Bear Grylls is a world-renowned adventurer, a great man, a survivor, and a man who has taught himself and others how to overcome challenges. He knows about leadership, he knows about the military, and he knows how to master the body and conquer the self. And I'm going to be introducing him in just a moment, because we've already posted it up on social media, and we're trying to build it up. You know who he is, because you know who else is, and that's not even half the story. Also, later in the show, in Here's The News, we're looking at the Digital Dollar, about, oh, you like cryptocurrencies now that you can control them? Now that you've got Bitcoin, now that we can control it, and you can say that Bitcoin is a good thing? And just how much power that grants the establishment the ability to shut down bank accounts, to control economies, is extraordinary. Over 50% of the countries of the world are trialing and preparing for CBDC, so I have to make sure I get that acronym right! So I have an acronym for it. I think I m going to make it right. And that acronym is: "Where do I fall in the pecking order?" I would like to be pushed to the very limit. In this episode, I tell you who I fall on that scale, and how do you fall into it? What are some of my favourite guests I've had over the years, and what do you'd like to see me carry on my back in a knapsack? How do you think of someone you can survive in a tough situation? Where do you have to be a little bit more cosseted in the wilderness? And how do I feel about people you have a little more coddled in the wild? where do you feel like you're going to survive in your comfort zone? I love you? - Russell Brand What do you get out of the woods and get out there in a way that you're out there doing something new and out of your comfort zones? Thanks for being out there? ? - What are you going to do to be out there on the trail? -- Russell Brand, only on Rumble? Stay Free with Russell Brand Stay Free, Only on Rumble, Rumble, on Rumble on YouTube
00:00:01.000Thanks for joining me today for Stay Free with Russell Brand, only on Rumble.
00:00:06.000Of course, this initial period, we are on YouTube, but after the first 15 minutes or so, we exclusively switched to add the home of free speech, our mothership, Rumble, not so that we can propagate hate speech.
00:00:22.000And today I am privileged to be speaking freely with a world-renowned adventurer, a great man, a survivor, a man who has taught himself and others how to overcome challenges, who knows about leadership, who knows about the military, who knows about extreme situations, who knows how to master the body and conquer the self.
00:00:40.000And I'm going to be introducing him in just a moment.
00:00:44.000I know I'm trying to build it up because we've already posted on social media.
00:01:00.000Now that we can control it, digital currencies are a good thing.
00:01:04.000We're going to be investigating that and just how much power that grants the establishment the ability to shut down bank accounts, to control economies.
00:01:12.000It's Extraordinary how fast this is moving.
00:01:14.000Over 50% of the countries of the world are trialing and preparing for CBDC.
00:01:19.000So I have to make sure I get that acronym right.
00:01:22.000Now, it is my privilege to be able to introduce a man you will know from shows like Running Wild, Man vs. Wild.
00:01:29.000His latest show is on National Geographic, and he's had me as a guest, so he's been pushed to the very limit.
00:01:57.000Even when you're on a Zoom call, you look like you're in an outrageously rugged situation.
00:02:02.000You must be hanging off the edge of a cliff or dangling from a helicopter.
00:02:07.000Thank you for joining us in an appropriately rugged environment.
00:02:11.000Like, over the years, with some of my favourite guests, I've, like, really enjoyed watching the Obama episode.
00:02:16.000I loved some of the early shows you did with British stars, like Jonathan Ross.
00:02:20.000One of my favourites was Alex Harland, the free climber, and I know that was a Big one for you.
00:02:26.000How do you deal with it when you have to survive with people that, uh, let's put it like... Like, when I was asked to come on your show, I thought, like, this is how I categorized it.
00:02:36.000Like, some people did really, really well and, like, were like, oh my god, that person could actually survive in the wild.
00:02:41.000Like, and then there are some people that you have to cosset a little bit and cotton wool and kid glove and mollycoddle.
00:02:49.000On that scale, Bear, of like, you know, this is a person I can go into battle with, and this is a person I'm going to have to carry on my back in a knapsack.
00:03:17.000They're totally out of their comfort zone.
00:03:20.000Even the sort of alpha male adventure stars, even the guy like Zac Efron or Channing Tatum, somebody who's physical and fit and strong and loves that sort of thing.
00:03:32.000Often though, They've never done stuff off the beaten path.
00:03:37.000Even Zach, I remember him saying to me, I love hiking, love being out there doing this stuff, but we never really go left or go right from the trail.
00:03:46.000I think Running Wild thrives on going left or right off the trail.
00:03:50.000I would say 99% of the time, the people I take are rookies.
00:03:55.000I think, though, The kind of fun for me is taking absolute real rookies, you know, and therefore I know you were sort of, you know, a little apprehensive before doing it, saying I've never done anything like this, this is really out of my comfort zone.
00:04:11.000But in a way that's sort of, I love that, because it's honest, it's fun, you know where you're starting from.
00:04:17.000There's a sort of vulnerability that always then excels on the show, because I think if somebody arrives Knowing too much.
00:04:26.000You're kind of thinking they're, you know, wanting to prove themselves physically too much.
00:04:31.000In a way, it takes a while to break through that.
00:04:33.000Where if you take somebody like you, who just kind of arrives saying, Bear, I trust you, I'm all in, here we go.
00:04:40.000It's kind of like, my heart sings at that, because it's like, here we go, this is going to be so fun.
00:04:49.000Your eyes were even brighter than ever and big smile on your face.
00:04:55.000All of the crew at the end of our one with you said, what a lovely, lovely, honest, strong, kind, family-centered, determined, vulnerable as well.
00:05:05.000You were so honest about so much of your journey.
00:05:15.000What I can say is it's 100% authentic that you are 100% authentic, that you actually can do all those things, that it was exposed to me that I undeniably have challenges doing.
00:05:28.000I did things for the first time on that trip with you, man.
00:06:14.000In a sense, one of the things that I learned from going on Running Wild is,
00:06:18.000oh my God, I'm evolved to live like this, and I can't do it.
00:06:21.000I mean, Bear, I told you at the time that straight after experiencing
00:06:24.000some of my challenges climbing, I went to near where I live in High Wycombe,
00:06:28.000and went to like the climbing wall there, and thought, I've got to be better at climbing.
00:06:31.000I cannot be as bad at climbing as I was on Bear's show, because that's unacceptable.
00:06:36.000So I subsequently went and learned climbing.
00:06:39.000If you have a question for Bear, or any ideas for Bear, for example, if you're watching this,
00:06:43.000you might want to tell us who you'd most like to see on Running Wild, or any other questions,
00:06:49.000press the red button and join us on Locals.
00:06:51.000That's where I'm watching the chat, and where we've got questions like this one from FCDT.
00:06:55.000What wild antic have you done, Bear, that you would never do again?
00:07:00.000So I'll just give you that question now, Bear.
00:07:03.000As they say, adventure only really happens when things start to go wrong.
00:07:07.000I've been in so many, Situations where things have gone wrong from parachute failures to hidden whitewater rapids, crevasses, avalanches, rockfalls, bitten by snakes, you name it.
00:07:20.000I think, you know, if I had to pick one, what was the other one that I would never want to do again?
00:07:25.000Like you'd never do it again, even though you deliberately did it.
00:07:28.000Well, I think one of the early expeditions that people don't really know about, but I took a team of five of us in a rigid inflatable boat, essentially an inflatable boat with a little engine, and across 3,000 miles of the Arctic Ocean from Halifax, Nova Scotia, north across round Greenland, and eventually dropping out of Iceland and Scotland.
00:07:50.000And we got caught in some, you know, this was, we got caught in horrendous storms, 500 miles offshore in the night.
00:07:58.000Waves the size of houses crashing on top of us, icebergs everywhere and we were very lucky I think to come out of that one alive.
00:08:09.000All of us were pretty shaken three weeks later and the sea is, well the wild is a humbling place but I think big mountains and the sea especially are incredibly humbling.
00:08:20.000You know, I always remember this guy saying to me, Mother Nature's It's like your mother, you know, if you respect her, she'll treat you right.
00:08:29.000If you disrespect her, she'll teach you a lesson you're never ever going to forget.
00:08:36.000Mother Nature taught us a lesson that day that was, well, that month, but I'm very grateful to have got out of that one.
00:08:43.000Still every year to this day, the guys I was with will send me a text on the day and the night of this worst storm, Force 9 Gale we had, you know, for You know, it lasts for about 48 hours and they sent me a text saying, this time, X number of years ago, we thought it was, it was game over.
00:09:03.000And I don't know, I think kind of there's a, there's a bonding isn't there about going through scary situations together.
00:09:10.000And there's an element of that always on Running Wild.
00:09:25.000One of the things I reflect on continually in my own journey of personal evolution is how uprooted and detached we've become from nature and from our own power.
00:09:39.000And when you speak about the bonds between people that experience that kind of adversity, It speaks to a kind of a tribal connection, a kind of mutual initiation, a sort of strength in the unity of knowing that nature is all-powerful, but that we are part of nature, that we can draw upon resources in ourselves.
00:10:01.000One of the things that struck me during that experience, and I'm very glad to note that that experience was of, you know, confronting the gale and the oceans and the element was not as traumatic as being, as wearing traditional
00:10:14.000Scottish dress, a kilt with me, and not having underpants, because believe me, I've got
00:10:19.000some memories from that experience, Bear, that we'll be talking about, but we won't be talking
00:10:23.000about that on YouTube, we'll wait till we're exclusively on Rumble, where we also have a clip
00:10:29.000of my appearance on Running Wild, we'll show that, so if you're watching us on YouTube, join
00:10:33.000us over on Rumble, and if you're watching us on Rumble, press the red button right now to
00:10:37.000join us on the chat and pass on a question.
00:10:40.000There's a question here from Sherman Tank, asking about your diet.
00:10:44.000I understand, you know, I'm a vegan, you mostly eat meat, I understand, Bear, and I can certainly see some of the side effects of that when I was abseiling down beneath you and looking up your kilt.
00:10:54.000Certainly seems that there are some benefits that I would like to explore.
00:10:58.000But for now, I want to say that one of the things that struck me is that a lot of your crew were ex-service people, like the people that have been in the military, people that have been in the police force.
00:11:07.000I feel people that have been in elite service positions.
00:11:12.000Is that important to you to work with people that have had that kind of experience in the military, and particularly in elite forces?
00:11:18.000And what is it that you find uniquely working with men and women that have that kind of service experience, Bear?
00:11:24.000I trust that trust and those bonds, you know, and I don't take those for granted. And I
00:11:32.000think one of the things I really missed after the military was that camaraderie. And I think
00:11:36.000what we what I've really worked hard over the years to create is to build that team
00:11:42.000back up to put that a team, so to speak, back together.
00:11:46.000And we employed so many former guys that I served with and friends from the Royal Marines and also different, you know, service branches, but people who've always got a connection.
00:12:00.000It might be one or two away, but people with, you know, all the wider team work with and trust and love.
00:12:06.000And I think that That's always come before skills, you know, and same on expeditions.
00:12:11.000We've always hired on character and people we like and trust before the skills.
00:12:17.000The skills you can teach, loyalty and humility and kindness and selflessness, those sort of qualities are harder to teach.
00:12:25.000And I think a lot of people talk a good game on them, but I think you develop a level of Connection and trust when you serve with people in whether it's the police or military or whatever that it's hard to recreate so my first port of call when we started the TV shows was to go to my best buddies and who I'd served with and we started small and we've grown from there but
00:12:49.000Now having sort of done it for a while and it's kind of grown and I think one of the things I'm most proud of are those friendships that have endured.
00:13:00.000I mean our crew always say it's not bad guys chasing us, it's us dodging the bad animals.
00:13:08.000We're not having incoming bullets, we're having Dodging the snakes and the crocodiles and the typhoons, but it's the same spirit, isn't it?
00:13:16.000It's a different terrain, but the same spirit, which is you're going to work hard.
00:13:57.000I really value that, those old friendships that can still laugh at ourselves.
00:14:03.000It's the thing I'm most proud of on our show, the connections and friendships that have endured through so much and are still going.
00:14:09.000I was really struck by the vibe of your crew and that it was run like a military operation at points.
00:14:17.000And I feel like I have to candidly say that, because I talk about it all the time on Stay Free, I'm deeply, deeply cynical about establishment authority.
00:14:28.000For example, the military-industrial complex and many of the private interests behind it.
00:14:33.000Absolutely nothing but respect for people that have served in the military, that are willing to put a higher purpose in front of their own safety.
00:14:41.000And the men and women that I worked with on your show are such a great example of that.
00:14:48.000In particular, obviously yourself, but also Uh, Scott, who seems to have a Scotty there, who has a very particular role on your show.
00:14:54.000It seems to be like that he's ensuring that there's safety.
00:14:57.000I remember when I asked what his job was, everybody laughed, so there must be some sort of ongoing joke there.
00:15:02.000But I feel like Scotty, who's got background in the military, background in the police force, he's such a laugh to be around.
00:15:09.000Fantastic stories, not all of which are appropriate for broadcast, but all of which demonstrated the kind of camaraderie and good humour that you talk about.
00:15:19.000It's an important thing for me to make clear that, you know, I always will get whenever I get the opportunity.
00:15:23.000So I really respect people that are willing to put themselves in the front of danger like that, because sometimes you have to iterate that that complexity so people don't think you're disrespectful
00:15:35.000towards people that are willing to put their lives on the line, man. I wonder what you feel
00:15:39.000about that, how to balance that kind of complexity.
00:16:05.000Way more competent in so many ways, you know, they carry all the gear they do everything I do but backwards and And yeah, so for me best friends unsung heroes and I love hearing Hearing sort of guests really value that as well because I think often, you know, often guests sort of, you know, they don't know what to expect when they arrive on Running Wild.
00:16:27.000Sometimes they go, wow, I really thought there'd be a hundred crew and it'd be sort of craft catering and it will be sort of well organized and then they turn up and it's sort of six of us and a coil of rope and a rough idea of where we're going but pretty rough.
00:16:42.000But by the end, I often find the guests love that because it's sort of so, The opposite of what they've experienced in Hollywood, which is everything so controlled and so measured and every box is signed and signed off and every harness double checked by this.
00:16:57.000And I think what I've learned over the years is that big numbers of people and a lot of box filling doesn't necessarily equal safety.
00:17:05.000You know, safety comes down to competence, and experience, and trust, and a lack of ego in the big moments, and a familiarity working together, and a never-get-complacent spirit.
00:17:17.000You know, those sort of things hold real currency and value in my world, where, you know, I'm putting superstars' lives on the line like yourself, you know, every week, and you've got to get it right every time.
00:17:29.000So, we take this safety very seriously, but it's rooted in In the friendships, I think, first.
00:17:37.000There were moments making Running Wild with Bear Grylls where I was genuinely and actually scared.
00:17:44.000And I, in my life, often sought comfort from the fact that there is a camera present.
00:17:48.000I think, if there's a camera present, I cannot die.
00:18:48.000We'll be discussing all of that and much more as well as showing my clip over on Rumble.
00:18:51.000So if you're watching this on YouTube, click that link in the description and join us there now.
00:18:56.000See you in a second, you Awakening Wonders.
00:18:58.000If you're watching this on Rumble, why don't you press the red button where you can ask questions for Bear, and I'll ask them after this clip.
00:19:04.000Now, I've not watched this clip back yet because of...
00:19:07.000Frankly, shyness, because I know I was scared a bunch of times, so I'm not even sure what this clip is.
00:19:12.000This is an exclusive moment from my time with Bear on the inner Hebridean Isle.
00:20:29.000Kept saying, like, the thing you were using to comfort me through that moment when I was raptoring, or descending, or abseiling, or whatever it's called.
00:21:01.000It's the only time those words have ever come out of your mouth.
00:21:05.000You go, trust the system, I've got it.
00:21:09.000The other thing that springs to mind is true pity and apologies to the crew who were underneath you on that cliff face, who'd rappelled down moments earlier.
00:21:21.000I don't know if you can see on that clip, but Russell and me are wearing Scottish kilts, which traditionally is worn without underpants.
00:21:49.000So it's like a harness around my naked genitalia.
00:21:54.000It was like that moment after we got out of, because at the moment, like I don't want to spoil too much of it, but it's available now if you, I guess, do they release them simultaneously on Disney?
00:22:04.000No, my episode's out in August, I think, but some of the other episodes are out now.
00:22:07.000But we jumped in, I just want to make this clear in case an accidental shot snuck in.
00:22:12.000The first thing we did was jumped in very, very cold water.
00:22:15.000The second thing we did was take off our underpants and put a kilt on.
00:22:20.000Like, even before we'd done anything dangerous, I was absolutely terrified.
00:22:26.000But I do now feel much more confident surviving in the wild, and certainly my ego was reduced to its minimum size, along with everything else.
00:22:35.000So, Bear, how, like, is that, and my episode's gonna be out on August the 6th, by the way.
00:22:40.000Bear, how do you feel about, like, is it, do you ever consider, is it, how much of the forefront of your mind is it, the idea that you can survive in the wild?
00:22:49.000I know it seems a slightly ridiculous question, but do you ever feel that that's something that might be actually necessary?
00:22:56.000Is that the sort of thing you reflect upon, the fact that, oh, things may not always be like this, we may not always be cosseted by systems of comfort?
00:23:11.000All I say is before we get onto that, just to wrap up Running Wild with you, I look back and I think, I wonder actually what Russell learned from his time on the show.
00:23:19.000One is how to tie a man's skirt, basically.
00:23:24.000How not to get his testicles caught in the climbing harness, and how to get thrown out of a seaplane at 40 knots before it takes off again.
00:23:35.000I'm not sure how relevant those three skills are to the modern apocalypse, but all I say is it's a start, isn't it?
00:23:42.000Yeah, I now know how to be humiliated in front of ex-service people when I think my genitals have been shrunk to their absolute minimum capacity and now I've got to climb up a mountain.
00:23:55.000I mean, there were just so many moments in that show where I felt like I've got no choice but to absolutely surrender.
00:24:01.000I mean, obviously one of my key Spiritual principles that I've been taught is you must surrender, you must surrender, and on that shoe I feel like I've got no control, I don't know what I'm doing, I was genuinely frightened a number of times, and thank God that I have a religious and spiritual faith because I don't think I would have got through it without that, so thank the Lord for that.
00:24:22.000But Bear, on this subject of survival you mentioned that it is something you've reflected upon, the idea that it might at some point be necessary to utilize these skills, Not for entertainment and to demonstrate the capacity that human beings have that is unexplored and unexpressed, but simply because we have to survive.
00:24:42.000Well, I think survival is in our DNA, isn't it?
00:24:45.000It's been the key part of our evolution for hundreds of thousands of years.
00:24:51.000And I think There's a disconnect and suddenly the rapid pace of change that humanity's gone through over the last couple hundred years and actually even just the last ten, twenty years where it's been just not like a ripple of change, it's been a tsunami.
00:25:07.000And then to suddenly find yourself bereft of skills that have been passed down for so many generations.
00:25:14.000You know, I think it's no surprise that there is a disconnect and an anxiety in people because it is in our DNA to be able to look after ourselves, to be able to look after our family, to know how to survive.
00:25:26.000And obviously, in the modern world, survival takes many different You know, it looks different to how it looked 100 years ago, but I think the smart people blend both of it.
00:25:36.000So you're not just, you know, a modern survivor in terms of technology, you know, but you've also got the skills to be able to, when things go wrong, and even when things don't go wrong, I meet so many men who come up to me and they go, Just teach me a knot so I can tie the roof rack.
00:25:55.000Or, teach me one simple thing so I can navigate if I haven't got my phone.
00:25:59.000You know, it's like, this isn't apocalypse stuff.
00:26:01.000This is like, my phone does work, I just happen to be in an area outside cell reception,
00:26:08.000so I still need to tie that roof rack, I need to know that knot, I need how to start a fire
00:26:13.000because I haven't got any fire lighters or whatever.
00:26:17.000These aren't apocalypse skills, these are like just everyday skills
00:26:21.000that many men I find come up to me and feel bereft of.
00:26:26.000And obviously it's not a man thing, but I think it's been traditionally something
00:26:30.000that men want to feel that they can provide and protect.
00:26:34.000And therefore I think it's hard when, if you're brought up in a way
00:26:39.000where you have none of those things, whether you're a man or a woman,
00:26:42.000if you're brought up in a way where you're taught no practical skills,
00:26:46.000I think it leads to a place of quiet anxiety where you go, I can do my job.
00:26:52.000But I'm a little bit embarrassed that I can't do the knot, or the navigating, or the fire, or whatever it is.
00:27:00.000So I think smart survivors blend all of this.
00:27:04.000We never lose touch with what's behind us, but we always keep our eye on where we're going in the future.
00:27:11.000But it is interesting how you can't get rid of Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution in a generation, you know, why is it I can sit the most powerful people in the world, you know, the most, you know, biggest superstars or Hollywood actors or presidents or prime ministers sit down and teach them how to make a fire and they're happy for the first time in a long time to sit and not talk and just watch the fire and think and breathe and feel.
00:29:05.000Beyond emasculating, because I recognise that that's a word, oh no, it needn't be specific to gender in fact, it's disempowering.
00:29:11.000It's disempowering to feel that you are reliant on technology, that you are reliant on pre-packaged food, that you're reliant on forms of medicine, that everything sometimes starts to feel disconnected.
00:29:24.000That there's, I believe, a correlative between spiritual disconnection and Like not knowing that there is a sort of a deeper reality that we can access that can provide us comfort and a disconnection from nature.
00:29:39.000You know, that when you're, like a lot of people, and let me know in the chat if you agree with this,
00:29:43.000if your phone stops working, you feel like you don't know what to do anymore.
00:29:47.000If you're lost and you can't use the map on your phone, you don't know what to do.
00:29:51.000And I think it's very difficult to feel empowered in this world and present in this world
00:30:34.000Well, we run what we call the Bear Grylls Survival Academy.
00:30:37.000We run it all over the world for kids, for corporates, for families, all sorts of things.
00:30:43.000But what I see is that the fundamental principle of these is that nature is our best healer.
00:30:49.000And there's always going to be a disconnect when, you know, it's all great when everything works, you know, when that cell phone works.
00:30:55.000And the same with the spiritual as well.
00:30:56.000When everything's going great, It's all great but what happens when the cell phone doesn't work or when you do find yourself in life on that back foot and struggling a little bit you know then to me that is when adventure happens and it's when life gets interesting but you've got to have a place to go you've got to have some some skills to fall back on and in terms of faith I think it's the same you've got to have somewhere to go apart from just maybe yourself so we try and teach a lot of self
00:31:27.000In terms of wilderness stuff, self-adventure skills, self-reliance, how can you do it if nobody's coming for you, if it's all gone wrong?
00:31:35.000You know, because traditional survival was always quite boring.
00:31:39.000Traditional survival was always like, if it's all gone wrong, sit down, do nothing, wait for rescue.
00:31:46.000And that was always going to make quite a boring TV show, so I always liked it.
00:31:50.000What happens when it's all gone wrong, but nobody's coming to look for you, and you've got nothing apart from A roll of gaffer tape, you know, a couple of coat hangers and a broken water bottle, you know, for me it then gets interesting.
00:32:04.000So we try and teach the things that is about being resourceful in life and just stopping and thinking and being smart and, you know, all of this sort of spirit, the sort of spirit that so many people I think, lack because everything's always done for us or we're
00:32:20.000always given these convenient things and the cell phone always works. And you know, resourceful
00:32:28.000You know, how do we train it? We use it. But if you never practice being resourceful...
00:32:34.000You can't expect to be a brilliant MacGyver when that cell phone does work, or when you're lost with your family, or your car breaks down, or you're on their back foot.
00:32:44.000You know, you have to practice these things.
00:32:45.000So, our Survival Academy is very much the practical arm of that, and they do an amazing job, and I love that.
00:32:53.000But I think it goes much further than that.
00:32:55.000It's much more You know, we are mind, body, spirit and emotion, aren't we?
00:33:01.000And I try and do stuff that speaks to all of that.
00:33:05.000That's why I did a book called MindFuel, which is exactly that.
00:33:08.000I did a book called SoulFuel, trying to provide spiritual stuff that actually helps people when they're on the back foot.
00:33:14.000MindFuel is about when we're experiencing that anxiety, what can we do to help us end?
00:33:19.000Always try and do things, even in Running Wild, that empower people.
00:33:23.000Like you say, so you're not disempowered by life.
00:33:27.000And all of the systems that you talk about, you're right in so many ways, because whether it's intentional or not, but so much of modern day life is out to disempower you and to get you to be inoperable.
00:34:37.000The reason I find you a great leader and a great teacher is because you are able to instill, in a very graceful way, important principles that are applicable.
00:34:48.000When I went to that climbing wall in High Wycombe, having been on Running Wild and found myself falling short, there was a moment where, just on a climbing wall, where you know that you can't really die, you're in a managed environment, with a rope and stuff, with a guy at the bottom, And I was nearly at the top where it said, you know, when you reach this white grip, that's the finish.
00:35:08.000And I actually got frightened, like, oh, I can't do this anymore.
00:35:11.000And then I remembered, I think it's the title of one of your books, Never Give Up.
00:35:16.000I almost saw your face, Never Give Up, like a lunchbox image of Bear Grylls.
00:35:21.000I'm gonna get to the top of this climbing wall!
00:35:25.000And I feel in my own life, like, I know how to hustle.
00:35:28.000Like, I remember from, like, being 15, 16 years old, if I need to use the London Underground and I can't afford a ticket, I'm gonna get where I need to go.
00:35:35.000If I don't have any money and I acquire chemical support because of my addictions, I'm gonna find a solution to those problems.
00:36:25.000I thought, this guy has a good perspective on stuff that is absolutely applicable, even when I come from a position of, if not cynicism, I'm optimistic about life, but real scepticism about the nature of power.
00:36:39.000I was very I'm surprised and heartened by how much common ground, and even hearing you speak now about empowerment, because I do believe there are many conscious and unconscious systems of disempowerment at play, where the role of the individual is increasingly becoming, you are a consumer,
00:37:03.000This is what... No, you're not invited to have personal autonomy and authority in your life.
00:37:08.000And whether it's like your... the survival skills that you talk about, the way that you talk about Christianity and faith, or the health hacks that you talk about, I think you find... you provide so many useful tools.
00:37:20.000I want to offer you my respect publicly for that, mate.
00:37:23.000Could you tell us a little bit about, like, these health hacks we talked about before?
00:37:27.000Because these are the kind of things that our Stay Free viewers love.
00:37:33.000First of all, I'll just reply to some of the other stuff you said, because leadership's so interesting, isn't it, at the moment in the world, you know?
00:37:43.000The more I see of so many leaders, it's always like, look at me.
00:38:08.000And I think kindness is a part of that, but there's a strength as well of great leadership, of taking it away from yourself and building other people up.
00:38:18.000It's always powerful when you see and you talk about the never give up.
00:38:21.000I remember you texting me when you were on that climbing wall and you said that.
00:38:27.000My family would roll their eyes going, oh Papa, you're always banging on about never give up and everything's never give up.
00:38:37.000It's the number one thing, because all of these skills, everything we've been talking about, all the Survival Academy stuff, these skills you can learn.
00:38:51.000The key to survival It's that hustle you talked about, it's that resilience, that spirit, has many different names.
00:38:58.000You know, fire inside, dogged determination, relentless like, never say die until you're dead, as Baden Powell said.
00:39:06.000You know, that is, that never give up spirit is what conquers everything.
00:39:11.000You know, that's a thing to pass on and to share with people and it's what you're about as well.
00:39:16.000So, you know, keep doing your stuff because you're right in that zone.
00:39:23.000To answer your question about health, it comes back to this again about you've got to educate yourself because life doesn't You know, school doesn't educate people brilliantly, life does, but it educates generally through failure, and I've been there so often, I've failed at so many things, and I've got so many things wrong, you know, and I've learned so many of these health things, I think, through experimenting and failing, but
00:39:49.000I think you and me are pretty aligned.
00:39:52.000Number one for me is let nature heal you.
00:41:07.000And the thing is, not one of, not one of these things on their own is going to heal you.
00:41:13.000But once they mount up, you know, 10, 15, 20 of these little things of like, even if it's just like first thing in the day, not being on your phone in bed, but just, just get out and get moving, get moving.
00:41:27.000You know, if you start putting enough of these things together, the result It's a strong, healthy life.
00:41:33.000And as a father, and you as a father, and as my role as Chief Scout to 57 million Scouts around the world, to both of us having a presence on TV, you know, you got to try and, you try, especially with parenting, you do it by example, don't you?
00:41:52.000It's like example, example, example, you know?
00:41:54.000So, I don't apologize to my kids for getting out in the morning, getting moving, getting cold, getting the shoes off, getting in the sun, and telling them at school, never give up, be kind, be brave in the big moments, never give up, but it's not about the grades.
00:42:09.000The academics I don't care about so much.
00:42:27.000I love the stuff about getting in touch with nature.
00:42:30.000I like the fact that your approach to nature is a very masculine and active one.
00:42:37.000Not that there aren't numerous ways to attach to nature.
00:42:40.000I've just, of course, come back from Community Festival, where there was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where Wim Hof was there running cold baths, Hiron Gracie and my teacher Chris.
00:42:48.000Lots of what you might traditionally describe as masculine activity, as well as what are known as feminine activities.
00:42:55.000And there's, of course, a place for all of that.
00:42:58.000But what's plain is that our connection to nature is transcendent of limiting ideas around gender, Because that's how, as a species, we've evolved.
00:43:08.000It's obvious that you should eat food that you've evolved alongside, whether or not you have a dietary commitment that's carnivorous, like you, you mad meat-eating brute, or like me, where I don't rely so much on those products.
00:43:23.000And also being fully open and accepting that there are different ways of being human and that we can harmonise.
00:43:29.000We don't have to be In conflict about that.
00:43:31.000I love what you said about leadership and the vanity of leadership.
00:43:34.000I know that I can fall into that myself sometimes, you know, as a performer, as an entertainer.
00:43:40.000I can be, I can slip into, I just want to be looked at rather than it being about an example and trying my best to instill and inspire, instill good values and inspire good values in other people.
00:43:52.000These things have taken a lot of work over the course of my life.
00:43:57.000Like, if you've got techniques for pull-ups, Bear, I need help because I've gotten myself into a pull-up competition with a Democrat presidential candidate and a Kennedy dynasty member, RFK, and he's really good at pull-ups.
00:44:12.000I think he can do, like, 28 I'll look at the grip he's using there.
00:45:39.000And also, the other thing, more importantly, is vulnerability.
00:45:44.000And what I love about you is that you don't mind being honest and being vulnerable.
00:45:49.000And I think that matters more than any number of pull-ups because it's where vulnerability is where we
00:45:54.000create connections and I never want to be bracketed as just like you know and you know it's just the
00:46:01.000way I live we all live differently I think it's about finding what feels true to you and
00:46:06.000following that and that is courage and you know the one thing I notice on Running Wild is that these
00:46:12.000stars are top of their game and yet they arrive like you totally trusting and vulnerable and
00:46:18.000out of their control and they don't know what's ahead and that for me is really
00:46:22.000interesting because most people when they get successful sit inside their comfort zone and they they don't
00:46:28.000want to do anything that makes them look vulnerable because they don't like that that fragility
00:46:33.000so they'll create these barriers and walls around of machismo and it's like this is look at me
00:46:38.000you know but actually That's not a comfort zone, it's a comfort pit.
00:46:43.000It's somewhere we rot and decay and need to get out of fast.
00:46:46.000And great people, the people at the top of their game, like the Running Wildfolk, like yourself, are willing to be vulnerable because it's that uncomfortable muscle again of like, wow, here we go, nerves, nerves, I'm climbing a cliff, I'm doing whatever, I'm trusting somebody else with my next few days and my brand and all of this sort of stuff.
00:47:05.000And I admire that in you because vulnerable pull-ups are easy.
00:47:12.000And it's interesting, again, the final point on Running Wild is that often the stars that are most reluctant to do it are the big action stars.
00:47:20.000And I won't name a few, but there have been certainly a lot over the years of going, my knee's a bit bad at the moment.
00:47:54.000I heard recently from someone who heard you speak that you're speaking for a group of young people, and they told me that everything you spoke about was your failures in life, times that you'd failed, times you'd slipped up, things you'd done wrong.
00:48:07.000And even though your name is literally Bear Grylls, so that does suggest a degree of masculinity
00:48:13.000and a bit of grr, grr, like almost onomatopoeically in fact,
00:48:17.000you still do always make it clear that it's a very inclusive offering that you give
00:50:05.000Just before Bear goes, I'll let you know that Running Wild, my one, airs on National Geographic on August 5th, but there are other episodes up now.
00:50:13.000And you can get tickets for Bear's Festival Gone Wild, which runs from 24th August to the 27th by going to gonewildfestival.com.
00:50:21.000We'll post all of the links in the chat.