Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson Chris Keyes – From Outside to RE:PUBLIC
Chris Keyes is the Executive Director of RE:PUBLIC and the former longtime Editor in Chief of Outside magazine. During his decades-long career in journalism, Chris helped guide Outside through some of its most iconic years—publishing award-winning stories, mentoring top writers, and keeping the magazine’s adventurous spirit alive in an era of massive change across the media landscape. Earlier this year, after leaving Outside, he launched RE:PUBLIC, a new nonprofit newsroom dedicated to one of his lifelong passions: America’s public lands.
RE:PUBLIC was created to fill a growing gap in environmental journalism. At a time when newsroom budgets are shrinking and coverage of conservation and land management issues has nearly disappeared, Chris saw an opportunity to build a publication focused entirely on public lands—how they’re managed, who uses them, and why they matter. Structured as a nonprofit, RE:PUBLIC will publish deeply reported, narrative-driven stories that reach across political lines and help readers better understand the forces shaping the landscapes we all share.
In this episode, we talk about what inspired Chris to start RE:PUBLIC, why public lands deserve more consistent and credible coverage, and how he’s building a business model that protects editorial independence. We also discuss his years at Outside, the changing nature of journalism, the challenges of freelance writing, and why great storytelling still has the power to cut through the noise and connect people to big ideas.
Be sure to sign up for RE:PUBLIC’s free newsletter by following the link in the episode notes. Big thanks to Chris for the fun conversation, and thank you for listening.
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- Chris Keyes
- RE:PUBLIC
- Sign up for the free RE:PUBLIC newsletter
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/chris-keyes/
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 2:00 - Intro, two comments and a question
- 6:08 - From Outside to RE:PUBLIC
- 10:57 - Public lands in the mainstream
- 13:12 - Nonprofit model
- 18:41 - Preaching to the choir
- 24:11 - Managing conflict as a people pleaser
- 29:17 - Journalism institutions and its role today
- 33:20 - Where it’s all going
- 39:41 - The editing hierarchy
- 44:27 - How Chris discovered Outside
- 49:46 - Adding in some personal connection
- 51:52 - The plan at Duke
- 57:09 - Book recs
- 1:00:20 - Wrapping up
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