Introducing: Natural Causes

Dr. James Tower, host of It Could Have Been Here, has launched a new podcast called Natural Causes, and in this introductory episode he lays out his mission with a mix of personal history, frustration, and a clear political stance. Tower grew up with both parents working in agriculture and has since hiked, climbed, ridden, and paddled around the world. He says he’s always found healing in nature and felt most at peace in the wilderness. That personal connection is what makes him “mad as hell” about the people trying to destroy special places “just so they can make a quick buck.”

The framing is blunt: in 2026, going outside is political. Tower points to senators trying to sell off public land, wildfires burning in big cities, and the Trump administration stripping protections on sacred land from the Southern California desert to the Arctic Circle. He promises on-the-ground reporting from both places. He’s written for outdoor publications for more than a decade, but he says there are things he couldn’t say there that he can say here. “Capitalism is destroying our planet. Public land is stolen now, and I don’t think giving one percent of profits to NGOs is gonna fix it.”