The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Brad Riant described how his grandmother, initially having a "narrow lens on the world," experienced a transformation through their adventures in national parks. He noted that nature served as a profound healer for both of them, helping to mend their fractured family relationship.
“Until I started taking her on adventures, she was a woman who really had a very narrow lens on the world and still had a very open mind.”
“And in those early days of reconciliation, we went back to Blue Rock State Park where she took me as a little boy because nature to me is the ultimate healer.”
“But it also, it lodged in my mind that I could fix.”