Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer
Tom Wilmer’s Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast, recorded live on-location across America and around the world- showcases the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine and spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts. We cover nouns and verbs—people, places, things, and action—everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls, and interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic. His feature, recorded live at Harland & Wolfe Shipyards in Belfast Northern Ireland, celebrating the centenary of the launch of the Titanic was the recipient of a Best Travel award from Outdoor Writers Association of California.
Episodes
A century following the genocide of more than 1.5 million Armenians, the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge or apologize their genocidal policies and actions. In the spring of 2015 in conjunction with the centenary of the Turkish genocide (1915-1918) correspondent Tom Wilmer met with Armenian-American Amy Hoogasian in San Francisco. Hoogasian recalled childhood memories of her grandparents’ tales of horrific abuse and mass m...
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Correspondent Tom Wilmer met up with Sandy Lipkowitz, owner of San Francisco based, We Make Travel Easy —specializing in customized travel planning for the discerning traveler to learn about the Floriade experience. Ms. Lipkowitz shares details about her upcoming tour planned for May 29-June 7, 2022 to the legendary Floriade International Horticultural Expo on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Following the expo, participants will visit ...
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April 30, 2021 • 20 min
Join Major Christopher Lauff, Commander, USAG HHC at Fort Hunter Liggett as he shares details about the May 15 open house. An array of activities for the public include a WWII C-47 fly-in along with an Coast Guard helicopter, and a hands-on chance for kids and adults to fire rifles and machine guns in the virtual reality lab. Joe Ping, Senior Training Instructor shares insights about how military training has evolved through virtua...
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April 29, 2021 • 13 min
Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Suisun Valley wine region on the outskirts of Fairfield, California where he visits with the owner of Wooden Valley Winery , Ron Lanza. When the Lanza family opened their Wooden Valley Winery on the heels of the Great Depression 85 years ago, there were just two wineries in the entire Suisun Valley . Join the conversation with Ron Lanza to discover the family’s history in the Valley and the arr...
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Wendy Voorsanger, Cal Poly grad and author of the award-winning novel, Prospects of a Woman talks with correspondent Tom Wilmer. Voorsanger shares insights about the book, and her work chronicling exceptional women throughout California's history featured on her blog She is California .
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April 27, 2021 • 16 min
Join correspondent Tom Wilmer in Suisun Valley at the Blue Victorian for an insightful conversation about the art of crafting fine wines with award-winning winemaker Jake Stuessy for Vezer Family Vineyards . Suisun Valley is Fairfield , California’s historic wine growing region, less than 8 miles from Napa Valley.
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Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from the Jelly Belly Candy Company in Fairfield, California . Join John Jamison, VP of retail operations for the story of Jelly Belly the iconic American candy that was founded in 1898 and was a favorite of President Reagan. Jelly Belly candies also went in to orbit with the NASA shuttle Challenger in 1983.
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April 25, 2021 • 36 min
Fairfield, California is just 45 minutes from San Francisco to the west and 45 minutes to Sacramento to the east, but it’s definitely a world apart. The Fairfield region is home of the legendary Jelly Belly candy factory, and Solano Land Trust’s Rush Ranch Nature Center with 2,000 acres of marsh and grassland. Fairfield also claims its very own wine-growing region called Suisun Valley just minutes away from downtown that’s a timele...
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In honor of Fort Hunter Liggett’s 80 th anniversary we repost c orrespondent Tom Wilmer's conversation with Brian Neumann, Ph.D., a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. Newmann talks about lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, who was second-in-command of the U.S. Army’s World War 1 American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Liggett was a visionary tactician who transformed field ta...
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William Randolph Heart’s old ranch headquarters was constructed in 1930. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan’s classic, Moorish/Mission Revival structure, dubbed the Hacienda or Milpitas Ranch House, was sold to the U.S. Army in 1940. The Hacienda initially served as operations headquarters for Fort Hunter Liggett until the base facilities were constructed in the dawning days of WWII. Today the Hacienda remains as a treasured histori...
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In the fall of 1990, correspondent Tom Wilmer spent time on the Rainbow Warrior II while the vessel and crew were in the midst of an environmental awareness campaign in British Columbia. Back in 1985 the French Intelligence Service bombed the Greeneace flagship vessel Rainbow Warrior in the port of Aukland, New Zealand. Straight away Greenpeace sourced a replacement vessel and in July 1989 a former the three-masted schooner, deep-s...
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April 15, 2021 • 31 min
Join associate producer Molly Blaisdell and 30-year winemaker Jamie Hilgendorf for an exploration of Mendocino Coast’s coveted wine culture with the proprietors of Foursight Wines and Long Meadow Ranch Winery as well as the distinctive accommodations at Sheep Dung Properties and Alegria Oceanfront Inn & Cottages . Mendocino is part of the growing trend of micro-trip escapes for those eager to start traveling again. Whether you’...
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April 13, 2021 • 11 min
It all started back in 1930 when Nick Bullington was working as an advance man for Ringling Brothers Circus. He discovered a killer bowl of Chile while staying at a San Antonio Hotel. It was the Chili spurred Nick to open his own eatery in downtown Roanoke , Virginia --dubbed the Texas Tavern in homage to the San Antonio hostelry where he fell in love with the Chili. The chili dish is still on the menu and Nick’s grandson Matt Bull...
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April 11, 2021 • 10 min
Who knew Boonville, California would be the destination of an enviable and legendary sparkling wine enterprise with a centuries long French connection? Correspondent Molly Blaisdell and her associate Jamie Hilgendorf explore, taste and learn about Mendocino Coast’s legendary sparkling wines at R oederer Estates in Anderson Valley. Jean-Claude Rouzaud, former president of Champagne Louis Roederer, purchased the 580-acre Anderson Val...
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Correspondent Randi Hair reports from Templeton, California where she visits with Eric Alexiev who spent his formative years on the central coast. His father was born and raised in Bulgaria and Eric was immersed as a kid with the cuisine, culture, and stories shared by his father, Alex Alexiev , and Bulgarian friends at the dinner table. The capital city of Sophia and Bulgaria were ingrained in Eric’s thoughts as he grew up. Two ye...
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Join the journey to explore the past and present of Oakridge , Tennessee—the town that was dubbed Secret City as more than 75,000 workers settled in during WWII to develop the nuclear bomb. We’ll then stop in for a visit at Los Alamos National Labs , New Mexico (dubbed Atomic City) also formed in total secrecy during WWII to develop the first nuclear bomb. Both towns continue high-tech research for the Department of Energy, includi...
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April 1, 2021 • 21 min
Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a conversation with Dr. Penny Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County's Public Health Director about dealing with COVID-19 over the past year, and best hope scenarios looking in to the near-term future. Underwriting support provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennessee and the Shoals Region of Northern Alabama.
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March 30, 2021 • 16 min
Quynh and David Rathkamp made a dramatic transition in their lives. They both gave up successful medical practices to save the world one beer at a time. They started the Save the World Brewing Company in Marble Falls , Texas and their business became the first 100 percent philanthropic production brewery in America with all net profits earmarked for worthy causes such as Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. David realized his ...
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March 27, 2021 • 25 min
Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Abe Marquez, president of the Foundation at Hearst Castle . Marquez shares insights about the foundation’s ongoing educational programs that inspire and empower young students from underserved communities via hands on STEAM programs. Marquez met with Wilmer at the historic Hacienda, designed to serve as William Randolph Hearst’s ranch headquarters by legendary architect Julia Morgan. The Foundat...
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March 24, 2021 • 14 min
Join correspondent Tom Wilmer for an exploration of Kona Historical Society’s, Kona Coffee Living History farm , the onetime home of the Uchida Coffee farm founded in 1913. Discover how Kona coffee was grown and harvested by the pioneering Japanese farmers on the Big Island of Hawaii . Underwriting support provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennesse...
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