Audiobooks by Steven Rinella

MeatEater's American History: The Mountain Men (1806-1840)

From the creators of the New York Times bestselling audio series Campfire Stories and MeatEater's American History comes a new audiobook original that plunges listeners into the untamed world of a celebrated and misunderstood group of nineteenth-century outdoorsmen: the Mountain Men. Steven Rinella (The MeatEater Podcast) brings to life the legendary wilderness exploits of men such as Jim Bridger, Jedidiah Smith, and Hugh Glass, who headed out to the Rocky Mountains to trap beavers in the decades following the Louisiana Purchase. Living off the land and dodging grizzly bears, these colorful characters carved out an existence defined by their relationships with Native people, their capacity to endure the most trying conditions, and their intimate knowledge of the western landscape. This small fraternity of backwoodsmen-numbering only a few hundred at any point in time, and perhaps 3,000 total over the course of the era-not only lived in dramatic fashion, they died the same way: one in ten would suffer some sort of violent death in the wilds of the Rockies. Their extraordinary feats-some heroic, others horrifying-helped define an era when the West represented not just unmapped territory, but untapped opportunity. And when a combination of economic and ecological factors caused their world to collapse, the mountain men left behind more than just tracks in the wilderness; they established an enduring archetype of independence, resilience, and an untamed spirit that still resonates through American culture today.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella (Narrator)

Audiobook

MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Discoveries, Revelations & Near Misses

Eleven spellbinding tales of transformation, survival, and grit from the creators of the New York Times bestselling original audiobook MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Close Calls. In MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Discoveries, Revelations & Near Misses, a collection of outdoorsmen share remarkable tales of life-altering moments. From a macabre discovery in the Idaho mountains that closed the book on a mystery spanning more than 50 years to an Ice Age archaeological find in remote Alaska, these stories take listeners on an immersive journey and provide intimate glimpses into a way of life that is slipping away. You'll hear firsthand accounts of a deadly helicopter crash, turkey hunting during a tornado, a prophetic dream about a 24-point buck, a fight over a record-breaking black bear, plus more stories about close calls and brushes with death. MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Discoveries, Revelations & Near Misses features tales from MeatEater crew members Steven Rinella, Clay Newcomb, and Brent Reaves • with additional stories by Buck Bowden • John Hayes • Mike Kunz • Bob Service • Chris Williams & Jeff Jones • Jim Swenson & Mike Carey • Chad Martin • Chad Johnston • and Ryan Murray

Steven Rinella (Author), The Contributors (Narrator)

Audiobook

MeatEater's American History: The Long Hunters (1761-1775)

From the creators of the New York Times bestselling series Campfire Stories: Close Calls comes a new original audiobook that brings to life the bold, hair-raising, and often tragic adventures of a generation of eighteenth-century frontiersmen: the Long Hunters. Steven Rinella (The MeatEater Podcast) and Clay Newcomb (MeatEater's Bear Grease podcast) gather listeners for a new round of stories, this time drawing from the lives of the rugged Long Hunters, who include such figures as Daniel Boone, Henry Skaggs, and Kasper Mansker. These were the commercial hunters and trappers who explored and exploited the First Far West, the land across the Appalachian Mountains, in the era between the Seven Years War and the American Revolution—one of the most fabled periods of American history. The feats of these courageous, resilient backwoodsmen forever shaped a national identity centered around individualism, capitalism, freedom, and the need for wild places and wild animals.

Clay Newcomb, Steven Rinella (Author), Clay Newcomb, Steven Rinella (Narrator)

Audiobook

Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter

"Revelatory . . . With every chapter, you get a history lesson, a hunting lesson, a nature lesson and a cooking lesson. . . . Meat Eater offers an overabundance to savor."-The New York Times Book Review Steven Rinella grew up in Twin Lake, Michigan, the son of a hunter who taught his three sons to love the natural world the way he did. As a child, Rinella devoured stories of the American wilderness, especially the exploits of his hero, Daniel Boone. He began fishing at the age of three and shot his first squirrel at eight and his first deer at thirteen. He chose the colleges he went to by their proximity to good hunting ground, and he experimented with living solely off wild meat. As an adult, he feeds his family from the food he hunts. Meat Eater chronicles Rinella's lifelong relationship with nature and hunting through the lens of ten hunts, beginning when he was an aspiring mountain man at age ten and ending as a thirty-seven-year-old Brooklyn father who hunts in the remotest corners of North America. He tells of having a struggling career as a fur trapper just as fur prices were falling; of a dalliance with catch-and-release steelhead fishing; of canoeing in the Missouri Breaks in search of mule deer just as the Missouri River was freezing up one November; and of hunting the elusive Dall sheep in the glaciated mountains of Alaska. Through each story, Rinella grapples with themes such as the role of the hunter in shaping America, the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, the allure of hunting trophies, the responsibilities that human predators have to their prey, and the disappearance of the hunter himself as Americans lose their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. Hunting, he argues, is intimately connected with our humanity; assuming responsibility for acquiring the meat that we eat, rather than entrusting it to proxy executioners, processors, packagers, and distributors, is one of the most respectful and exhilarating things a meat eater can do. A thrilling storyteller with boundless interesting facts and historical information about the land, the natural world, and the history of hunting, Rinella also includes after each chapter a section of "Tasting Notes" that draws from his thirty-plus years of eating and cooking wild game, both at home and over a campfire. In Meat Eater he paints a loving portrait of a way of life that is part of who we are as humans and as Americans.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella (Narrator)

Audiobook

MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Narrow Escapes & More Close Calls

Ten harrowing firsthand tales of survival from the creators of the New York Times bestselling audio collection MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Close Calls. In Campfire Stories: Narrow Escapes & More Close Calls, storytellers take us from Florida to the Northern Rockies to the Arctic Ocean with wild and true stories, a reminder that the natural world is rugged and unpredictable. Including stories from MeatEater's Steven Rinella and Clay Newcomb, and spearfishing champion Kimi Werner, this immersive audio collection also features tales from listeners who survived falling through the ice, gunshot and arrowhead wounds, hand-to-hoof combat with a deer, and a spearfisherman who made the best shot of his life to save a friend from certain death. Campfire Stories: Narrow Escapes & More Close Calls features tales from MeatEater crew members Steven Rinella and Clay Newcomb • with additional stories by Vince Merritt • Allen Jones • Kimi Werner • Roy Getson • Casey Frank • Cory Holloway • Cameron Kirkconnell • Bruce Batten • and Vic Barnes.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella, The Contributors (Narrator)

Audiobook

Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nat

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The "imperative call to action" (Nick Offerman) for parenting tough, curious, and competent kids who feel at home in the outdoors, from the New York Times bestselling author and host of the TV series and podcast MeatEater "A revelation for families struggling to get kids to GO OUTSIDE, or to just stop using the darn smartphone."-Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Hunt, Gather, Parent In the era of screens and devices, the average American spends 90 percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for kids' physical and mental health, it jeopardizes their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. Thankfully, with the right mind-set, families can find beauty, meaning, and connection in a life lived outdoors. Here, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem. No matter their location-rural, suburban, or urban-caregivers and kids will bond over activities such as: • Camping to conquer fears, build tolerance for dirt and discomfort, and savor the timeless pleasure of swapping stories around a campfire. • Growing a vegetable garden to develop a capacity to nurture and an appreciation for hard work. • Fishing local lakes and rivers to learn the value of patience while grappling with the possibility of failure. • Hunting for sustainably managed wild game to face the realities of life, death, and what it really takes to obtain our food. Living an outdoor lifestyle fosters in kids an insatiable curiosity about the world around them, confidence and self-sufficiency, and, most important, a lifelong sense of stewardship of the natural world. This book helps families connect with nature-and one another-as a joyful part of everyday life.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella (Narrator)

Audiobook

MeatEater's Campfire Stories: Close Calls

Gather around for campfire stories with the MeatEater crew as they share sixteen harrowing true tales of survival, grit, and misfortune in the great outdoors-an immersive audio experience from the host of the long-running Netflix series and top-ranked wilderness podcast. In Campfire Stories: Close Calls, Steven Rinella invites seasoned hunters, anglers, adventurers, and outdoor professionals to share their tales of perilous adventures in the natural world, from run-ins with black bears and grizzlies to bad falls and severe hypothermia. With humor and heart, the storytellers describe how they survived disastrous encounters with weather, wildlife--and even a criminal cartel. Whether set in urban forests or atop remote Alaskan peaks, the tales in Campfire Stories: Close Calls are rich with lessons on how to stay safe in nature, delivered in a conversational tone that conjures the feeling of sitting around a campfire sharing adventure stories with friends. Campfire Stories: Close Calls features tales from MeatEater crew members Steven Rinella • Janis Putelis • Brody Henderson • Garret Smith • Seth Morris • Maggie Smith and Edbo Genet • with additional stories by Andy Bergin • Buck Bowden • Chad Converse • Jerry Dunlop • Greg Fonts • Jake Grzyb • Sam Lawry • Greg Litzinger • Joe and Joey Nowicki • Alex Reynaud • Thad Robison • Bobbie Scopa • and Avery Shawler.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella, The Contributors (Narrator)

Audiobook

Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter

Steven Rinella (Author), Jeffrey Kafer (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon

From the host of the Travel Channel's "The Wild Within." A hunt for the American buffalo-an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination. In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite the odds-there's only a 2 percent chance of drawing the permit, and fewer than 20 percent of those hunters are successful-Rinella managed to kill a buffalo on a snow-covered mountainside and then raft the meat back to civilization while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Throughout these adventures, Rinella found himself contemplating his own place among the 14,000 years' worth of buffalo hunters in North America, as well as the buffalo's place in the American experience. At the time of the Revolutionary War, North America was home to approximately 40 million buffalo, the largest herd of big mammals on the planet, but by the mid-1890s only a few hundred remained. Now that the buffalo is on the verge of a dramatic ecological recovery across the West, Americans are faced with the challenge of how, and if, we can dare to share our land with a beast that is the embodiment of the American wilderness. American Buffalo is a narrative tale of Rinella's hunt. But beyond that, it is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo's past, present, and future: to the Bering Land Bridge, where scientists search for buffalo bones amid artifacts of the New World's earliest human inhabitants; to buffalo jumps where Native Americans once ran buffalo over cliffs by the thousands; to the Detroit Carbon works, a "bone charcoal" plant that made fortunes in the late 1800s by turning millions of tons of buffalo bones into bone meal, black dye, and fine china; and even to an abattoir turned fashion mecca in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, where a depressed buffalo named Black Diamond met his fate after serving as the model for the American nickel. Rinella's erudition and exuberance, combined with his gift for storytelling, make him the perfect guide for a book that combines outdoor adventure with a quirky blend of facts and observations about history, biology, and the natural world. Both a captivating narrative and a book of environmental and historical significance, American Buffalo tells us as much about ourselves as Americans as it does about the creature who perhaps best of all embodies the American ethos.

Steven Rinella (Author), Steven Rinella (Narrator)

Audiobook

Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter

Told through the lens of the author's experiences as a hunter, Meat Eater explores humanity's oldest pursuit and its relevance today. Steven Rinella grew up in Twin Lake, Michigan, the son of a hunter who taught his three sons to love the natural world the way he did. As a child, Rinella devoured stories of the American wilderness, especially the exploits of his hero, Daniel Boone. He began fishing at the age of three and shot his first squirrel at eight and his first deer at thirteen. He chose the colleges he went to by their proximity to good hunting ground, and he experimented with living solely off wild meat. As an adult, he feeds his family from the food he hunts. Meat Eater chronicles Rinella's lifelong relationship with nature and hunting through the lens of ten hunts, beginning when he was an aspiring mountain man at age ten and ending as a thirty-seven-year-old Brooklyn father who hunts in the remotest corners of North America. He tells of having a struggling career as a fur trapper just as fur prices were falling; of a dalliance with catch-and-release steelhead fishing; of canoeing in the Missouri Breaks in search of mule deer just as the Missouri River was freezing up one November; and of hunting the elusive Dall sheep in the glaciated mountains of Alaska. Through each story, Rinella grapples with themes such as the role of the hunter in shaping America, the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, the allure of hunting trophies, the responsibilities that human predators have to their prey, and the disappearance of the hunter himself as Americans lose their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. Hunting, he argues, is intimately connected with our humanity; assuming responsibility for acquiring the meat that we eat, rather than entrusting it to proxy executioners, processors, packagers, and distributors, is one of the most respectful and exhilarating things a meat eater can do. A thrilling storyteller with boundless interesting facts and historical information about the land, the natural world, and the history of hunting, Rinella also includes after each chapter a section of "Tasting Notes" that draws from his thirty-plus years of eating and cooking wild game, both at home and over a campfire. In Meat Eater he paints a loving portrait of a way of life that is part of who we are as humans and as Americans.

Steven Rinella (Author), Jeffrey Kafer (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Buffalo

In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the Alaskan wilderness. One of only four hunters that year who succeeded in killing a buffalo, he carried the carcass down a snow-covered mountainside and floated it four miles down a white-water canyon while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Through this experience, Rinella found himself contemplating his own place among the 14,000 years' worth of buffalo hunters in North America and the place of the buffalo in the American consciousness. American Buffalo is a narrative tale of that hunt. But beyond that, it is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo's past, present, and future: to the Bering Strait Land Bridge; to buffalo jumps, where Native Americans ran buffalo over cliffs by the hundreds; even to the Bronx Zoo, where legend has it a depressed buffalo served as the model for the American nickel. Rinella's erudition and exuberance, combined with his gift for storytelling, make him the perfect guide for a book that combines outdoor adventure with history, science, and the natural world. And yet it also tells us as much about ourselves as Americans as it does about the creature who perhaps best of all embodies the American ethos.

Steven Rinella (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

Audiobook