Before They Vanish
For over 30 years, award-winning author and explorer James Michael Dorsey has traveled to remote corners of the globe to document tribal cultures that may not exist much longer. "Before They Vanish" brings his stories to life — hosted by Dorsey, produced by Lisa Smith for Big Blend Radio. New episodes air every 4th Monday at 4pm PST.
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20 minutes ago
20 minutes ago
Welcome to the launch of "Before They Vanish," a Big Blend Radio podcast hosted by explorer, author, and naturalist James Michael Dorsey and produced by Lisa D. Smith.
In this debut episode, James takes us on a journey through a lifetime of extraordinary adventures — from his first trip to Kenya where a chance meeting with a Maasai elder sparked a 30-year obsession with vanishing tribal cultures, to sleeping in caves in Tanzania, being used as baboon bait by the Hazda people, and feeding his dinner to a feral cat at a Chinese Air Force base.
Along the way he reflects on what it means to give a voice to cultures that may not exist much longer, why he taught himself photography to prove his stories were real, and how a pension from the post office set him free to explore the world.
James has visited over 60 countries, documented more than 100 tribal and indigenous cultures, published nearly 1,000 essays, and authored four books. In our Getting to Know You segment he shares his spirit animal, his worst and best meals in the field, what he'd put in a 500-year time capsule, and the one superpower he'd choose to keep exploring as he gets older.
Books by James Michael Dorsey:— The Lagoon: Encounters with the Whales of San Ignacio— Baboons for Lunch and Other Sordid Adventures— Vanishing Tales from Ancient Trails— Tears, Fear and Adventure
Learn more about James and his books at https://jamesmichaeldorseyauthor.com/
New episodes of Before They Vanish air every 4th Monday at 4pm PST on Big Blend Radio. Subscribe from our favorite platform: https://before-they-vanish.podbean.com/
More about Big Blend Radio at https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/
13 hours ago
13 hours ago
As part of Big Blend Radio's "Book Blitz Month" programming (Jan. 2026), award-winning author, explorer, photographer, and cetacean specialist James Michael Dorsey shares stories from a lifetime of global exploration.
Having traveled through 60 countries, Dorsey discusses his work documenting remote cultures, endangered languages, and oral traditions, as well as his experiences studying and interacting with whales in some of the world’s most remote marine environments.
He reflects on the urgency of cultural preservation, noting that when the last speaker of a language is lost, an entire library of knowledge disappears. From encounters with the Hadzabe people of Tanzania to time spent observing cetaceans, this conversation explores storytelling, responsible travel, and the deep connections between humans, wildlife, and place.
🔗 Learn more about James Michael Dorsey, his books, and work: https://jamesmichaeldorseyauthor.com/
13 hours ago
13 hours ago
What does an explorer actually eat in Africa? In this episode, author and explorer James Michael Dorsey joins host Lisa Smith to talk food, survival, and culture across nine African countries — from drinking fresh goat blood with the Maasai, to eating baboon with the Hazda hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, to discovering that spaghetti is the staple food of Tuareg nomads deep in the Sahara Desert. Along the way, James shares the story of being used as baboon bait — and living to tell about it.
This segment is excerpted from Big Blend Radio's "Taste of Africa" episode (Dec. 2025).
James Michael Dorsey is an award-winning author, explorer, and conservationist who has traveled to over 60 countries documenting vanishing tribal and indigenous cultures. "Before They Vanish" is hosted by Dorsey and produced by Lisa Smith for Big Blend Radio.
Learn more about James and his books at jamesmichaeldorseyauthor.com
About Before They Vanish
For over three decades, award-winning author, explorer, and conservationist James Michael Dorsey has traveled to more than 60 countries, seeking out the world's most remote tribal and indigenous cultures — many with no written language, and many at risk of disappearing entirely. From the Omo Valley of Ethiopia to the Sahara, from the jungles of Cambodia to the gray whale lagoons of Baja, Dorsey's life's work has been to give these cultures "a small voice to tell the world, we exist" — before they vanish forever.
A fellow of the Explorers Club and member emeritus of the Adventurers Club of Los Angeles, Dorsey has also spent over two decades as a resident naturalist in the San Ignacio Lagoon whale sanctuary in Baja, Mexico — the only place on Earth where wild gray whales routinely seek out human contact. His writing has appeared in more than 900 essays and articles for outlets including BBC Wildlife, BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, the Los Angeles Times, and The Christian Science Monitor, and he is a multiple grand-prize winner of the Solas Awards for travel writing.
Before They Vanish, hosted by Dorsey and produced by Lisa Smith, brings his decades of journeys to life in conversation — the people he's met, the rituals he's witnessed, and the urgency behind a career spent documenting cultures the rest of the world may never otherwise know existed.
Before They Vanish is a Big Blend Radio podcast, part of the Big Blend Media House network.