← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Everglades, Croczilla & Preserving America’s Wilderness ft. Filmmaker Alexander Joseph | Ep. 47
00:56:28
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- [00:00]
Alexander Joseph
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Sean Ryan
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- [00:18]
Alexander Joseph
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Sean Ryan
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- [00:31]
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- [00:34]
Sean Ryan
Terms and conditions apply. This message is sponsored by Greenlight with.
- [00:37]
Alexander Joseph
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- [00:39]
Sean Ryan
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- [00:41]
Alexander Joseph
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- [00:48]
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- [00:55]
Alexander Joseph
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- [00:58]
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- [01:01]
Alexander Joseph
Iheart that's greenlight.com iheart it's finally happened.
- [01:07]
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- [01:42]
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- [02:13]
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- [03:14]
Alexander Joseph
Love to tell stories, meaningful stories, impactful stories that people can relate to. And the idea of Explorist, the reason why I founded it was that I wanted to inspire the average Joe to kind of, you know, embrace the outdoors more. Don't get sucked into the nine to five too much and go on, take your family on picnics. I feel like that's something that's been lost on a lot of Americans.
- [03:39]
Sean Ryan
I understand that a lot of people come to my show and they have this great expectation of some deep, you know, geopolitical insight or my valuation on what's happening in Ukraine and Russia or what's going on and that type of stuff because of my background. But you also now, after watching me on Shawn Ryan, if you did, you know, you understand that I am an artist at heart. And so what I'm always doing is scouring X and Instagram and the Internet looking for people that I believe are true artists. Artists, people that have taken a passion for what makes, what stirs them and what gets them out of bed in the morning and turn it into something that other people can consume and can connect to, that can transform their perceptions of their own reality. And so today, it is with great honor that I welcome Alexander Joseph to the show. Now, Alexander is the founder of explorist.com and that's Xplo are ist.org I'm sorry, explorist.org and what they do is they are documentary filmmakers that are really out there to inspire you to connect with your local environments, to experience the thing that he has enjoyed throughout his whole life. So without further ado, Alexander, it is a pleasure to have you on the show, man.
- [05:04]
Alexander Joseph
Appreciate it. David, thank you for having me on here. And really quick, just want to say appreciate your service to Our country can, you know, my heart goes out to veterans every time I do meet them. So I appreciate your service.
- [05:17]
Sean Ryan
Oh, I, I, well, let's just, I appreciate that more than you can know. That means a lot to me. But let's just hold on because you just started working with Braxton McCoy at the Sagebrush Institute, so you might change your mind after a little bit here, because it's the guys that have gotten blown up. Those are the guys that you really gotta, you gotta pay attention to. All right.
- [05:39]
Alexander Joseph
I appreciate the introduction.
- [05:42]
Sean Ryan
Yeah, for sure, man. I, I just, I saw your documentary, I, you know, King of the Everglades on, on X and man, I think I, I've watched that thing probably 10 times already, you know, growing up, I mean, growing up in South Florida like you and I can't wait to understand more about that. You know, I, I grew up in, in the Everglades were a massive part of our, you know, our existence down here, especially when it was, you know, it wasn't as build out when I, when I was born in 1972 is a lot smaller and they seem to be a lot closer. Right. But when I watched yours, you know, I, it really was impactful. And I was like, that's a person that really has respect for what, what that place is and what many people don't know. It's the only ecosystem like it in the world. You cannot find the Everglades in any other place in the world. And so we have beautiful pristine area and so little people in southeast Florida or even around the country recognize that it's available for them to experience in a deep, meaningful way. So why don't we get into that? Like, tell me about growing up in South Florida. Where did these passions for the outdoors and for filmmaking begin?
- [07:01]
Alexander Joseph
You know, ever since I was a kid growing up, there were two people I wanted to, you know, one of two people I wanted to be either Indiana Jones or Steven Spielberg.
- [07:09]
Sean Ryan
So yes, those are awesome.
- [07:13]
Alexander Joseph
So it's kind of funny how life kind of worked out in its way that it's, you know, on this sort of trend that I'm more outdoors oriented right now. And I've always enjoyed filmmaking in the process of it, as tedious as it, as it is. But I have a very creative mind in that sense that I love to tell stories, meaningful stories, impactful stories that people can relate to. And the idea of explorist, the reason why I founded it was that I wanted to inspire the average Joe to kind of, you know, embrace the outdoors more. Don't get sucked into the nine to five too much and go on, take your family on picnics. I feel like that's something that's been lost on a lot of Americans.
- [07:53]
Sean Ryan
Oh, 100%. I mean, I, you know, for me, my. My passion place is the ocean, right? Growing up going in in that ocean every day, I mean, we have these beautiful beaches that have. Don't have. Aren't inundated with condominiums on, you know, every five fe between each other. And I just remember going and just being in the water and connecting to that ocean. And then, you know, you start surfing, you start understanding more about what's beneath the ocean, more about, you know, the ecological realities of the ocean. And, you know, and it just. If you allow it to seep into your heart, it really is transformative. Was there a moment when you were a kid that you went out into the Everglades or you went down to the Keys that really kind of began to capture or maybe something out west? I saw you were a snowboarder, too.
- [08:46]
Alexander Joseph
Yeah, I am. I'm probably the only person in Miami that owns more than one snowboard, so there's severe brain damage over here.
- [08:59]
Sean Ryan
Well, anybody wants to be an outdoor conservationalist filmmaker, you always got to be like, what?
- [09:07]
Alexander Joseph
So to answer your question, there were two. Two sort of moments that kind of fed into this passion for the outdoors. One, you know, my father has always been an adventurous person. He's always me stories about him and his grandfather and how they would travel to exotic places. It almost felt like he was Indiana Jones. He would tell me about places in Japan or, you know, other islands that he would go in the Caribbean with his father. And growing up, he kind of wanted to instill that sort of sense of wonder with my brother and I. And he would take us out to the Everglades at a very young age. We would be walking there through the many boardwalks that they had, and Hinga Trail is one of them down south. And then he did, you know, the typical American experience where you take your family out west and you start in San Francisco and drive down the coast and hit all the major national parks out west. So we have photos, and I have vivid memories of, you know, seeing bighorn sheep, Old Faithful, those things, those memories that just were ingrained into my mind. And to this day, I. I feel like I'm still chasing that wonder that. That. That encapsulating moment where you appreciate the art gallery that is creation.
- [10:15]
Sean Ryan
That's his most beautifully put explanation I've ever heard.
- [10:19]
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Man, that was poetic.
- [10:21]
Sean Ryan
I mean, that's. That was beautiful. Oh my gosh, Jordy. I want to make sure we, we get that one logged and that's the one I want on the clips that we promote.
- [10:30]
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- [10:30]
Sean Ryan
That was just absolutely perfectly put. You know, you talk about those early memories. I mean, my earliest memory as a child is my father carrying me on his shoulders on a hike out in Yosemite. And you're right. What does it do, regardless of where you come from or what your circumstances are, when you get to really allow that framework of consciousness to broaden to see the magnitude of God's creation that is at our fingertips or at a drive distance, anywhere, pretty much you live. We really can be. It's almost like that. What is it? It's that seed of wanderlust that just can get in your heart. And if you have that, you have so much more fulfillment throughout your whole life. Right.
- [11:32]
Alexander Joseph
I think people tend to forget one of two things is that one, you know, mankind is part of the ecosystem, right? People think that the ecosystem is separated from man. And the other thing too is scripture wise. You know, God called us to be stewards, good stewards of his creation. So I think part of that, that urge of wonder, that wanderlust you mentioned is that part of it's a calling to a lot of us to, you know, be good stewards to, to creation, to the earth that we were given.
- [11:58]
Sean Ryan
Man, that's massive. I remember I never understood it, I felt it, but I never understood it in the way that you just so poetically put it until I was in college. And when I was in college, I did this Native American studies class and we had this Sioux Indian that had come in and talked about growing up, his desire to leave. He made it to Pittsburgh, he was a welder. And he got in this welding accident and fell like four stor. Broke every bone in his body, his back. And then as he was recovering, his grandfather, who was a medicine man, made the trip, drove out and like prayed over him for a week. And after a week he kind of just stood up and he was healed. And so here I am, this 19 year old kid, impressionable kid. I hear this story and then he goes back to South Dakota and he starts telling the story of the living Black Hills, right? And he was able to articulate that, the connection that he had with his homeland and the connection of the legacy of generations of his Native American tribe and his family members. And then on that deeper level, as a lineage of medicine men, you know, that hit me In a way that was like, oh, my God, there's another way to experience life, to be connected to it. And it's like. And then you like, well, what does this mean, man? And I think that was one of the big things, an underlying component of me wanting to go into the service was to go see the world. You know, many people ask me all the time, you know, what's the greatest place you've ever been? You know, And I, I say, you know, in the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, or out in Bomunier where they had, you know, the Taliban blew up those giant Buddhist statues that were 1500 years. Or out in the desert of death by the, you know, by Quetta and the border of Pakistan. And. And people like, that's a war zone, wasn't it? And I was like, no, it was raw. And when you. I think when you can connect, when there's no barriers, right? I think that's what it is. There's a. It's. We propensity within. Within society to generate barriers between our soul and the. And creation. I love how you put that. So you start experiencing this at a young age. What. What was the first moment that you. On a different note, the art, the art of storytelling. When. How did that emerge in your. In your childhood?
- [14:46]
Alexander Joseph
Well, I, you know, I saw a lot of films growing up with my dad and, you know, Jurassic Park, Jaws, you name all the Spielberg classics, and, you know, so good. So good. Epic. Epic is a good word to use that.
- [14:59]
Sean Ryan
I try to always.
- [15:01]
Alexander Joseph
I try to. I try to use that in. In all my writing. Growing up seeing these kind of movies, I. I didn't want the fame, I didn't want any of the Hollywood stigma, and I didn't want any of that stuff or the fortune that came with it. I wanted the ability to share stories, impactful stories, captivating stories that would inspire the next generation of adventurers, so to speak. And it started at an early age, and then it finally kind of crystallized into a YouTube channel, so.
- [15:30]
Sean Ryan
Awesome. Can I ask you one quick question? What do you remember some of the first stories other than Spielberg movies was? Because obviously you're. You're a documentary filmmaker, so that's a different type of storytelling. But what were some of the. The real stories that you remember as a kid, whether it was MOV or TV shows or documentaries that hit you? Because, like, for me, I remember with documentaries is when Ken Burns came out with the Civil War and that. And I was just like, oh, my God, like, that changes every. How I look at It. So what were some for you?
- [16:05]
Alexander Joseph
For me, growing up, Steve Irwin is the probably the number one, may he rest in peace. He was a massive influence on who I am today as well as people like Jeremy Wade and River Monsters. You know, I can tell you right now, I just finished binge watching River Monsters again for maybe like the 13th time.
- [16:29]
Sean Ryan
Yeah, yeah. But it's crazy because now you're like, oh, where'd he put the camera on that and how did he set that shot up?
- [16:38]
Alexander Joseph
And you know, it's so funny that you mentioned that I lose sleep over this because we're out in the Everglades. So the Everglades isn't exactly a production friendly environment.
- [16:48]
Sean Ryan
So.
- [16:48]
Alexander Joseph
And full disclosure, it's. We are a two man team at the moment. It's myself and my partner Garrett and we are out there and it's a logistics nightmare.
- [16:59]
Sean Ryan
Yes, yes. And people who haven't had to do anything technical in the wilderness or jungle or deserts or mountains or anything like that, they don't get the logistics involved. Right. They're casually interacting with it whereas you're trying to operate and it's a whole different animal. Animal.
- [17:18]
Alexander Joseph
It's. You know, I'm sure you can speak on this. Rucking with 30 pounds of gear in 108 degree humidity. It's not a good time.
- [17:26]
Sean Ryan
Dude. We did a jungle survival course my first platoon over in the Philippines. And I'll tell you what, you can stick me in 130 degree weather in the desert any day of the week and twice on Tuesdays more than I want to be in any jungle, mosquito infested, wet that, you know, everything that grabs you wants to tear your skin environment. Right.
- [17:49]
Alexander Joseph
That's one thing I always tell people, like, hey, if there's ever God forbid there's an invasion to the United States, nobody's invading Florida.
- [17:56]
Sean Ryan
No. Well you. Do you know the history of the Seminoles and Andrew Jackson and, and the fight that they put up in resistance.
- [18:05]
Alexander Joseph
I'm not too familiar with it. I know that there are a lot of short stories in guerrilla warfare, like pockets of guerrilla warfare throughout Florida and the wetlands that we have here. But do tell, tell me about Andrew Jackson.
- [18:18]
Sean Ryan
When they started the Indian campaigns to, you know, really recapture territory and expand. Right. You know the. What it. Manifest Destiny. That was later. I forget what he called it. But you know, they sent these troops down into Florida to get rid of this little tribe because they had just been, they had been whaling, what the Cherokee they pushed out of North Carolina. Right. And then they pushed Them down in Oklahoma, the Trail of Tears. And then they sent people, you know, try to send people up in to the Dakotas and they pushed up the, what was it? The up in New England. It was the last of the Mohicans. The Mohicans. And, and they came down here and they thought it was just going to be easy because the terrain was pretty easy. But then they hit the wetlands and they got waylaid. Man. The Seminoles were voracious fighters and could just disappear is easier than these, these northern troops and their, you know, heavy wool pants and heavy boots and their rocks and their law and these. And they just got lit up for a while and it was this great resistance.
- [19:28]
Alexander Joseph
Yeah, don't even mention the mosquitoes.
- [19:31]
Sean Ryan
Oh my God. I don't know if they're more like pterodactyls than mosquitoes. Right.
- [19:36]
Alexander Joseph
So funny enough, everyone has told me that the Alaskan mosquito, Alaska has like, like 30 something species of mosquito. But they do have a very aggressive species. But ours, the salt marsh mosquito is actually the most aggressive species that we have and they can personally attach to it.
- [19:57]
Sean Ryan
Yeah, absolutely.
- [19:58]
Alexander Joseph
I have a photo on X from one of our shoots and this, this previous June, May, I just smacked my, my arm over here and I got some blood splatter on my shirt. And I kid you not, you could barely see the blood. It was just covered in black from the amount of mosquitoes.
- [20:14]
Sean Ryan
Oh my gosh, that's awesome.
- [20:17]
Alexander Joseph
Not for the week.
- [20:18]
Sean Ryan
That's dedication. Not for the weak hearted. Right? Okay, so you, you, you see Steve Irwin, you see these other people, you begin to, you know, fall in love with the idea of storytelling. And then you're like, all right, well if, if this is what it is, I'm going to start a YouTube channel. Tell me what that was like and, and what was it like the first time like you picked up that camera and you, you told your first story. Can you walk us through that a little bit?
- [20:46]
Alexander Joseph
Oh, it was nerve wracking because I didn't know how to talk to a camera.
- [20:52]
Sean Ryan
That does suck.
- [20:53]
Alexander Joseph
There was that, but I got. It sucks. But you know, I got used to it and you know, I was part of that. I was riding the wave that. I don't know if you remember that trend where travel vlogs were all the rage on YouTube. And I was like, oh, I could do that. You know, I could, I snowboard, I do this and that and I'm gonna do a cinematic flair to it. And. But then I just started feeling like it's. I want to make something that's impactful. Vlogs. Don't get me wrong, there are impactful creators out there and there are V logs that are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're informative and.
- [21:28]
Sean Ryan
And sorry to interrupt.
- [21:29]
Alexander Joseph
To me, I felt like, no, no, you're fine. To me, I felt like it. It wasn't fulfilling enough for me. I felt like telling stories and inspiring, even if it meant one person saw this video. And that weekend, they were already looking at hiking with their family and taking a photo with their phone. That, to me, was the only W that mattered to me. I didn't care so much about the number of subscribers. So then I started to pivot away from the travel content, and I really sat down and dedicated to writing out stories and really honing in on American Wilderness. And I feel like American wilderness is significantly underappreciated and underrated to the point where we just had that. That bill standoff with the whole big, beautiful American bill where they wanted to sell off how many millions of acres? And that would have been disastrous.
- [22:19]
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- [22:23]
Sean Ryan
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- [24:11]
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Sean Ryan
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- [26:42]
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- [27:13]
Sean Ryan
You know, Braxton and the courage he had to, you know, start the ball rolling. And then, you know, thank God, you know, Sean was able to get him on and get that thing going. And you know, I was just up there and he, they showed me the Washington Post article where, you know, they dropped the trailer and that night they put, pulled it out of the bill. So, you know, I think that, I think those are the stories also for me that really confirm the magnitude of great storytelling, honest, sincere storytelling. Like when you hear an individual's personal affiliation or not, not, that's not strong enough. Infatuation, maybe with a particular idea, incident, place, whatever it is. And then if they can demonstrate through all these beautiful mediums of art that we have, it captures us, it captures the soul. And we saw that happen with that endeavor that they went on. There were millions of people around the country banging on their congressmen, their senators, the federal government, I mean, banging on them. I mean, it got so intense that, you know, there was a pretty high ranking member in Trump's administration that was trying to get Sean not to, you know, play that episode with Braxton. And so you know that that's the power of great storytelling right there. I just, I love it. So when did you, when did you decide? All right, I'm passionate about the outdoors. The outdoors isn't a go. Creation. Sorry, I'm going to use the appropriate word that you brough and I apologize for, for not keeping that up where it should be. So you're, you're, you're mesmerized, you're infatuated, you're moved, you're called to action by creation itself. In our relationship, you discover you, there's ways to do it with telling stories. When was the moment that you said, all right, this is what I'm going to focus on. And then, and then. How did you pick your first big project?
- [29:29]
Alexander Joseph
My. The moment that kind of, it was pretty, pretty big moment in life. I haven't really shared this anywhere else except with my inner circle. So I guess this is a good time to talk about where we came from. A little over a year ago, close to two years ago, I lost someone pretty close to me to suicide.
- [29:47]
Sean Ryan
I'm so sorry.
- [29:48]
Alexander Joseph
Yeah, it was, it was, yeah, it was, it was tough. He, you know, I grew up with him. We were good friends and childhood friends and I kind of was not in a good spot in my life as well. And I just went out into the Everglades by myself, Raw dog it, as people say, you know, just went right out there and I was in the middle of the Everglades in knee high water with a brand new lens that I wanted to try out. And I just sat there and David, it was probably, you know, one of two most peaceful moments in my life where you couldn't hear anything but your thoughts. And, and I just like, I felt like I surrendered myself to God. I spoke to him. We had a very personal one on one. It felt like. And at that moment it felt like, you know, I want to do more with my life. I want to not just tell stories. I want to show my appreciation to your work, God, your creation, and instill the same respect that we have that I grew up with, with my family too. So that kind of kickstarted everything from there. I kind of, it was sort of like a mental refresher of, of really pivoting and focusing on what matters most in life. Everyone kind of gets so caught up with their nine to fives, their responsibilities at home, and I'm not saying disregard any of that. I'm just saying that sometimes something happens in life maybe too late, unfortunately, but for me it felt sooner than later where my life kind of recalibrated and I started to see what mattered more. You know, family, my relationships to my father and my mother, my brother, my friends, my immediate friends as well. And then, and just finding that peace again. Every weekend I just started to build off of that. Every weekend I would go out into the Everglades with a buddy of mine or by myself and kind of share the passion and share, oh, you know, this is something that we wouldn't have seen if we weren't out here. And then from then on it kind of just, it was a stepping stone to something greater where I was like, I want to found an Organization because I feel like National Geographic, Discovery Channel and a lot of these big names, these household names. I feel like the magic with these organizations has kind of been lost on us. And I say that because most of their work unfortunately feels like it gets too preachy. It feels like they guilt trip people into certain agendas and narratives. And as a result, that pushes away maybe more than half your audience. And I feel like, you know, growing up, we didn't have that. We had more of the appreciation for the wonderful, the appreciation for creation, the appreciation for the blade of grass right next to us that has a dragonfly that is eating the mosquitoes and saving our skin. So, you know, those, those little things where to the granular level and then to the macro. We don't really have stories that tell us the things that matter. It feels like. And from that point on, then I started doing some research. The crocodile thing came up that same year where I photographed a rather large 17 footer in the Flamingo Marina. Yeah. Wow. And. And I would learn about him. And he had a specific name. His name was Fred. And I was just starting, I went down this rabbit hole because I, I was at the time, I always knew that we had crocodiles, but I had never seen one until that day. And I thought to myself, wow, do we have giant crocodiles like this in the Everglades? And then, yeah, at, there's Croczilla, there's Freddy, there's Fred. Freddy is from Black Marina, the other side of the coast there. And that kind of. I was like, wow, this, this is a story that nobody talks about. And you tell, you talk to other Floridians and they'll be like, we don't have crocodiles, we have alligators. I'm like, actually, we're the only place on earth that has both alligators and crocodiles. And I have the photos.
- [33:42]
Sean Ryan
And Caymans. Don't we have caimans too? In some places now?
- [33:45]
Alexander Joseph
They're popping up. Yeah. They are invasive. They have been popping up, up. I haven't seen them yet, but they have, there are records of them popping up in the Everglades now.
- [33:54]
Sean Ryan
Okay.
- [33:56]
Alexander Joseph
But that kind of like kickstarted the whole chasing these stories, these American wilderness stories, where I started picking up rumors here and there. Another project that we have in the works too, with the University of Arizona is that Arizona has jaguars. And I had no idea that we had Native American, like n American native jaguars. And they just recently picked. Yeah, yeah, they just recently picked up a couple on their game trail cameras out west. And I'M like, that's a great story, you know, that. That's tracking a big cat that belonged to America. And we're already, you know. I'm sure you're well aware that our Florida panthers knocking on extinction door right now.
- [34:36]
Sean Ryan
Yeah, I do know that. Yeah. I remember when I was a kid growing up, there was a. A, you know, a. A scrub area just on the other side of 95, and there was regular, Regular cats in there that they'd find, you know, and. And that Florida puma was just always around. And it's just, you know, I. I think, man, it's almost as if it's like I. I think, you know, like, for me, when I hear a story, because I've always been infatuated with great storytelling as well, too. From early on, my dad was very adamant about discovery and curiosity, but through great storytelling and I try to forget what it was. But, you know, this s. This essence of allowing the story of something outside of the norm to catch you and pull you in. Right. So whatever it might be, whether it's the fall from grace story or the hero or the saving the damsel or defeating the dragon, whatever archetypical story that we traditionally are exposed to, it's those ones in nature that give the closest proximity to it. And you're like, whoa, that's real. That can happen in real time. It's not mythological. That's in your backyard. It's like, oh, my God, I can go access the magnificence of what creation. The stories, the millions, the billions of different stories that creation tells us on this planet alone every single day. And for us, it used to come on on Sunday nights before Disney used to have a show. And it was this guy, and, you know, he had this great voice. And it'd be, you know, filmed over in Africa, or it'd be down in the islands, or, you know, he'd go diving with Jacques Cousteau or, you know, whatever it was. And I remember it was like they were on another planet. And. And my dad was the one who always was like, you can access that if you are adventurous and you're courageous and you. You recognize what is it. As soon as we can reshift the relative interpretation of our own size in creation to where we're not always monumentally bigger or more important than these other things, right? The jaguar out in Arizona or Croczilla in the Everglades, like. Like, once we realize, oh, man, those things are every bit as important and as. Every bit as big as we are, then Then you have the, like, people just get sucked into it.
- [37:37]
Alexander Joseph
Tell me how you got your purpose, too.
- [37:38]
Sean Ryan
I'm sorry, go ahead.
- [37:39]
Alexander Joseph
No, no, that's fine. That's the purpose, too, is that, you know, not. I. I say that we're trying to inspire the next generation, but like you said, it's accessible. It's in our backyard. Me, every weekend, you know, I'm. I'm working. I'm. I'm. I have a normie job, too. I work nine to five, and I. And then every day off, any time off I have, I'm out there and tracking Croczilla, and I keep missing him. And it's become this sort of obsession of mine. And I'm like, the fact that I'm doing this, anyone could really do this. That's why we tell these stories that we want to tell you guys. Like, hey, you don't need. You don't need to be a biologist. You don't need to be an expert in this field. You can go out and enjoy creation, too. You don't need anyone's permission.
- [38:18]
Sean Ryan
I think that's true in all art, right? I mean. I mean, one of my favorite stories is Ray lamontagne, right? A beautiful, beautiful balladero, you know, with his guitar and sings these beautiful songs. He was a carpenter until he was like, 42 years old, you know, or you look at some great painters or whatever, that all of a sudden they're just like. They're overwhelmed by their passion, and it forces their action to get out there and share what they see with the rest of. You know, initially it's through your friends and family. And then, you know, it starts to. Now with the Internet, I mean, everybody can be a creator, thank God. I mean, as much as there are aspects of social media, in particular, you know, some of the hater comments I got, you know, this past week, but, you know, the overwhelming majority of people that. That tap into the stories that I was trying to tell about resilience, it was positive. And when I look and I see the comments on your pieces, in particular, this, this. You know, this. The. The king of the Everglades, man. Like, I. I'm so moved by, hey, this. There's something happening, right? People are. Are seeking out these stories because. Because I think there's so many more opportunities to do them. Like when you first started our. Are you worried about competing with anybody else in the space? Are you worried about getting funding or getting it bought? Having your project bought by Netflix or whomever? Is that an issue for you?
- [40:08]
Alexander Joseph
We did start A crowdfunding campaign several months ago back in April and it concluded, I believe in May. And, and you know, I had a bare bones budget of like, just give me one more camera, couple pieces of equipment and let's see what we can do here. And we were able to, we were able to pull together a little over $10,000 which was that, that exceeded my expectations.
- [40:31]
Sean Ryan
That's awesome.
- [40:32]
Alexander Joseph
That exceeded our expectations. And I was truly grateful and blessed. We had a massive support from our friends, family and then the ex following too, the Goobers as you will I call them. They're great group of guys there that just like they, these are individuals who really do care about storytelling. They care about wholesomeness, they care about what matters, American history, integrity, the Constitution, things that matter and what makes America great. Right. And to see that sort of support and validation from others, it gave us all the momentum you could have asked for. And so to go back to your initial question, you know, everyone in this space, you know, the dream is like, oh, I'm going to get the Netflix deal, right? My stuff's going to get on Netflix and I'm going to get paid a 40 quadrillion dollars. It's like, you know, we had a couple of windows into the, into the industry and it was actually pretty interesting that we got pulled in when we started getting a little bit of traction. I sent out emails to producers that were on IMDb or producers that were on documentaries I enjoy, enjoyed especially recently on Netflix or BBC and I just drafted emails, I cannot tell you how many emails I sent out. It's blue to the, to the face and sent out emails. And then finally I got, maybe two people responded back and they were producers and I'm not gonna disclose his name, but this individual was one of the producers on the documentaries I loved and he absolutely loves our work. What we are pitching our trailer and the initial photography we've done and we actually got on a, on a sort of webcam discussion with him and he was actually, yeah, he had worked for BBC National Geographic and he was in works with another National Geographic project and he said do you boys want me to tell National Geographic about your project? And, and my buddy and I look at each other like yeah, yeah.
- [42:39]
Sean Ryan
Is that as a trick question?
- [42:42]
Alexander Joseph
That'd be nice. So unfortunately they did not go, go, go ahead and select us. They. The, the industry right now is a little bit in shambles with how everything is, the economic landscape. You know, the, the whole production industry is facing close to 70% unemployment rate and they're Very selective with where they want to throw their money. Because at the end of the day, you know, know you can, you can only. You can only waste so many. You can only. You can only waste so much money on so many projects. And you know, with Disney, Disney owns National Geographic. They wanted to be very selective with what project they want to put money towards. So they said that there isn't really a demand for expedition content is what was told to us.
- [43:28]
Sean Ryan
So.
- [43:28]
Alexander Joseph
To which I said, I don't know because. Because I look over on X and I talk to a lot of people and like expedition content is something that's. That's missing today, I feel.
- [43:40]
Sean Ryan
Oh, absolutely. Look at how. Well, what's his name, his new show on. On Net, Netflix, that came out just where he's the parks cop.
- [43:53]
Alexander Joseph
Oh, yes. Yeah. And it's like.
- [43:57]
Sean Ryan
And you're like, wait a minute, Cops in a national park. But like, there's an edginess because the shooting, the photography of it is immaculate. And so like it sucked me in. Or you look at Chris Hemsworth or. I mean, obviously there's all these people out there that have really done it well, you know, I think it's a lot like chasing down the pyramids and where they, you know, some of that stuff. So I think. But I believe that you guys and what you saw gave me that sensation that I had grown up with. Watching the National Geographic stuff, watching the Disney shows, watching it, Planet Earth stuff. I had that sensation. But what's even cooler is that you gave it something specific. Right? There was the mission of finding Croczilla and I just thought it was incredible. That's why I was just like, I gotta talk to this guy and how he came up with it.
- [44:53]
Alexander Joseph
And it's just a little bit of a spoiler alert. A little bit of a spoiler alert. We recently discovered that there is another super croc that is potentially larger than Croczilla. And he has only been photographed by two photographers so far. And he is well over 18ft long and he rules a pond. Yeah, yeah. He's a monster. The photographer who. So this crocodile is nicknamed King, which is. It's so funny that we discovered this crocodile out after I had named the documentary King of the Everglades. So I was just like, that's cool. This is like the Lord gave us a nice plot twist.
- [45:32]
Sean Ryan
That's right.
- [45:33]
Alexander Joseph
So that's right. We. I bumped into the only photographer that was able to get two photos. Photos of him. And over the span of the last six years, he photographed him. Twice. And once was in two. Once was a couple of years ago and I believe the other instance was 2018. And both times at three in the morning, this crocodile is out there and we're like, we got to get out there somehow some way. And oddly enough, I discovered the pond that he lives in is closed off to the public currently because it's gotten a mass, a mass migration of spoonbills and storks now setting up a nursery in the pond. And they wanted to protect the nursery from, you know, from tourists and anyone else out there from human intervention.
- [46:20]
Sean Ryan
So.
- [46:20]
Alexander Joseph
So we're like, this is a perfect. We're fighting to get permits, we're talking to. I'm exhausting every contact I can find to try to get on this pond and it's just proving very, very difficult. A lot of red tape involved. But it was a revelation because, like, no wonder this crocodile is as giant as he is because he's got a all you can eat buffet set up now with the nursery of spoonbills and storks there.
- [46:46]
Sean Ryan
Oh my gosh. It makes total sense, man. Total sense. Wow. Wow. What's up, team? I've been writing for over 40 years. Finally, I've decided to bring to life a character that has been on my heart since my experiences of carrying a gun for a living. If you recently watched my episode with my best friend on his show, the Sean Ryan show, you heard some of my real world experiences that shaped this character and the story of the Poet Warrior. Can a poet's soul survive the crucible of war? The Poet Warrior follows Adam Ferguson, a reclusive teenage artist haunted by his father's early death as he transforms into a battle scarred Navy Seal. Through the chaos of combat. In the shadow of 9 11, Adam grapples with the raw truth of mortality. His journey is a searing odyssey of heartbreak, failure, and the relentless search for identity amidst the ruins of lost loved ones. Set against the turbulent dawn of the global war on terror, this is a story of a young man torn between his poetic heart and the hardened warrior he's become. If this sounds like a story that might pull you in, please visit my website@davidrutherford.com or click the link in the description below. And if you pre order now, your signed copy will be delivered before the holiday holidays. Thank you very much and Godspeed. Crypto. It's on Kraken. My crypto is on crack and my xrp, it's on crack and I'm part of the XRP army. Dave Portnoy trusts Kraken with his crypto. So do millions of clients around the world. Ranked best crypto platform of 2025 by Forbes. Download the app today and get $10 in Bitcoin. After your first trade of $10 or more, just enter code IHEART10 under Add Invite Code when you sign up. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss and is offered to US customers through PayWord Interactive, Inc. Terms and conditions apply.
- [48:46]
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Sean Ryan
Thanks to the wet extra large cleaning.
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Sean Ryan
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- [51:18]
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- [51:48]
Sean Ryan
I want to read something to everybody who's listening and if you've ever, you know, been on a nature walk or actually put on a rock and gone camping or gotten in a canoe or you know, a raft or something and gotten out there and immersed yourself into creation, this will, this will have an impact on you. And this is what you wrote about and this is in your about us on explorers.org, you guys ago Explorist is a non profit organization dedicated to reconnecting people with the wild spaces around them. We believe that exploration begins in your own backyard and extends to the vast, untamed wilderness of North America. Our mission is to inspire curiosity, foster respect for natural environments, and cultivate a new generation of explorers. Through immersive storytelling, educational programs, and community initiatives, we showcase the breathtaking beauty and vital importance of our continent's wild places. Man, that's about as beautifully written as anything I've ever read. And I just. What I'd love for you to do is give people kind of what they can expect in the future from your content. Like what you're going to when you show people, what are they saying as you show them these reels? What are they saying to you? And then, you know, how are you shaping the narrative to really translate those beautiful words into that sensation that people are going to feel when they watch your stuff?
- [53:34]
Alexander Joseph
I think the main thing is that reconnection, reconnecting with untamed wilderness and showcasing what we want to start off with is American wilderness. I feel like there's more than enough stories to go around and showcase. We put together a tentative slate of ideas. One of them is The American Jaguar. I was going to premiere the title of it next week, but it is a beast of the borderlands. And that is, that is tracking the big cats of the North American jaguar and their place in Arizona and showcasing their resiliency, the history. And we're not trying to beat people over the head with an agenda or a sort of guilt tripped message. Right. This is about like, hey, I had no idea we had jaguars. I want to see that. Like so. And the idea is that we're going to go on this mission, we're going to show you and we're going to inspire you to do the same same because you can do it too. So gatekeeping is something I keep running into a lot in the production realm, in conservation. It's just, it's, it is a bit of a problem. I mean gatekeeping is everywhere in all, all walks of life.
- [54:46]
Sean Ryan
And hob, explain gatekeeping if you could.
- [54:49]
Alexander Joseph
It's, it's almost this self absorption idea of this realm. This, this piece of information belongs to me and only me and I don't want to share it with anyone else.
- [55:02]
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
- [55:03]
Alexander Joseph
And they monopolize it and they monopolize and they pick and choose who gets access to it. And to me, isn't that what made science great is that we can all challenge the science, we can all run our own experiments like we did growing up in middle school, right. Going to the science fair and that's, you know, we run into a bit of that and we kind of have to like we're walking a little bit on eggshells because unfortunately certainly don't want to get political about it. But it is left dominant, left leaning politics dominates that landscape for the most part. And we kind of want to break away with, we kind of want to recalibrate to the center, if we can on a lot of these issues and show people that nature's for everyone. It's not just for activists, it's not just for intellectuals who think that they're bigger than life.
- [55:53]
Sean Ryan
For sure. One of my closest friends has been a hunter his whole life. He, he manages a 10,000 acre hunting lease up at, just north on the edge of Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee. And you know, and he is probably the most significant conservationist I've ever met in my life. His family's very politically connected up in D.C. and even here in Florida. You know, his sister was very high up in the election. She was a Senate approved elections person, you know, for the Republican party. His brother is a conservationalist, lobby for FPNL lobbyists. And you know, he is a firm believer in conservationalism and you know, he's hunted all over the place and he's actually, you know, like you said, said, he's the one who's like, I don't give a damn what your politics are, but if you love the outdoors, it's on you to take that, to take up the mantle of supporting it, protecting it, and working together, regardless of what your core political beliefs. If you love the outdoors, you love the outdoors. I have seen that taking place now, now more than I've ever seen it as a result of what we just saw with Braxton and the establishment of the Sagebrush Institute. Can you explain your relationship with them and what's your position with them and how you came about being volunteered for that?
- [57:35]
Alexander Joseph
So it all started with a discussion over wolves. I'm sure. I don't know if you know the backstory with Braxton being the wolf appreciator because he got so much flack for calling out the Colorado policy of reintroducing gray wolves, which, that's a separate topic altogether, but. Right, right, we, we befriended each other over that issue I think over a year ago now. And we, we both have an appreciation for the, appreciation for the great outdoors. And he kind of took point on the whole, on the whole, you know, know the, the whole public land sale bill that was going to be pushed through and we just all fell in line and, you know, cooked together as many memes as we could and bully politicians into, into telling them like, no, this is not right. This is not what we voted for in terms of Sagebrush Institute. You know, they, they had put together a great board of individuals and they are putting together, know it sounds like, I'm quoting the Avengers and putting together a team. And they got all these, they got all these sort of, you know, big name influencers on X and different platforms that are gonna, are gonna do some wonderful work for Sagebrush. And I remember I was coming back from the Everglades and I got a DM notification from Braxton and he's just like, hey, you're gonna be the Florida, like chairman or president for the, for the Florida chapter. I'm volunteering you. And he like, he shows me the meme of like pointing a gun at me, like.
- [59:07]
Sean Ryan
Cowboy.
- [59:07]
Alexander Joseph
All right, all right, yeah, I'm in, I'm in.
- [59:11]
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- [59:13]
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
- [59:14]
Alexander Joseph
So he went ahead and said like, hey, I think you do, you do great work as a, as leader of the chapter. He went ahead and Made the announcement a couple weeks ago, and I've had a bunch of people flood the DMs and reach out to me, which has been amazing. And I have all this responsibility now to try to pick a spot somewhere where everyone could drive to in South Florida, maybe where we can all meet up and discuss some potential, you know, you know, hot topics that we want to tackle for Sagebrush.
- [59:43]
Sean Ryan
You know, Hot Springs is a beautiful place. You've got, I mean, all kinds of amazing places around Okeecho Lake, Okeechobee, that are incredible. I mean, up in the Panhandle, that's beautiful. I mean, there's a lot of spots, I think what a lot of people just think that, you know, Florida's strip malls and highway. Right. But they have no idea how diverse our ecosystem is. Right. And I just, I love that you have joined that organization. As you can already tell, I'm a massive supporter of Braxton's. I'm a massive supporter of Sagebrush. And, you know, I just think you're to make a. A tremendous, tremendous addition to, to that. So congratulations on getting that.
- [60:33]
Alexander Joseph
Thank you. It was an honor. It's a privilege. It's something that I will take very seriously. And the big thing is, too, I don't want to be the focal point. I want to empower Floridians. I want everyone to show up, voice your opinion. No one's going to get silenced. Let's all discuss, like, you know, at the dinner table, almost like it's an open discussion. Let's. It's. It's not a bad thing to share ideas. Right?
- [60:55]
Sean Ryan
Right.
- [60:55]
Alexander Joseph
We don't want just one or two people to lead point and tell everyone how to think. So.
- [61:01]
Sean Ryan
Absolutely. Absolutely. I love that. Okay, so let's talk about the release of this, what the next six months, year looks like for you, what are the next big steps and hurdles, and just explain what the roadmap looks for you and your organization over the foreseeable future. Future.
- [61:24]
Alexander Joseph
So we are filming. We're in the midst of filming King of the Everglades. It is going to be a seasonal documentary series. We have seven chapters mapped out. We're trying to hit 20 minutes per chapter because worst case scenario, we're looking at putting this thing out on YouTube and X, maybe X original remains to be seen. So, yeah, that's what the next year and a half looks like in terms of the King of the Everglades production. We are working with fpl, their crocodile expert. I just sent over a proposal over to them. So I'm waiting for feedback from them so we can get access to their cooling canals where they have a crocodile sanctuary there. And that's part of the over encompassing. The overarching story of King of the Everglades is to showcase the conservation. Right?
- [62:08]
Sean Ryan
Yep.
- [62:09]
Alexander Joseph
I did get invited by a biologist out west for gray wolf project out in Lasso Alaskan Volcanic national park out west in Northern California where this biologist and his team have been tracking the reintroduction of the almost or once extinct. Sorry, once extinct gray wolf in Northern California. That and they live in the shadow of a volcano. So it sounded very interesting and he invited me. So I'll be heading out there next year just to work on that story as well while I'm working on King of the Everglades. And then we're just gearing up hopefully in the next year or two, once we pick up maybe a little bit more financial support, more of a following too. We're going to be working on some other projects we have lined up, like the Arizona Jaguar, Beast of the borderlands. So that's what we have on our plate right now. Just a newsletter. Working with Sagebrush on a couple things as well and taking up the mantle of Florida, man, it feels like. And then we'll see where we go. We're going to try to shoot to get the first chapter of King of the Everglades out by falling all next year.
- [63:16]
Sean Ryan
Okay, that sounds beautiful. All right. So how can people support you? How can people support the effort? How can they not only support what you're doing@explorers.org but also sagebrush?
- [63:29]
Alexander Joseph
Support my caffeine addiction. Buy me a coffee. I don't want to. I don't want to really ask for anything, but, you know, all right, I'm gonna do it.
- [63:38]
Sean Ryan
Listen, everybody. It's very difficult to do this work. It's very difficult to meet young people that are inspired to take on these monumental hurdles. The industry itself, like he said, is very insulated and what they're choosing to get behind financially. And so I'm here to tell you, this young man is the real deal. His organization's the real deal. And more importantly, his art is the real deal. That's what got me to him. I watched his trailer. It moved me. And so that's what made me do it. So go to their website. That's exploitation. And, you know, it's $50, it's $100. We're not asking for 20,000 or $50,000. That's ridiculous. What these young men, what they need is to tell beautiful Stories for you and your children is they need just a little bit of help here and there. You know, don't go to Starbucks for a month and give them a hundred bucks, you know, so I'll ask, Don't worry. It's my pleasure.
- [64:42]
Alexander Joseph
I appreciate that, truly. You know, every dollar goes a long way and I'm incredib and blessed to have the support that we have and, and for many years to come. So I'm excited to get these stories out to you guys and, and who knows, maybe I'll be in one of my followers backyards next year.
- [64:59]
Sean Ryan
Oh, man, I love that. I love that. All right, so where can people follow you? Where?
- [65:04]
Alexander Joseph
Yeah, I have an Instagram Action Xander. Just the same as my X handle or username Action Xander. And then Explorest Society is our username as well on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, both Explorer Society and myself. Action Xander.
- [65:23]
Sean Ryan
Well, Alexander, I'm just truly honored that you shared your passion, your love of creation and what's available. I'm also very honored that you would talk a little bit about losing your friend. The way I look at that, I've lost a lot of friends over the last 10 years to suicide. And, and you know, each one of them, they inspire me to do what I do every day to try and bring some goodness to the world, to try and help people when they're down. And so, you know, at the end of the day, I'm sure he's smiling down on you, moved by what you are. And then also he's that little inspiration to keep walking through that thunderstorm of mosquitoes that's coming down on you and pretty soon to have Jag.
- [66:15]
Alexander Joseph
It's bad.
- [66:16]
Sean Ryan
Jaguars. Having Jaguars hunt you down. You go out there, Arizona. So thank you so much. God bless you. And, and we wish you all the luck. And when you're ready to release anything, just hit us up. We'll have you back on and we'll play a little bit of the clip and we'll just keep keep going helping you there.
- [66:33]
Alexander Joseph
I appreciate that a lot, David. And shout out to Jordy. You guys are doing wonderful work. Thank you so much and God bless you both.
- [66:40]
Sean Ryan
Thank you. Foreign.
- [66:45]
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- [67:09]
Sean Ryan
Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss and is offered to US customers through PayWord Interactive Inc. Terms and conditions apply. Ah, come on.
- [67:16]
Ollie Dog Food Advertiser
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- [67:18]
Sean Ryan
This thing is ancient.
- [67:20]
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Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the.
- [67:22]
Alexander Joseph
ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight.
- [67:24]
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Alexander Joseph
And AI powered performance, it keeps up.
- [67:32]
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- [67:34]
Sean Ryan
Whoa, this thing moves.
- [67:35]
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- [68:16]
Alexander Joseph
And wake up better.
- [68:17]
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- [69:24]
Sean Ryan
This is an Iheart podcast.