The MeatEater Podcast Ep. 873
Clovis First, Saving The Great Lakes, and the World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing
Published: May 7, 2026 | Host: Steven Rinella & the MeatEater Crew
Overview
This episode of The MeatEater Podcast is a packed "news show" installment, with Steven Rinella and crew covering hot topics in conservation, hunting regulations, archaeological debate, and wildlife infrastructure. The team delivers updates on recent fishing exploits, a behind-the-scenes drama involving a Ken Burns-style "chimpanzee civil war" video, a breakdown of controversial regulatory changes and wildlife politics in Washington and Idaho, a deep dive into the crisis facing Great Lakes whitefish, the Clovis First debate’s return, and a look at the world’s largest wildlife overpass in California.
As always, the show mixes scientific nuance with irreverent humor, personal anecdotes, and a banter-rich discussion among diverse outdoors experts.
Episode Highlights & Key Topics
1. Key West Tarpon Adventures and Humorous Bickering
- [03:14] Fishing Recap: Giannis returned from Key West after near-misses with tarpon, sharing lessons and heartbreaks from fly fishing. Discussion includes technical tips, excitement, and the infamous "down and dirty" fight style.
- Giannis: “The next three seconds...I think are the most violent and exciting and chaotic 3 seconds of fishing that I’ve ever experienced...” [06:29]
- On lost tarpon: "We’re getting ready to literally put our hands on the fish...somehow the tarpon just slowly moves in that direction and...the 100lb of weight in the water gets pulled to that creek mouth and he goes under the bridge." [09:23]
- Sunscreen and Sunburn Tales: Playful jabs about using SPF 100, the (non)science of sunscreen, and red faces.
2. A Comedy of Chimpanzee Civil Wars and Joke Theft
- [11:28] The Ken Burns "Chimp Civil War" Spoof: The crew discuss a video parody that accidentally mirrored a recent Colbert segment. There’s genuine confusion, embarrassment, and debate about joke “theft” and social trends of meme repetition. Discussion is light-hearted, meta, and self-deprecating.
- Steven: “I just...go home and I’m laying in bed with my wife, and I show my wife the video. She thinks it’s funny. I send the video to Ken Burns...He replies, ‘Oh, I did one of those. For the Colbert show.’” [12:10]
- Randall (on originality): “I’d prefer to do it Ken Burns style and read a bunch of fake chimp letters over some mournful fiddle music.” [15:37]
- Phil: "I'd like to think he knows we're not so blatantly dumb as to rip something off from an incredibly well known and popular show..." [17:14]
3. Auction of the Oddities & Family Tales
- [28:30] Iconic Auction Items: The upcoming auction features Steve’s dad’s old Ford F150, stuffed with new hunting gear and delivered by Mark Kenyon. Other auction highlights include a nearly missed albino raccoon (lost to time and maggots), a powerful Honda outboard, and reclaimed barnwood.
- Steven: “We’re gonna have an auction item called Steve’s dad’s shitty old truck filled with great new hunting gear.” [29:54]
4. Turkey Hunting & Parenting
- [31:43] Brody’s Kid Gets His First Gobbler: Story about persistence, family, baseball schedules, and the pride/stress of guiding a child to their first turkey.
- Brody: “Both of my boys are playing baseball, and I’m training for that race Steve doesn’t want to talk about...Dudes, you have limited availability. We got to make it happen.” [33:52]
5. Deep Dive: Washington’s Troubled Game Commission
- [34:17] Guest Segment: Brian Lynn (Sportsman’s Alliance)
- Explainer: Washington's Game Commission is embroiled in controversy over lost hunting seasons (notably spring bear), alleged political interference, and egregious transparency violations.
- Corruption Details: Commissioners accused of deleting records, colluding with anti-hunting advocacy groups, violating open meetings law, and disregarding hunter input.
- Brian Lynn: "There's definite corruption and collusion going on with the animal rights movement...potential felonies being committed...deleting records, text messages..." [37:08]
- Legal Fallout: Multiple lawsuits, appeals, and pending investigations.
- Future Outlook: New governor Bob Ferguson is seen as more balanced but commission's restoration remains uncertain.
- Brian Lynn: “If we can get those four [problem commissioners] who have colluded…and just put people in there who understand...we'd be okay.” [48:04]
6. Odd and Alarming Wildlife News
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[50:09] Secret Service K9 Handler Video: Analysis of a viral security video where a bomb dog tries in vain to alert its handler about a would-be assassin.
- Steven: “That dog’s like, hey, him, him, him. It could have cost that dude his life.” [51:53]
- Side tangent about trusting animal intuition, including hunting dogs and humorous stories about missing a dog’s cues.
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[54:04] Ted Turner’s Passing: Noting the conservationist and fourth-largest US landowner’s death, speculating on his legacy and the fate of his 2 million acres.
- Steven: “Controversial figure, had a lot of lady troubles and whatnot. But a big conservationist.” [55:19]
7. Idaho’s Big Hunting Tech Ban
- [56:00] Technology Regulation: Idaho passes a sweeping law restricting drones, thermal optics, night vision, and transmitting cell cams for hunting most big game and upland birds (Aug 30–Dec 31), with carve-outs for game recovery and predator management.
- Randall: “One of the interesting things is that this working group...were unanimous in their recommendations for drone restrictions...” [57:51]
- Steven: “There’s no need to hunt walleye...The standard that a wildlife species needs to hold up to...isn’t ‘We only hunt things that are deleterious.’” [39:58]
- Discussion: Difficulties of enforcement, fair chase principles, anecdotal abuses (using thermals and drones to pinpoint animal locations), international comparisons.
- Steven: “I'm supportive of...using a dog for recovery...I don't think that’s really a thing that's going to get abused.” [62:41]
8. Great Lakes Whitefish Near Collapse
- [66:36] Michigan’s Desperation to Save Whitefish: Dramatic decline (2000–2024: 1.6M lbs to 200k lbs). The crisis is due to invasive zebra/quagga mussels filtering out the base of the ecosystem, suffocating spawning reefs, and even sunburning larvae in now-clear waters.
- Giannis: “The mussels...filter the entire volume of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan every two weeks.” [70:10]
- Steven: “The Great Lakes have become an experimental aquarium.” [71:58]
- Remediation Ideas: Banking fish in hatcheries, mechanical reef cleaning, tarping areas to suffocate mussels, but all methods are experimental and costly.
- Steven: “So many of the Great Lakes problems are already come from people being like, I got an idea.” [75:28]
- Advice: Stay engaged, tell lawmakers, and spread awareness; agencies are fighting uphill against budget cuts and indifference.
9. Archaeological Bombshell: Clovis First Rides Again
- [82:59] New Science Upends Monte Verde: A recent “Science” paper reanalyzes Monte Verde’s famed 14,500-year-old Chilean site, formerly the flagship “Pre-Clovis” evidence, and concludes the site is likely ~4,200–8,200 years old, with much earlier artifacts likely mixed-up due to site disturbance.
- Steven: “Clovis First is back, baby!” [82:59]
- Background: Decades-long debate; Clovis culture defined by distinctive projectile points ~13,000 years ago, with cultural “explosion” of sites but little pre-Clovis evidence outside of disputed or “weird” sites.
- Steven: “Why do we have so many great Clovis sites and everything older is wishy-washy or weird?” [101:12]
- Implications: Kelp Highway and boat-migration models now less compelling; skepticism grows until a “normal” and stratified pre-Clovis site is found.
- Steven: “I’m done having opinions about it...I was a big kelp highway guy. Now I feel like a fool.” [103:34]
10. World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing (California & Beyond)
- [107:12+] The Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing
- Background: Decades of fragmented cougar and wildlife populations forced action; $114M bridge is nearly done, covered in local plants, spanning 10+ lanes of L.A.’s 101.
- Stats: 210ft long x 170ft wide, 8 acres, December 2026 opening. Sizable private funding—minimal taxpayer impact.
- Brody: “They’re building this vegetated overpass...and the world’s largest wildlife crossing.” [107:28]
- Controversy: Called a ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ in right-wing media; critics object to cost and perceived lack of human benefit.
- Connections: Similar crossings in Colorado and Banff (Canada) already shown to reduce accidents and roadkill by 80–90%.
- Steven (on cost criticism): “If people want to spend their money making giant overpasses for wildlife, I’m like great.” [114:34]
- Discussion: Wildlife infrastructure as a symbol—either of public waste or effective, necessary coexistence.
- Massive Successes: Video evidence shown of immense wildlife diversity using existing crossings.
Memorable Quotes
-
Steven (on joke repetition in social media):
“Someone will come up with an Instagram joke...and everyone’s like, hey, I’m gonna do that too. She recognizes that’s the thing you used to not do, but people do now.” [25:39]
-
Brian Lynn (on WA commission):
“We have the documents...There’s even potential felonies being committed by the former chairwoman of the commission, about deleting records, text messages between commissioners.” [37:08]
-
Giannis (on whitefish mussel crisis):
“The mussels...filter the entire volume of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan every two weeks.” [70:10]
-
Steven (on changing archaeological theories):
“I’m done having opinions about it...I was a big kelp highway guy. Now I feel like a fool.” [103:34]
-
Brody (on wildlife crossings):
“Within five years...reduced vehicle, mule deer, and elk collisions by 90% over a 10 mile stretch...from over 30 annually to nearly zero.” [117:03]
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Steven (outro):
“Wildlife costs money. It costs money to have...Now you have [wild places] because you try hard.” [120:39]
Timestamps for Key Sections
| Time | Topic |
|-------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 03:14–11:08 | Key West tarpon fishing anecdotes |
| 11:28–21:24 | Ken Burns chimp spoof & joke overlap debate |
| 28:30–34:17 | Auction of the Oddities & turkey hunting |
| 34:17–48:08 | Deep-dive: Washington’s Game Commission |
| 50:09–54:04 | Secret Service K9 handler breakdown |
| 54:04–56:00 | Ted Turner passes; landowner legacy |
| 56:00–66:36 | Idaho bans high-tech hunting |
| 66:36–82:59 | Great Lakes whitefish crisis |
| 82:59–107:12| Archaeological update: Clovis First returns |
| 107:12–121:03| California wildlife crossing & global context|
| 121:03–end | Final jokes, banter, and outro |
Final Thoughts
This episode delivers a sweeping look at how outdoor life, conservation, and scientific debate intersect—mixing formal interviews, reporting, and plenty of laughter. Whether you care about fishing, big game regulations, or ancient human history, there’s rich discussion here for hunters, anglers, scientists, and anyone who loves wild places.
For direct, timestamped listening, start with these highlights:
- [34:17] — WA Game Commission corruption exposé
- [56:00] — Idaho’s hunting tech ban
- [66:36] — Collapse of Great Lakes whitefish
- [82:59] — Latest on Clovis First and Monte Verde debate
- [107:12] — The world's largest wildlife bridge debate
“You have [wild places] now because you try hard.” – Steven Rinella [120:39]
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