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Encore: Canadian survival expert, author, musician, and now Public Television filmmaker Les Stroud

Les Stroud (left) in WGCU studio before recording an episode of Gulf Coast Life with WGCU's Mike Kiniry (right).
Tara Calligan/WGCU
Les Stroud (left) in WGCU studio before recording an episode of Gulf Coast Life with WGCU's Mike Kiniry (right).

This episode originally aired on October 25, 2023.

Les Stroud is a Canadian survival expert, filmmaker, author, and musician, best known as the creator of the TV series Survivorman. Over the years he’s produced survival-themed programming for The Outdoor Life Network, The Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, YTV — and most recently, Public Television.

His 2021 documentary Surviving Disasters with Les Stroud was presented by WGCU Public Media and American Public Television, and his newest show, Wild Harvest — which he’s working on season 3 of now — is also presented by WGCU.

In it he teams up with Chef Paul Rogalski. They go out into the wild where he gathers edible ingredients and Rogalski creates unique dishes with them.

As a musician Stroud has recorded six albums, including his most recently Mother Earth. He wrote all of the theme songs for his TV shows and has scored several independent films.

Stroud joins Gulf Coast Life to talk about the transition he’s found himself in, the projects he’s focusing on now, and the role music and songwriting have always played in his life.

You can hear Stroud's episode of Three Song Stories, recorded remotely in October of 2020, here.

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