Experience The Upper Bench for unique sauna expeditions. Immerse in Finnish sauna traditions, embrace the allure of hot-cold bathing, and relish wood-burning sauna tales. Ignite your passion for sauna culture as we cover topics like sauna tech, wellness, and others. Join Eero, Risto, and Sam on a global quest for the authentic warmth of saunas. Unleash the sauna adventurer within - subscribe now! 🧖🏻♂️
#heat #steam #coldplunge #thermal #sweatbathing #finnishculture #health
The Radiant Debate
Episode 78 - Sam, Risto, and Eero tackle the radiant question. Is radiant heat bad in the sauna?LINKShttps://www.theupperbench.comhttps://www.instagram.com/upper.bench.podcast/https://www.facebook.com/theupperbench
CONTENT
00:00 Intro & Sauna Updates
11:21 What Is the Radiant Heat Debate?
13:50 How We Debate Matters
26:16 Radiant Heat: Good, Bad, or Personal Preference?
40:52 Rocks, Steel & Heater Design
50:09 Sharp vs. Intense Radiant Heat
25 Aug 2026
Dan Sarya of Michigan Sauna
Episode 77 - Dan Sarya of Michigan Sauna joins the Upper Bench crew. Dan's passion is to share the "smile" of his Finnish cultural heritage with the rest of North America. We hear how he started his mobile sauna business in Traverse City, Michigan and what his sauna trips to Finland are like.LINKShttps://www.michigansaunas.comhttps://www.saunaexperience.fihttps://www.theupperbench.comhttps://www.instagram.com/upper.bench.podcast/https://www.facebook.com/theupperbenchEpisode photos from: https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/experiences/ and https://www.virtualtampere.com/rajaportin-saunaCONTENTS00:00 Intro02:16 Dan's Finnish heritage06:32 Traveling to Finland and the birth of Dan's sauna company09:55 A sauna FIRE!12:10 Sauna 2.0 and nuances that makes for a great sauna13:41 Trips to Finland37:25 Nature, the sauna boom, and sharing sauna culture42:25 Growing sauna culture slowly... the long game47:54 Sauna saves lives and a hyperthermic river accident51:58 Tradition and the seven generation rule53:36 Robust sauna and the importance of resting between rounds
28 Jul 2026
A trip to Finland transformed Bill's perspective on sauna and health
Bill Gifford, author of Hotwired, and sauna fanatic joins us to discuss the science of sauna and how a trip to Finland totally transformed his perspective on health.
LINKS
https://www.instagram.com/billgifford/
https://lnk.to/Hotwired
https://www.theupperbench.com
https://www.instagram.com/upper.bench.podcast/
https://www.facebook.com/theupperbench
CONTENTS
00:00 Catching-up and news
03:31 Introducing Bill Gifford & growth of sauna scene in Utah
08:57 Hotwired book
09:45 Why humans sweat and the orgins of sauna
14:42 How Bill started writing about sauna
15:24 "Never a heat person" - how Bill got into sauna
17:08 Why Eero sweats so quickly
18:45 Heart health and other studies
28:57 Sauna and Alzheimer's
36:16 Hydration and electrolytes
41:34 Rest and cooling down
44:26 Heat adaptation
54:45 The importance of Finnish culture
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
52,041
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.5 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
4.6 / 5
10 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 72 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
81
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
81
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