Season Two: The Appalachian Trail
Episode One: The Journey Begins
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Episode One: The Journey Begins *
Matt and his mom Candy begin their thru-hike in Georgia. As they begin to get a feel for their new routine, we explore the history of the former Cherokee Nation in Northern Georgia. Click here to see the show notes.
NHPR broadcast date: July 5th, 2025
Matt goes birdwatching on the trail and discovers his trailname. The exploration of trail names continues with another thru-hiker who thru-hiked the AT to connect with the experiences of his Cherokee ancestors, and to identify ancient footpaths that overlap with the Appalachian Trail. Click here to see the show notes.
NHPR broadcast date: July 12th, 2025
Episode Two: Trailnames and Cherokee footpaths
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Episode Two: Trailnames and Cherokee footpaths *
Matt and Candy experience tragedy on the AT. A friend and fellow hiker loses his life in a tragic accident, forcing Matt to reflect on the loss of his dad, and his reasons for thru-hiking. The AT was born out of grief, and we explore how the trail’s origin story is connected to loss and reflection. Click here to see the show notes.
Podcast release date: July 16th, 2025
NHPR broadcast date: August 2nd, 2025
Episode Three: Fear and the Chestnut Tree
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Episode Three: Fear and the Chestnut Tree *
Matt and Candy hike their first 20 mile day, despite Candy’s fear of injury. There are other things to fear on the trail too - Matt and Candy have their first encounter with a Timber Rattlesnake, and they start to explore the ecological history of the Appalachians. Click here to see the show notes.
NHPR broadcast date: July 19th, 2025
Episode Four: Walking Off the Grief
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Episode Four: Walking Off the Grief *
Dispatches from the Appalachian Trail
In the spring of 2022, producer Matt Podolsky and his mom Candy attempted a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Over the course of the hike, Matt produced a series of mini-episodes documenting the journey, as well as sharing written updates on the popular long-distance hiking blog, The Trek.
This is the first mini-episode in our “Dispatches from the Appalachian Trail” series - click here to check out all nine of these mini-episodes.
Season Two Prequel: COVID-19 and the Appalachian Trail
Season Two of Common Land will focus on the Appalachian Trail - a 2,200-mile-long ribbon of protected land stretching from Georgia to Maine, and this bonus episode examines the motivations behind those who choose the hike the entirety of the trail, while examining how the spread of COVID-19 has affected this protected area. Click here to see full episode description and credit list.
Episode host Matt Podolsky and his mom Candy on the Long Trail in Vermont.