We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream

About We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream

This is the archive of the We Are Chaffee podcast, a conversational podcast of humanness, community and well-being rooted in Chaffee County, Colorado. Produced and hosted by Adam Williams in collaboration with Chaffee County Public Health.

Publisher

Adam Williams

Category

health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Jul 2022

Latest episode

26 Aug 2025

Latest episodes

94 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Aug 2025

   Dr. Erika Altneu, geriatrician, on the art & science of geriatric medicine, good life & good death, and medical aid in dying

   Dr. Erika Altneu, geriatrician, talks with Adam Williams about the art and science of geriatric medicine. They talk about how she helps her patients pursue a good life and, when it’s time, a good death. They talk about the community connection and creative problem-solving that accompanies being a physician in a small, rural community versus a large urban area like Denver, which has more resources. Erika and Adam also talk about normalizing conversations about death as a matter of life in “death cafes,” and the who, what, when, where and how of the medical aid in dying process. Among other things.

2. 

   5 Aug 2025

   Tommy Gram-Ahlene, on avalanche safety & ‘unconscious incompetence,’ climate change & the outdoor industry, the extraordinary nature of the Arkansas Valley & bootstrapping a dream

   Tommy Gram-Ahlene owns and operates two outdoor adventure businesses in the Arkansas Valley: Whitewater Attainment and BV Mountain Adventures. He has built an extraordinary outdoor life and career resume during the past 20 years. He has become a go-to resource and instructor far beyond the valley, too, including teaching swiftwater rescue, kayak instructor training, packraft instructor training, avalanche education and wilderness medical courses. He’s a backcountry guide, as well. Tommy and Adam Williams talk about the “wicked learning environment” that the wilderness can be, and about taking to heart the life-and-death responsibilities of being a guide and instructor in those spaces. They talk about how Tommy came to have so much experience and knowledge in the larger-scale mountain wilds of Colorado, having grown up in the upper Midwest. They also touch on Tommy’s perspectives on climate change and what might lie ahead for the outdoor industry and his businesses, which are dependent on seasonal snowpacks and river flows. Among other things. __________ The We Are Chaffee Podcast is supported by Chaffee County (Colo.) Public Health. Show notes, including the episode transcript, are at wearechaffeepod.com. Connect on Instagram @wearechaffeepod. We Are Chaffee partners with KHEN radio (khen.org) in Salida, Colo., for local broadcasting of the We Are Chaffee Podcast. Credits Adam Williams, host, producer and photographer; Jon Pray, engineer and producer; Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Chaffee County Public Health and Environment; and Lisa Martin, We Are Chaffee Community Advocacy Coordinator.

3. 

   22 Jul 2025

   Melanie Roth, historian & preservationist, on St. Elmo, her godmother Annabelle Stark, the St. Elmo fire of 2002 & the loss of treasured outhouses

   Melanie Roth is a historian who has been a huge part of historic preservation efforts in the Buena Vista, Colo., area, working on many projects during the past nearly 50 years. She talks with Adam Williams about the history of St. Elmo, now known as a ghost town. One of the last full-time, year-round residents of St. Elmo was Melanie’s godmother, Annabelle Stark, who would go to town in October and buy enough food, beer and cigarettes to outlast the high alpine winter. They talk about the 2002 fire in St. Elmo, how it got started, why it became the subject of national news reports that suggested it was due to a meth lab in the ghost town, and why she describes the seven outhouses that burned down, along with several buildings close to Melanie’s heart, as historic treasures. Among other things. __________ The We Are Chaffee Podcast is supported by Chaffee County (Colo.) Public Health. Show notes, including the episode transcript, are at wearechaffeepod.com. Connect on Instagram @wearechaffeepod. We Are Chaffee partners with KHEN radio (khen.org) in Salida, Colo., for local broadcasting of the We Are Chaffee Podcast. Credits Adam Williams, host, producer and photographer; Jon Pray, engineer and producer; Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Chaffee County Public Health and Environment; and Lisa Martin, We Are Chaffee Community Advocacy Coordinator.

Who has been a guest on We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Nathan Ward
• Lara Richardson
• John Graybill
• Coleen Graybill

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Spotify

4.6 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

68

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

Contact We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.