Trained as a professional chef and cooking her way around the world as a private chef for over 25 years, who would have thought Rachel Vaughn would find herself on the border of Poland and Ukraine, cooking for refugees fleeing the war?  World Central Kitchen asked her to join its team after witnessing her passion for justice, humanity, and food. When she isn’t saving the world, one pierogi at a time, Rachel resides in Bozeman, MT and Martha’s Vineyard, MA as an empty-nester, having raised her two boys.Full show notes at www.northstarunplugged.com

John McPhee was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University.  After seven years at Time magazine, he moved to The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1965.  A Fellow of the Geological Society of America and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he was awarded in 1999 the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (Annals of the Former World).Full show notes at northstarunplugged.com

Ethan Barlow is the co-founder and principal of Holding Ground, a design build firm in Bozeman, Montana. Before beginning his career as an architect, Ethan played professional baseball, worked in finance, and apprenticed to a master carpenter on an island in Maine.Full show notes at northstarunplugged.com

Husband and wife team Charley Graham and Lauren Reich are joint owners of Bozeman’s Little Star Diner, combining their talents of chef and farmer. Charley runs the kitchen and Lauren grows much of the produce for their small modern diner which highlights the peak flavors of each season.Full show notes at www.northstarunplugged.com

Nate Kouhana is the founder and CEO of Anthem Snacks, a premium veteran-owned meat snack company. He spent six years in the military and served as a Green Beret, where he received numerous awards, including two Bronze Star Medals and a Purple Heart.Full show notes at northstarunplugged.com

Emmet Gowin is a renowned photographer whose work has evolved from intimate portraits of his wife Edith Morris and extended Virginia family to aerial vistas of nuclear test sites, to scientific surveys of tropical ecosystems and their dependent biodiversity.  Emmet also served on the faculty of Princeton University as a professor of photography in the Visual Arts Program from 1973 until his retirement in 2009, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1974) and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships (1977, 1979). Full show notes at www.northstarunplugged.com

As the founder and Executive Director of the Young Masterminds Initiative, a nonprofit organization offering young men of color with the tools, resources and empowerment needed to navigate life, Manny introduced the Camping to Connect outdoor mentoring program, which is the focus of Wood Hood, a short documentary film that recently premiered at the Mountainfilm Festival.”Full show notes at www.northstarunplugged.com

In 2007, Benjamin Sears founded the LUXYOGA retreat in the South of France, an experience featured in Esquire, Yoga Journal, Vogue, the New York Times Magazine, and more. LUXYOGA now exists as a transformational experience both in person at retreats and trainings in the Paradise Valley of Montana, wherever Benjamin travels, and online. He conducts seminars worldwide, mentors yoga teachers, and leads acclaimed 200, 300 and 500 hour Yoga Alliance certified teacher training programs. Full show notes at www.northstarunpugged.com

Kristin Ohlson is an author and freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon. She wrote the book The Soil Will Save Us and appeared in the award winning documentary Kiss the Ground, speaking about the connection between soil health and climate health.  Her latest book is Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World.Full show notes at northstarunplugged.com

In 1999, Josh Morris moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, intending to stay for a year or two in his position there teaching English, but life had other plans. 23 years later, Josh is still living in Chiang Mai. He and his wife Kat- whom he met there- started Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures and later, the Progression Group. Josh was featured in the recent film The Rescue about the cave rescue of a Thai soccer team in July of 2018. In this interview,  we learn more about Josh’s critical role in that complex, technical, cross-cultural rescue effort. Full show notes at www.northstarunplugged.com