A Bear Hug for Humankind: Signal Above the Noise in the Age of AI with Aleck McCathie

End of the Roaders Podcast — Episode 1
Guest: Aleck McCathie
Host: J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 00:08
Welcome to the End of the Roaders Podcast. I'm Grizz, your host, and I'm gonna be talking to amazing humans. And I'll give them all a big bear hug. Let's go. Welcome to episode one of the End of the Roaders Podcast. And today, I had the real pleasure of talking with Aleck McCathie and he's with my podcast production company, the podcast production company that hosts the show, and he interviewed me a little bit about my background. I didn't go into too much detail, but you know, I mentioned a couple of anecdotes about, you know, parties I've been to and companies I worked with and kinda how I, as a bear, got into, you know, corporate in some way, human corporate, now how I see humankind and all of that. So there's a lot in this show. What it was fun to turn the tables back and forth with him because, you know, at the beginning he was interviewing me and then I interviewed him about some stuff and he kinda dungeon mastered me, like, you know, D and D dungeon mastered me to tell me what I should bring into battle, you could listen for that, and, you know, talked about how he sees the world and I think that's pretty cool, that's what I wanna get out of our guests. And this is episode one, and I hope there'll be a lot of episodes to come. Tune in to Aleck McCathie and I talking about life and the End of the Roaders Podcast. Here we go.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 02:00
Yeah. So here I am. Oh, hey, what are you talking. I'm the one running the controls here. This is Aleck McCathie, and he is with Podcasts That Matter. And of course, they're supporting a bear here with this podcast, which is pretty nice. I like that.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 02:17
Aleck is gonna do something special here on this first episode. And when I was talking with him, he wanted to figure out everything about me from when I was a cub, all the way until now. All my corporate experience, you know, just all that stuff. So how, you know, how a bear ends up starting a podcast and all that. And also, you know, what End of the Roaders means to humans and bears and all that stuff.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 02:44
So this is Aleck McCathie, he's a cool guy. That's my introduction of him. And he's gonna, yeah, he's gonna just ask me a bunch of questions here.

Aleck McCathie: 02:53
Absolutely. I'm excited to dive into this and learn a bit more about you, what you have going on. Maybe we can start sort of at the beginning, like, what is End of the Roaders all about, I guess?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 03:08
Well, I like to say End of the Roaders is, well, all you humans are going to hell in a handbasket, and End of the Roaders, I like to say is, you know, a big bear hug for humankind, but those are just things I'd say to Oprah in an elevator. Actually, if I were in an elevator with Oprah she might be overwhelmed by the musky smell that I just can't get off of me, but if I were able to talk to her in an elevator, or like a virtual elevator, like a Zoom call, I would say those things. But really, End of the Roaders is a podcast about, you know, humans wanting to be as far away from the grid as they can get. You know, end of the roaders, people who live way out in the wilderness. They live in some weird foreign country or off on an island or something weird like that. Right?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 04:00
Alaska, where I grew up, it's the end of the road. It really is. And guess what? That's where us bears live. So that's where I come from, is from the end of the road.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 04:09
So if you're an end of the roader like me, you don't just have to be a bear. You wanna be somebody who wants a perspective that's way out there off the grid. I guess. Does that work? Am I kind of circling the drain there?

Aleck McCathie: 04:23
Spot on. I love the idea of the elevator. Just leaning into that, like if you were to elevator pitch yourself, like how do you typically introduce yourself as both a professional and a bear in this business?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 04:40
That's kinda weird because these days, I mean, I'm on Aleck, I'm in your meetings and stuff, like, I've been working virtually for years and people think I'm a dude. I am a dude, but I'm a bear dude. So wait, ask the question again?

Aleck McCathie: 04:57
Well, how would you introduce yourself in an elevator pitch? Like, you were stuck in the elevator with Oprah, you're a professional, you're a bear, like, what do you put out into the world? Like, how do you introduce yourself to other professionals, other people in the business?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 05:11
How are you doing? My name's Grizz. That's I think what I would say, you know? I'd say, you know, I was just born with this weird thing inside me that tries to make the world a better place.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 05:22
I mean, it's kind of about me wanting to preserve my kind and my, you know, bears, and, you know, me trying to protect all living things, or me trying to hang out with Mother Earth and Gaia and all that stuff people talk about. Sure. Whatever. I just have this bug inside me that wants to make things better, you know, because I'm gonna be bear meat one day and before I turn into bear steak, you know, some hunter that doesn't know I'm a smart bear, you know, takes me out someday. Well, before that, I wanna do something.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 05:54
I want people to remember what I thought about, you know.

Aleck McCathie: 05:58
Love that. That's a profound sort of mindset. I'd love to sort of maybe dive back and

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 06:05
You mean like the bear steak part of that? You like the bear steak? You like me talking about

Aleck McCathie: 06:09
All of it. It makes me wonder like, you know, was there a moment early, you know, in your life in Alaska when you realized that you saw the world differently than other bears?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 06:19
You're about to say childhood. I know. I heard it on the tip of your tongue. Like, you could say cub hood for me. Gotcha.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 06:26
I don't know. Childhood's fine. It is a weird thing to be a, like, this, you know, eccentric weird dude inside a little bear body. And, you know, you just do the things you do. You find the berries that other bears aren't finding, and then the next thing, you know, you figure out how to use a stick or something like that, and then all of a sudden you're like, hey, it's nice to walk upright, I can just walk into a store with a, you know, hunter's cap on, maybe they won't look at me.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 06:57
And I just kinda snuck into the human world and, you know, I'm not like those average bears that are at the trash cans, like, you know, digging through all the stuff. But you could think of me, like, I guess I'm like a bear digging through the trash can of the human experience. Right? I guess that's probably what I'm all about.

Aleck McCathie: 07:16
I love that. How did you first break into the business or, you know, just being a professional as a bear? Was it difficult?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 07:27
Yeah. Yeah. You could say that. But as you can tell, I'm able to kinda do the bro voice instead of a growl. Right? So once Zoom came around, that was like fifteen years ago or something, Zoom and Skype and all that stuff, then it was fine.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 07:45
Telephone was weird before that, but I could do a whole lot of stuff with phone calls. And then I, you know, a few people I've trusted, you know, humans I've trusted through the years, and they've really helped me to, you know, like, mentor me and say, well, this bear is somebody different. And we're gonna help him out even though he's just a completely different species, you know, they gave me a leg up and helped me out. And I really appreciate those people.

Aleck McCathie: 08:14
Love that. Great to hear that you've had so much support. As you've sort of evolved in this business and become the professional that you are today, have you found yourself getting over or underestimated by other folks or you know second guessed just because you are a bear trying to make it in this human space?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 08:35
I wouldn't say that. I mean, I've been mostly in industries where I could just kinda fit in. So for me, it's more about like my, not unlike most humans, to be honest. They're just fitting in, you know, in order to get their budget to get by. You know, I got my own piece of land that I can kinda be a bear on on the weekends.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 08:57
And that's because I just kinda, you know, fit in, you know, with everybody else. But now, I got some stuff I wanna say, and that's, you know, where I think a lot of people get to some point in their life, you know, the wisdom they've been learning all these years just needs to come out in some form. It needs to, you need your big roar. It's gotta come out, you know.

Aleck McCathie: 09:18
I love that. And it's really, like, inspiring knowing that you've, you know, come here out of the peaceful forest and that you have a real passion for helping other humans.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 09:29
Have you ever been in a forest? What do you mean peaceful, buddy?

Aleck McCathie: 09:33
Well, maybe I've never been to an Alaskan forest. Fair enough.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 09:36
I don't know why. I'm just messing with you. It's peaceful sometimes.

Aleck McCathie: 09:41
Well, my question was gonna be, like, I mean, I don't wanna get too political or anything, but just in this space, you know, your passion for helping humans, your passion for everything you're bringing to the table with this new podcast, have you ever considered, you know, does it ever occur to you to maybe just, you know, leave the public life behind that you've built and return to berries and salmon and all that kind of stuff?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 10:10
Yeah. You know, for some reason, that makes me think about retirement. It's kinda like, that's something that bears and humans have in common. Bears take a retirement every year. They retire for the winter.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 10:25
Right? So you got your hibernation thing. Humans have that. They're like, when I hit 65, I'm gonna go hibernate until I die. So it's not really my thing, but I understand it.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 10:37
I think it's a cool concept. I mean, like, cuddle up with a big, you know, pot of honey, like Winnie the Pooh, and like, you know, get your stuff around you, watch some TV, and then just, you know, snuggle up to, I guess, the last twenty years of your life. Actually, it's kinda depressing. Maybe you humans should rethink, maybe do a hibernation every year instead of a end of life hibernation, you know?

Aleck McCathie: 11:02
Yeah. I hear that. It sounds like a really great way to sort of reflect creatively on what you have going on each year. With that said, I'd love to maybe learn a little bit more about your trajectory. Like, you said that you came from the Alaskan Forest, today, I know you as this influential person, this influential bear, sorry, who's going to be, you know, launching this very cool podcast.

Aleck McCathie: 11:27
What steps did you take to get here? Like, you know, how did you begin to integrate? What was your first sort of jobs or experiences in this human space?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 11:38
So I got a, that's cool. Let's talk about that. It's kind of one paw in front of the other. First, I gotta, you know, I didn't grow up in the woods. I grew up in Alaska.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 11:49
Alaska is like, I mean, how do I describe it? It's like, I mean, it's like tundra, you know, depending on where you live. Like, you're a big grizzly bear walking through the landscape, like, people see you from a distance. That's why tourists like to go to Alaska and bring their big long cameras and stuff. And we usually don't play tourist hockey with them, but sometimes.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 12:10
Anyway, like, there's not really forests in that part of Alaska, and that's where I come from. It's like, there's so many colors and textures and stuff, like, little creatures to eat and stuff like that. I mean, you could berries and little critters, like that's my, and salmon and stuff. That's, I mean, you know, that makes me think. But, you know, it's a hard life.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 12:35
There's not, you know, it's wild. You're in the wild, you know? And just like human beings, you all used to be wild too, right? At some point you got all domesticated and now you're in your Mercedes Benz, like, do, why you wanna drive around in Mercedes Benz? Well, it's a lot more comfortable than walking through the tundra barefoot, but, you know, that's where you start.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 12:58
So anyway, come from Alaska. We were End of the Roaders because there were no roads. Like, you know, the Forest Service would go through on their like sled dogs in the winter, it was cold. And we were all tucked away, you know, sleeping. But then, you know, we roamed around as the kings and queens, whatever the correct language is for, you know, bear kind.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 13:20
We were just walking around in the landscape. And then, you know, I started sneaking out like every kid, like every cub, figuring out what I could do. Instead of smoking cigarettes, which a lot of you humans idiotically do, I just started like, yeah, like, you know, checking out the trash cans of all, like, the local places. And I started picking up some of the human language. I don't know how that happens, you know, linguists are super smart and how that works.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 13:49
And I just started code switching the hell out of it, you know, like I'd start saying stuff behind the bush and people would be like, who said that? Right? And I'd be like, Grizz, Grizz said that. Just playing little practical jokes here and there realizing I could kinda get by, you know, get by talking. And then I found a couple friendly people, I don't wanna name them because they could get into some trouble probably, but they, you know, helped me out with a PC and with a headset and all that kind of stuff, and got it all set up for Bear, and I started doing, you know, some outside consultant work, you could just call it that, you know.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 14:28
A lot of people wanna know, you know, the wilderness perspective on stuff, you know, the real outsider point of view, and so a lot of environmental work and stuff like that. I don't know. Am I barking up the right tree here?

Aleck McCathie: 14:42
Yeah. I'm just trying to, you know, maybe unpack a bit. Like, how you got into this space? So I know that you're in this, you know, recording and media producing space today. It sounds like

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 14:57
Yeah. No, man. I get so, yeah. Like, years ago. Wait, I just went back to the dark ages. Like, years ago, then the tech boom started going on and I got inside those tech booms because I sort of sound like a tech bro.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 15:11
So that, you know, it just kind of got me in and there's this California firm that was environmental work and then all of a sudden they need branding work and this kind of stuff. So I started being this consultant talking to people and being kind of a jerk, you know, I'm very good at being a jerk, you know, just being like, you're an idiot. That's a terrible brand, that's a terrible. Oh, and people would just eat that stuff up, and so all of a sudden I was just elevated and I'm talking to the CEO and all this other stuff. So that was my journey. You can ask me some specifics about different companies but I've been with them all, you could name it.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 15:42
All those, you know, big tech guys. I know those guys. You know, I've been in rooms with Zuck, you know? Yeah. He's a little dude compared to big old bear. Actually, I wasn't really in a room with him. I was on Zoom, but I'd like to think I was in a room with him.

Aleck McCathie: 15:59
So how did you make the transition between speaking to these high level executives, you know, being sort of a consultant, and now today, you're in the recording studio all the time, you're getting your message out there. What made you want to take that transition and maybe step more into the media production space?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 16:19
Well, I think you're being very generous to me. I'm starting some stuff, which is really cool. Like, you know, got a bunch of kids books. I've been touring all over the place, like, you know, incognito. You can't be a bear touring the world. Right? But I've been there, like, out. I love trains, checking out trains, checking out Europe, checking out the East Coast, all kinds of different things I've been doing lately. But I, you know, I'm just getting into it, getting into the content game like the kids are doing, you know, the influencer stuff. So I'm excited about that.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 16:53
But let's say the gaps there. Right? So, you know, one of the really the coolest entrepreneurs I ever met was, what was that guy's name? The founder of Zappos. That really sad article came out recently about how troubled he was, but he and I, you know, we partied.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 17:14
That was cool. He knew I was a bear actually, like, so there are a few people that I sort of outed myself to and, you know, he might have just thought he was having a bad trip. I kinda used that to my advantage. So, but, amazing thinker and he loved his team and his people and I was one of his people. I was one of the people coming up with strategies there and all that.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 17:37
Actually, I stood in and said, you know, some of your customers have really big feet because obviously I got really big feet. And so I was one of the guys who came in and was talking about all that stuff anyway. So, you know, I could tell a story about everybody. I've been to, when it comes to parties, I've always been there, you know, the helicoptering Beyoncé in or something, right? Like, all those big tech bro parties.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 18:01
There was a bear there. People thought, oh, maybe that was some guy in a bear suit. No, that was actually me, not having to look like a human for once. That was me at all those parties. So I could name drop for you everybody you could possibly imagine.

Aleck McCathie: 18:15
That's crazy. I mean, it sounds like you've really sort of climbed the ladder, so to speak. You've been everywhere and seen everything. It sounds like you've made a lot of great connections with a lot of different people over the course of your career as well. I'd love to sort of know, like, is there anything that, you know, as you continue to make connections and as people maybe the public gets to know you a bit more as you start to launch this podcast, is there anything that you think people would be surprised to learn about, say, the emotional state of a bear or, like, the drive or passion of a bear?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 18:56
That's a trick question. There's a little bit of a burden in being a really strange bear. Like, I have skills that most bears can never dream of developing. So it's a little bit hard for me to speak for bear kind. Like, I can interact with bears, but they're really quickly gonna be like, who is this strange outsider?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 19:24
And they'll probably eat me. Right? Like, so I'm not a, you know, if you've ever seen bears fighting each other, big old grizzly bears, like, I'm gonna lose that battle real fast. I got this paunchy middle. I have nothing.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 19:37
Yeah. Anyway, we don't have to go down that road. But long story short, all of this, weirdly, is a lot less about grizzly bears or any kind of bears and a lot more about humans. Why? Because you little naked people have a lot more power than bears are ever gonna have.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 19:58
And the most important thing is that this earth lives on to another generation, whether you're left, right, or center. That's theoretically what people want, is their grandkids and their, you know, grand cubs to be happy and to, you know, live in peace and have enough salmon to eat, so to speak. And that's my horse in the race.

Aleck McCathie: 20:20
I see. So as you prepare to, you know, launch this podcast, you're gonna be sharing your message with the world. People are gonna be knowing more about you and what you stand for. Did you wanna give maybe a sample of that in this interview? You know, what people have to look forward to, sort of, you've kind of laid out what you're fighting for.

Aleck McCathie: 20:42
It's just, you know, I'd love you to unpack it a bit, like, why is it really important to you? Like, what sort of legacy were you hoping to maybe leave behind as you work through this?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 20:50
Yeah, sure. Yeah. So now we can kind of flip the tables a little bit. So I appreciate Aleck poking me a little bit to get some of my story out there. I don't like talking about myself.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 21:00
So that's really good. As a host, I wanna be the guy asking the questions and poking and prodding people. Actually, you know, bears like to do that. It's usually before they eat them. But like, you know, bears like to play with their food just like any self satisfying wild predator.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 21:19
And so I wanna have people on this show and kinda poke them and prod them and see how far they'll go, to tell the truth, you know. In the age of AI, in the age of lies everywhere, like what's true, what's real. I mean, this really Grizz in front of you on your screen? Is this really my voice or is this somebody else's voice? That's important stuff in this day and age.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 21:42
And even if it is somebody else's voice, I mean, what is Grizz trying to tell you? You know? Because that's the real power in life. So Aleck, I'll flip the tables on you and say, okay, now you're my first guest. What are you trying to do to change the world?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 21:59
Because that's what my show is all about. I wanna talk to humans about what the hell they're doing to try and make their little golf ball in the sky live another couple generations.

Aleck McCathie: 22:11
Great question. I have to say, I think that your take on things really resonates with me and some of my passions as well. I love to work with folks to help them get their message out there and make their impact. It's definitely one of the things I love to do. It sounds like we have a lot in common there.

Aleck McCathie: 22:31
Especially, like you said, you know, challenging people to think about what's real and what's fake, especially in today's world of AI and all that kind of stuff. You really have to work hard to create a signal that comes above the noise. And I think that we're gonna have to challenge each other more and more as time goes on to figure out how to break through the templates, break through the molds, yeah.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 23:05
That's what I'm all about. So what do you eat for breakfast? Great question. People always say great question. They always say great question when you surprise them. Great question. I need five more seconds to make that up.

Aleck McCathie: 23:16
Yeah. Yeah. Not really a breakfast guy. I'm more of a, I'm a coffee guy, I guess.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 23:24
So what kind of coffee? Oh, I just said dark light, dark red center decaf.

Aleck McCathie: 23:33
Super strong, super dark. As strong as I can get it. Milk? No. No milk. Just a little bit of sugar. That's it.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 23:41
Black coffee with sugar. Okay. You're one of those guys. That's cool. So I don't drink coffee.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 23:49
I'm a bear. I gotta watch my, like, you know, intensity level. Like, I might just start doing weird stuff with all that caffeine in me. Yeah. If you wanna go down a rabbit trail, just Google stuff like, what will caffeine do to me?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 24:07
You know? And then you end up on the Internet, especially with AI and all that stuff. So, and speaking of AI, you're quite a, like, a, you know, a budding thought leader, so to speak. You're always talking about AI and humanness and all that stuff. How does AI bear, do you think, pun intended, I guess. How does it bear on humankind, like, and survival of the species? Because that's important to me, like, yeah.

Aleck McCathie: 24:37
I appreciate you acknowledging just the fact that I've been yapping in that space, for lack of a better term, for a while now. I do have a lot of strong opinions about how we're coping and bearing with AI for sure. I do think that I'm not a doomer. I do think that it's kind of spooky. But I do think that, you know, if we stay diligent, and we sort of grow along with AI and learn to use it as a tool rather than something that we rely on, rather than something that we delegate thinking and like some of the more human aspects of what we do.

Aleck McCathie: 25:20
I would caution people to learn to use it as a supplemental tool rather than something that takes over thinking and takes over creativity, I guess. I see a lot of people out there using it as a crutch, and I do think that we're already seeing a big difference between people who really have something to say, have wisdom to share from, you know, decades of lived experience, and people who are trying to mimic that with something that they generated with a prompt, for example.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 25:53
That's super cool. Yeah. My feeling on AI is, it is what it is. It's like, you know, a stick helps you get the berries. Right?

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 26:04
But, you know, don't stick the stick into a hornet's nest. If you're trying to get honey out, well, us bears, we got strong skins. No big deal if we get stung by a bee or whatever, but like, you humans, don't put a stick up there in that hornet's nest, you might get stung to death. Right? So interesting, the AI game.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 26:25
I find it really weird that, I mean, I don't know how much money you make, but, like, some of these AI experts are getting, like, 25,000,000 a year or, like, 50,000,000. These ridiculous contracts. Like, what, you know, speak of Zuck again. Like, what is he thinking? Paying people that kind of money and then he doesn't even do anything. Like, what are they thinking?

Aleck McCathie: 26:46
Yeah. I mean, I don't have much to say about that, but I can tell you that I imagine that there's gonna be a lot more that unfolds in this space, and we're going to see a lot more crazy stuff. I'm kind of excited, but at the same time, I do want us to all stay diligent and be prepared for how it might change how we think about, you know, leadership and creativity and all that kind of stuff. You know, it would be a shame if things like this, you know, you're watching a podcast, you're going to start speaking to people, you're going to start, you know, talking about maybe what their wisdom is, and you're going to start sharing really cool, creative ideas. I don't want that stuff to go away.

Aleck McCathie: 27:29
You know, I want that to be at the top of all the noise. I want that kind of stuff to really shine through. I think it's gonna become more important. I think that, you know, shows like what you're starting to create here are gonna be the gems that start to, you know, really shine through all the crap.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 27:47
So I know from somebody else on the Podcasts That Matter team, I know that you all sometimes ask people, you know, if the random school bus comes by and knocks your ass to another century, and that's the last day you have on Earth, you know, what did you do that day, right? Like, people are gonna be poking through your belongings and trying to figure out what you left behind. Like, before you leave this planet, like, what's your message, Aleck?

Aleck McCathie: 28:23
Oh, jeez. It's weird because I consider myself a pretty opinionated person, but being put on the spot like that, it makes me really have to think here for a sec. I would just say that everybody has something in them that is profound and creative. Myself, I know I have stories and, you know, as a side tangent, I'm big into a lot of creative artistic writing type stuff like Dungeons and Dragons. I have worlds inside me that I'd love to get out onto paper, and I just haven't spent the time to do that.

Aleck McCathie: 29:04
So I would encourage people to spend the time to do that. Get those thoughts and creative ideas that are in your head, get them onto paper, get them into spaces that we can share with people and spread that kind of creative cool stuff for the world. Share what you have in your head.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 29:23
Love that. And if you all aren't watching the videos, we might post some kind of little videos, but you're probably listening on audio. Aleck's got this cool ass beard and stuff. So he's totally a, I'd love for Aleck to be my dungeon master in good old school Dungeons and Dragons. So if that's what we're doing, what am I, you know, I'm a grizzly bear, so I can defend myself a little bit, but I'm like a pudgy old grizzly bear.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 29:52
But like, what's my kit? Like, what am I going out into the world with? Dream it up with me here for a second. If we're doing a Dungeon Master, like, you know, D and D game, like, what am I all tricked out with?

Aleck McCathie: 30:05
I think that most sort of big bulky characters in D and D, like, you know, the classic barbarian, are usually not getting in with much at all. It's like the brute strength and, you know, the force of the fist and claw that you would probably be on the front lines with.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 30:21
But remember, I've gotten soft because of my tech bro ways.

Aleck McCathie: 30:26
Fair. Good point. Good point. I don't know. Maybe that sort of like a druid. Maybe you're more of like a wisdom based class and you do go out there with, you know, maybe some form of weaponry, some form of armor, but it's more of like a connection with the nature that you bring. Maybe it is a magical aspect.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 30:48
Cool. Cool. That's a great way to think about the world. I hadn't thought about, you know, my old D and D days. Yes.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 30:56
And that's another thing, you know, I had some friends where I do that, you know, the humans who were bear friendly, so to speak. So, yeah, we're doing this podcast. This has been a nice conversation where Aleck interviewed me, I interviewed Aleck. Now we want to hear from you. What should a bear be talking to humans about? I wanna talk to, I don't know, little people, big people, famous people, definitely not famous people, experts in different areas, people who have ideas about things.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 31:32
What do you think of them?

Aleck McCathie: 31:33
Yeah. I'm excited to see it. I'd love to see the first episode. I'd love to see you talk to other experts and maybe, you know, intimidate them a bit with your presence, maybe challenge them a bit with your interesting perspective as bear in the world. I think that it's gonna be a really cool show.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 31:51
Yeah. I hope so. In any case, I'm dropping my voice out there, which is kind of a fun thing for me to do, and I got some other things planned, like End of the Roaders book, hopefully comes out later this year. And I got some children's books and a bunch of other stuff. So I don't wanna do the whole merch thing.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 32:15
I've had people approach me before, they thought I was really cool that a grizzly bear could talk, and they're like, hey, do you want any, like, trucker caps? I think the whole idea of a trucker cap is insane. Like, you humans are nutballs, and then you don't even, like, you put it on sideways or whatever. Like, I don't get it. And then white tennis shoes all over the, old white tennis shoes, like, I don't get fashion. I just don't understand.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 32:37
And tight yoga pants on people shaped like me, like, it's a weird world out there.

Aleck McCathie: 32:44
Can be. Absolutely. The perspective is brilliant. I think a lot of people are really gonna enjoy speaking to somebody who has come from completely different space, a completely different community that maybe we just don't understand as much as we should. So it's gonna be really cool.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 33:01
Cool. And I should probably talk about kinda, just as we're riffing here, the End of the Roaders concept, you know.

Aleck McCathie: 33:08
Yeah. Of course.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 33:19
One thing that makes humans so unique is kind of the opposite of the End of the Roaders idea. There's some humans who wanna be at the end of the road. They wanna get the heck away from stuff cause something happened to them, or they don't like what they see. But the amazing thing about human beings is that they can be in community together and talk things out. And I mean, you know, I know there are wars happening and all this other crazy stuff and there's some crazy people in crazy positions of power and all that stuff, but people talk things out or they work things out. And that's the perspective of the end of the roader like me, is to say, I see things a little different.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 33:56
Come out here into the woods, like Aleck was saying, or out into the tundra, and look back, you know, or like the, you know, the little, what was it called, the little green dot from the nineteen seventies or something, Carl Sagan, like, you know, talked about, like, the second that we went out into space and saw the little tiny earth, all of a sudden it birthed the modern environmental movement because we were, oh man, we're a little tiny planet, I guess. So, you know, there's nothing like the end of the road if you're going out to the moon or out into space and you look back. So that's what we're gonna do here. We're gonna go out to the end of the road and look at the human experience. And, yeah, like I said, if I'm in an elevator with Oprah, I'll try to give her a bear hug.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 34:40
So this is gonna be a bear hug for humankind.

Aleck McCathie: 34:43
Love that. Awesome. I really appreciate you speaking to me today, Grizz. It's been a real treat, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 34:52
Alright. Let's go.

Aleck McCathie: 34:55
Let's go.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 34:57
That was the End of the Roaders Podcast, the first episode. It was so nice talking to Aleck McCathie at my podcast production company, the company that works with me on this podcast, Podcasts That Matter, go check them out. They got a lot of amazing podcasters that are starting up and have been around for a long time, you know, check out Ron Rapatalo. He's got something called Ronderings. He's a lot like me, actually, just, you know, talks with people and improvises and I really like that.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 35:31
So check out Ron Rapatalo's podcast, Ronderings. That's been on Podcasts That Matter for a long time. And, yeah, you can go check out podcaststhatmatter.org and, yeah, you'll hear about lots more podcasts around as we keep doing this thing. So this was podcast one, I hope there'll be another 100,000 of these to come. I love just sitting here talking and I can't wait to see who I can give a bear hug next.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 36:04
If you want to send some guest suggestions to me, feel free. You can hit me up wherever you can find me, and yeah, I got a LinkedIn profile, that's probably a good spot, or we'll probably put an email in the show notes or something like that that you can get in touch with me. I try to stay off the grid, hence the show End of the Roaders. Right? I try to stay off the grid so I don't get in any trouble.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 36:31
Yeah. So hit me up and like, subscribe, share this, and can't wait to, yeah, to talk with you the next time. Take care of yourself. Sending you a big old bear hug. That was the End of the Roaders Podcast.

J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr: 36:54
Thanks for tuning in, everybody, and I can't wait to talk with you the next time. Big bear hug out there to the whole world. It's gonna get better. I promise.