1KHO 643: A Connection to Something Timeless | SD Smith, Helmer and the Dragon Tomb

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Kids & Family, Parenting

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a world of shifting sands, where kids are nudged toward algorithms, apps, and endless activities, S. D. Smith returns to the 1000 Hours Outside Podcast to talk about giving our children something sturdier to stand on. Ginny and Sam share stories of real-life hospitality, hikes in West Virginia, rainbows over the New River Gorge, and the way shared adventures and shared stories bind families together. From the Green Ember universe to his newest book Helmer and the Dragon Tomb, Sam describes his mission to offer “new stories with an old soul” that root kids in courage, virtue, and hope—stories that still matter fifty years after we’re gone. Together they wrestle with the pressure modern parents feel: rising anxiety about the future, the lure of AI shortcuts, and the constant competition for our kids’ attention. Sam and Ginny make a compelling case that reading and writing are not outdated school tasks, but deeply human practices that shape a child’s inner world, imagination, and even their sense of calling. You’ll hear practical ideas for “tricksy parenting” that makes reading the reward, setting cozy book “traps,” inviting dads into the culture of story, and helping young writers grow in skill instead of outsourcing their creativity to machines. This episode is a gentle but galvanizing invitation to choose books over bots, shared chapters over scrolling, and to give our kids a living connection to something timeless. See everything S.D. Smith has to offer here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Urch. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and back.
0:05.6	One of my favorite people. We just think you're so wonderful what you're doing, putting out all these incredible books into the world. We love your family. Sam S.D. Smith. Welcome. Thank you so much. I'm so delighted to be back with such a good friend. Yes. We're going to talk to you. This is the best.
0:19.2	And listen, this is the time.
0:20.9	If you are struggling with gifts by books,
0:23.4	I just think books is the best. And listen, this is the time.
0:20.9	If you are struggling with gifts by books, I just think books are the best gifts. And they
0:26.1	have the potential to change lives because reading is such a critical, just component of child
0:32.7	development. It's something that we just makes us love life so much it helps us to activate our imagination
0:38.7	so i want to talk about that i want to kick it off and i probably have said this before but i want to
0:43.7	kick it off by saying that we came to west virginia last minute i tell this story all the time we came
0:48.5	to west virginia last minute it was like in one day we're coming we came to come whitewater rafting
0:53.5	the story is is that we didn't get invited to do anything for 4th of July. And we were feeling super lame. And we were like, what could we do? And we're like, well, we could go whitewater rafting. It's like six hours away from us in Michigan. And we knew that you live close by. And so I was like, we're coming. would you want to go us? And you weren't able to, you guys had other plans,
1:11.9	but you're like, you can come over for dinner.
1:15.4	I tell people a story all the time,
1:16.9	because I was like, plus we had a friend with us.
1:18.8	That's eight people.
1:20.7	And Gina, you and Gina and your whole family
1:23.3	just welcomed us in.
1:24.7	And actually, I feel emotional about it, honestly.
1:28.3	Are you serious?
1:29.3	You would do that.
1:30.3	And then we went hiking and we sang the Country Road song and I am emotional about it.
	...

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