E34S4 From Ghost Bears to a Yellowstone Shipwreck

When journalist Mike Stark learned that giant short-faced bears stalked North America thousands of years ago, he decided to do a deep dive into this enigmatic creature. From the La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles to a cornfield in Iowa, the plains of Texas, and even to the far ends of the Artic, Stark retraced the tracks of this beast that on hind legs towered more than ten feet and eventually became extinct. When Stark learned that a ferry shipwrecked in Yellowstone Lake in the winter of 1906, he went into research mode and dug into another fascinating story. Now the Creative Director at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Mike Stark joins Russell and Alan to talk about his explorations and his books “Chasing the Ghost Bear,” “Wrecked in Yellowstone,” and his new novel “The Derelict Light.”

A special thank you to western singer-songwriter Jim Jones for sharing his song, “The Queen is Dead," a story about a bear.