where jaguars and ocelots still roam and more than half of the continent's bird species have been recorded.
We take a nature tour with one of the country's foremost naturalists and survival experts, then head for Mount Lemmon, passing through six ecological zones in just 35 minutes. In terms of natural habitats, that's the equivalent of traveling from Mexico to Canada. At the top, we rope up for a Native American-led rock climb to hear what this remarkable eco-system means to the people who have lived here for thousands of years.
This is Arizona - the Wonder of the Sky.
Episode Highlights:
Islands in a Sea of Desert
You may never have heard of the Sky Islands, but naturalist Vincent Pinto says there's nowhere on the continent more alive. From hummingbirds and hawks to jaguars and golden eagles, life is everywhere in these mountain islands and the sea of grass between them. Take a nature tour with Vincent and discover this ecological wonder for yourself.
The Art of Seeing
Walk the trails of Raven's Nest Nature Sanctuary as Vincent teaches the art of truly seeing nature. Meet a rabbit that eats its own scat, a plant that smells like grandpa's couch, and the smallest butterfly in North America.
Stone Age Survival
Discover how to turn a rock into a knife sharp enough to use as a scalpel, taught by a wilderness survival expert who has consulted for TV shows including Marooned with Ed Stafford.
Navajo Heights
Travel to the top of Mount Lemmon with Diné (Navajo) climbing guide Aaron Mike, and hear why climbing is how he feels most connected to his heritage, and to the stories his people tell about the land.
PLAN YOUR TRIP
Recorded entirely on location over ten extraordinary days, this immersive documentary podcast follows a road trip designed and road-tested by presenter and award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar (The Times, National Geographic Traveller and more) and his team at Armchair Productions.
To find out how you can take this exact road trip yourself, go to wondersofaz.com.
Thank you to our guests:
Vincent Pinto, Ravens-Way Wild Journeys and Raven's Nest Nature Sanctuary: ravensnatureschool.com
Aaron Mike, Altitude Mountain Guides: altitudemountainguides.com

FOLLOW VISIT ARIZONA:
Instagram: @visitarizona
Facebook: @visitarizona
CREDITS:
The Wonders of Arizona podcast is written and presented by Aaron Millar. Field recording and audio production by Jason Paton. Pre-production and itinerary by Brian Thacker. Produced by Armchair Productions for Visit Arizona.
Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around
the world
This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email advertising@voyascape.com or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

There is a moment in every great adventure when the world shifts beneath your feet. For explorer Charlie Walker, it came in a Siberian supermarket, comparing brands of pasta at minus 38 degrees, when his phone buzzed with a BBC alert: Russia has invaded Ukraine. He was about to begin a 600-mile solo trek through northern Russia, crossing some of the most remote, frozen wilderness on Earth. The official advice was to leave as soon as possible. He chose to stay.
On Thin Ice is the story of what happened next. A journey across a Siberian Zimnik, a frozen winter road through silent forests and tundra, past Gulag towns and disappearing indigenous villages, into the heart of a country at war with itself as much as with its neighbour. It is a story of extraordinary human warmth in the coldest place on Earth, of state surveillance and midnight knocks at the door, of weeks spent in a Russian prison cell, counting days up instead of days down. And it is a story, ultimately, about the nature of truth and a mirror it holds up to all of us.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Stranded in Yakutsk
Hear how Charlie found himself in Yakutsk the morning Russia invaded Ukraine, standing in a supermarket comparing pasta packets when his phone buzzed with the news that changed everything.
Siberia’s Ice Road
Travel with Charlie along the Zimnik, one of Siberia’s frozen winter roads, through total whiteout, wolf tracks, blinding cold, and drunk lorry drivers navigating in the dark without headlights.
The Coldest Place on Earth
Discover the warmth hidden in the coldest place on Earth: Sakha women who dressed Charlie in traditional ceremonial costumes, fed him horse blood sausage, danced with him, and sent him off with a shaman’s blessing the next morning.
Imprisoned in Putin’s Russia
Find out what it feels like to be arrested, tried, and imprisoned in Putin’s Russia, and how Charlie spent nearly four weeks in an Arctic prison cell, counting shuffling footsteps from one wall to the other.
FIND OUT MORE
Charlie Walker’s book On Thin Ice is available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold.
Explore Charlie’s other expeditions and books at cwexplore.com
Follow Charlie on Instagram: @cwexplore
KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THIS?
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FOLLOW US
Instagram: @armchairexplorerpodcast
Website: armchair-explorer.com
CONNECT WITH US
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss a thing, and if you have a spare moment, look up - there’s five stars waiting to be clicked! It goes a long way in helping others find the show.
CREDITS
Armchair Explorer is written and presented by Aaron Millar. Audio editing and sound design by Charles Tyrie. Produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at Armchair-Productions.com
Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around
the world
This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email advertising@voyascape.com or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.

In this first episode of our seven-part road trip through Arizona, we walk among the ancient cactus forests of Saguaro National Park. Then we saddle up at White Stallion Ranch for legendary guns, dusty arenas and a campfire under the stars with a cowboy poet. It's a journey into the heart of one of the most remarkable deserts in the world, and into the mythology of the American West that this landscape helped shape.
This is Arizona - the Wonder of the Desert.
Episode Highlights:
The Desert Miracle
Hear why Ranger Jordan Camp from Saguaro National Park calls the giant saguaro a "miracle of the desert," and discover the extraordinary biology behind one of nature's most remarkable survivors.
The Symbol of the West
Find out how a cactus that grows only in the Sonoran Desert became Hollywood's defining image of the Wild West, and why the real desert is nothing like the movies.
Guns of the Wild West
Step into the armory at White Stallion Ranch as the resident gunslinger and raconteur lays out some of the most legendary weapons in American history, from the Colt revolver made famous by Wyatt Earp to Billy the Kid's fast-draw pistol.
Team Penning
Get into the heart of the action as Aaron, mic'd up and in the saddle for the first time, attempts to herd cattle on horseback at White Stallion Ranch. Spoiler: the cows were not impressed.
The Keeper of the Fire
As the sun drops behind the Tucson Mountains and the saguaros turn to silhouettes on the horizon, gather around a campfire with cowboy poet and musician Buck Helton, and hear a song about memory, tradition and what it means to keep a flame alive.
PLAN YOUR TRIP
This isn’t just a podcast. It’s a road trip you can take. Recorded entirely on location over two extraordinary weeks, Wonders of Arizona follows a new, bookable itinerary designed and road-tested by presenter and award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar (The Times, National Geographic Traveller and more), told through the voices of the people who know these places best. Hear it first, then make the journey your own.
To find out more go to:
USA and Worldwide Listeners: wondersofaz.com (https://www.wondersofaz.com)
UK Listeners: search up Wonders of Arizona at HaysTravel.co.uk (https://www.haystravel.co.uk/destinations/americas/rest-of-usa/arizona/wonders-of-arizona/wonders-of-arizona/) ... Or phone: 0800 408 4048.
FOLLOW VISIT ARIZONA:
Instagram: @visit_arizona
Facebook: @arizonatravel
CREDITS:
Thank you to our guests:
Ranger Jordan Camp, Saguaro National Park
The whole team at White Stallion Ranch (WhiteStallionRanch.com)
Cowboy poet and musician Buck Helton (BuckHelton.com)

The Wonders of Arizona podcast is written and presented by Aaron Millar. Field recording and audio production by Jason Paton. Pre-production and itinerary by Brian Thacker. Produced by Armchair Productions
Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around
the world
This podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape Podcast Network For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email advertising@voyascape.com or you can find more information at Voyascape Advertising.