EP 169 Living with nature in a digital age with Ben Weissenbach

Crude Conversations

crudemag

Society & Culture

5 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2025

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this one, Cody talks to Ben Weissenbach. He’s an environmental journalist and the author of “North to the Future.” It’s a book about Alaska, but also about uncertainty, responsibility, and the quiet, sometimes uncomfortable process of learning how to see. Ben spent time in the Brooks Range and Fairbanks with Roman Dial, a professor of biology and mathematics; Kenji Yoshikawa, a permafrost scientist; and Matt Nolan, a research professor and founder of Fairbanks Fodar, a remote sensing and mapping company. What Ben came away with was a better understanding of climate change, and a deeper reckoning with what it means to pay attention, to feel out of place, and to try to belong in a world that’s changing faster than we can map. Ben grew up in Los Angeles, where he rarely questioned the role nature played in his life. It was just background, something peripheral to human activity. But years later, after spending time in the Brooks Range, that perspective shifted. He began to grasp the scale and the power of natural systems, and how his own lifestyle—comfortable, urban, and screen saturated—was directly connected to changes happening in some of the most remote places on Earth. He reflects on how many people today, especially younger generations, are growing up in a world mediated by screens, and how that can make it harder to engage with nature. He says that the tools we rely on are easy to use, and they’re culturally reinforced, which makes stepping away from them feel unfamiliar, even alienating. But it was that discomfort, of feeling out of place in the wild, that ultimately opened the door to seeing it more clearly.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the show.
0:12.1	In this one, I talked to Ben Weisenbach.
0:16.3	He's an environmental journalist and the author of North to the Future.
0:23.0	It's a book about Alaska, but also about uncertainty, responsibility, and the quiet,
0:31.7	sometimes uncomfortable process of learning how to see.
0:37.0	Ben spent his time in the Brooks Range and Fairbanks with Roman Dial, a professor of biology
0:43.3	and mathematics, Kenji Yoshikawa, a Permafrost scientist, and Matt Nolan, a research
0:51.3	professor and founder of Fairbanks Fodar, a remote sensing and mapping company.
0:58.5	What Ben came away with was a better understanding of climate change and a deeper reckoning with what it means to pay attention,
1:07.6	to feel out of place, and to try to belong in a world that's changing faster than we can map
1:15.1	this podcast is made possible through the generous support of the crude magazine patreon subscribers
1:23.9	if you already subscribe to the crude magazine Magazine Patreon, thank you. For those listeners
1:30.5	who aren't, please consider subscribing at patreon.com slash crude magazine. I want to thank everyone
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1:45.4	to the crude Patreon for $50 or more. Trina Duber. Sewer Brewing Company. The Grind Coffee
1:54.1	Shop and Juno. Derek Adolf. Jake Liska. Sharon Liska, and Alaska Surf Adventure.
2:03.4	Thank you to all the Patreon subscribers.
2:06.6	Your money and your support make these conversations possible.
2:12.1	You can also support this podcast with a one-time payment at buy me a coffee dot com slash crude magazine
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