Cowboy Up Podcast Episodes

Those eager to preserve the western way of life and cowboy culture come from all walks of life. This week, Russell and Alan speak with two Arizonans who make change through government channels. Kevin and Joe DeMenna saddle up to the ranch to talk about how they use their public relations and political consulting talents to get things done on the range and even the racetrack.  [...]

Cowboy Jim Liles began his 20-year career as a bareback rider around the age of 13. More than fifty years later, he can still recount stories of the many times those broncs broke his bones, including some bones more than once. And yet, bareback riding has remained his life’s passion, and the broncs have remained the horses he loves most. The founder of the Bareback Riding Hall of Fame and Museum, Jim joins Russell and Alan to talk about his rodeo adventures and his efforts to preserve cowboy culture.[...]

Why tell a tall tale when the truth is so crazy it’s barely believable? In this episode, Russell and Alan confirm that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. When you’re out on the range, on the back of  a horse, in the cockpit of an airplane, you’re living adventures guaranteed to be told around the campfire for decades to come. So, grab a seat, roast some marshmallows, and give a listen as two cowboys tell true tales from the range.[...]

When author and historian Lynn Downey learned about Frederick Loring, she instantly became fascinated. Loring was an up-and-coming author from the East Coast when he ventured west in 1871 at the age of twenty-three. Downey joins Russell and Alan to share her adventures retracing parts of Loring’s journey around the West and what she learned about the man and the beauty and brutality he encountered.    [...]

Kent Reeves packs a lot of interests and talent in his wheelhouse. Land conservation. Photography. Cowboy poetry. And he chats with Russell and Alan about it all from his home in California where he founded Rancher to Rancher (R2R), a network of ranchers and ecologists focused on environmentally sustainable land-management practices. What’s good for the land is good for the earth!  [...]

Shannon Baker lives on the edge of the Tucson desert with her “crazy Weimaraner and favorite human.” She also has lived in Flagstaff for a few years and spent 20 years in the Nebraska Sandhills, where cattle outnumber people by more than 50:1. She joins Russell and Alan to talk about her mystery series, some set in the desert, some in the Sandhills, and how her experiences play out on the page—with added embellishments, of course![...]

Like any hospitality business, dude ranching can be full of surprises. Tombstone Monument Ranch manager Michelle DeSplinter reveals some of the challenges, laughs and joys she’s encountered during her years working at a dude ranch. Let’s just say you can’t always predict what the day will bring![...]

If you’d like to hear Russell and Alan’s full conversation with Burt Devere, give a listen here. Born and raised in Tombstone, AZ, Burt has lived a fascinating life. He pursued a degree in engineering, worked in mining, traveled the world, and even owned a dude ranch. [...]

Russell and Alan continue exploring the history of Tombstone, AZ, this time with special guest Burt Devere, whose great-grandfather settled in the area in the late 1800s. Burt shares some fascinating stories from then and now. (What would you do if you witnessed a train robbery?)[...]

This year, we celebrate the 17th annual National Day of the Cowboy. Last year, we interviewed founder Bethany Braley, who is dedicated to preserving cowboy culture and heritage. Here’s the special reprise of our interview with her. Hats off to you, Bethany![...]