Twin Cities yogi Chance York makes a case for playing outside in 'Outside Chance'

CATHY WURZER: Here is some good news. The warmest air in five months is heading for Minnesota next week-- as you heard, highs in the 60s and 70s likely from the Twin Cities south. Temperatures will start to warm up this weekend-- so no better time to think about playing outside in warmer weather.

Now, this might be the year you try something new in the great outdoors-- say, oh, I don't know, fly fishing, sailing, or perhaps pickleball. Those are all things that our next guest tried for the second season of his Twin Cities PBS show. Chance York is with us right now. Chance is a Yogi, rapper, outdoor enthusiast, and host of the Outside Chance show. Season 2 is online chance. Chance, how are you?

CHANCE YORK: I'm great, Cathy. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: I am wonderful. Thank you. The warm air is coming in. And I'm really excited about that, actually. Now, for folks who have not seen the first season, what's the show all about?

CHANCE YORK: We try to simplify it as interesting people in interesting places doing interesting things. And it always takes place outdoors. So I meet with an expert in whatever activity we're doing. And we go to a place that is a good place to do that activity and then see what happens.

CATHY WURZER: I thought the rock climbing last season was very fun to watch you, and the log rolling, too.

CHANCE YORK: We had spoken about the rock climbing episode. That was terrifying. That was a really-- I was holding on for dear life, as they put it. And that was an experience that had I had to overcome the fear of heights. And the log rolling one-- that was-- I never totally got the hang of it-- spent a couple of hours doing it. The experience of just hanging out with people that loved it and watching people that are good at doing something is just so inspiring.

CATHY WURZER: Now, you describe yourself as an outdoor enthusiast. Who or what sparked your love of the outdoors?

CHANCE YORK: Oh, maybe it's just my age. But I think kids-- kids-- when I was growing up, we just liked being outside. I spent a lot of time outside, just turning over rocks and finding bugs and just all the typical kid stuff. I live from Minnesota. So I was close to a lake. And I always liked fishing and nature. And just in general, I like being outside. I think most kids, at least, did at one point.

CATHY WURZER: And then what happened?

CHANCE YORK: I don't know, technology? I don't know. There's no one specific factor. But I think there's just a lot more things that keep people inside these days. So much has changed since I was a young lad. But I would probably just accredit my love for the outdoors just being in Minnesota. There's-- was always close to big trees and animals and fish. And that stuff just fascinated me. And my grandpa was a fisherman. My dad was a fisherman. My uncle Pipe-- I have four older brothers. We were all outside, playing sports or building bike jumps or just the stuff, I think, typical kids do. But I still like that stuff. I'm still into that stuff.

CATHY WURZER: I do, too. I wish I would have gone with you on the fly fishing this coming season. I would have loved that.

CHANCE YORK: We sent you an invite.

CATHY WURZER: I know. What'd you think of it now? That's kind of an art. Fly fishing is an art.

CHANCE YORK: I was not great at it. I caught a lot of trees--

CATHY WURZER: That's OK.

CHANCE YORK: --got a lot of branches, didn't land a fish. But that's OK. Not to spoil the episode or anything, but it was a great day. Ashley, who was my guest that day, was so knowledgeable about so many things in general. I learned a ton talking to her about water temperatures and underwater caves and springs and stuff that are in that area. We're in the Driftless area. And it was hotter than usual. We filmed that one last fall. And it was, like, 90 degrees in October or something like that. So the fish weren't behaving the way they normally do. And the waders I was wearing were just hot.

CATHY WURZER: Yes.

CHANCE YORK: But that experience-- it's always a great experience. When you film an outdoor show, you're really at the mercy of the elements. So in Minnesota, you never really know what you're going to get at any time during the year these days.

CATHY WURZER: You also tried pickleball, something that I want to try sometime soon here. Obviously, it's super popular. But you were up against a national champion. What the heck? You must have been intimidated.

CHANCE YORK: I think that's the theme-- is watch me get beat by people.

CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHING]

CHANCE YORK: So just recalling that log rolling episode, I was also up against the national champ. And she just wiped the floor with me. So she was great. She's got a great spirit. A great coach taught me a lot of things. Not to spoil it or anything, but I did not win-- or I won on one match, either of them.

CATHY WURZER: It's OK. You tried, though. You tried.

CHANCE YORK: I did. And I had a good time doing it. That's really what it comes down to. I don't expect myself to just try something for the first time and be the national champ. So I have low expectations. And I think the viewers do, too, which leaves the door open for me to have surprising-- be surprisingly good at stuff because that happens sometimes, too.

CATHY WURZER: What have you learned about yourself through this process?

CHANCE YORK: I think it's that-- is what I am good at is not taking myself too seriously. But I learned pretty quickly for that reason because I don't expect myself to know-- I'm a-- I'm very much an open-- I'm open to learning. And when I see somebody do something that's fascinating or impressive to me, I'm trying to pick up the wisdom that they have. And that's-- it's definitely a part of my personality, I'd say-- is I'm open to learning. And I'm OK with not being good at stuff. Sometimes, I really suck at something. And that's OK. That's OK.

CATHY WURZER: That is OK. Exactly. So I'm betting that that's also-- maybe plays into your pitch for folks who might be hesitant to try new activities that they might not be comfortable with. Just give it a shot?

CHANCE YORK: Totally. We get really comfortable being good at the things that we're used to, our routines in life, and-- which is great, to be good at stuff. But also, it can become dull. And it can become uninspiring to do the same routine day after day. So a little bit of adventure-- it might be rock climbing or it might be something just like taking another route or taking a walk or whatever. But just the idea of trying something with an unknown outcome or doing something you haven't done before-- there's really a need for that, I think, just for a well balanced person and personality-- is a little bit of adventure.

CATHY WURZER: So let me ask you this. As you know, there's a push for more equity in the outdoors. Why is it important for people of color to see themselves doing all the different things that you do on the show?

CHANCE YORK: It's like anything else. I think representation matters. When you only see, say, a middle-age or old white guy doing something all the time, then it's hard for anybody to be like, that's for me. That's me. And when you just have different types of people, different people, genders, races, languages, when you see somebody that you see yourself in or recognize a similarity to, it's just easier to be like, I could do that. That's a really broad stroke because some people-- their personality-- they see themselves in everybody. And some other people are more specific about who they relate to.

So I think overall, just having representation in the outdoors-- one thing I've learned about doing this show is there's tons of diversity and diverse groups and diverse people that partake in all these activities. And I think the perception is maybe just that they're not being represented on shows or whatever in the advertisements. So I think just a combination of shining the light on people that don't always look like the fit or whatever is just a healthy way of remembering that anybody can be whatever they want. But it's definitely more helpful when you see somebody that reminds you of you, that you could see yourself in.

CATHY WURZER: Well, you've done a great job with the show. The second season is a lot of fun. I love the joy that you bring to the show. Really, you do such a good job. Thanks for talking about the show. And good luck.

CHANCE YORK: Oh my goodness, I just-- I love doing it. I love getting texts from my friends from high school and college and in my past. People are like, oh, this-- I could watch this. I can binge-watch all these episodes. It's fun. And I really do have a lot of joy meeting with these people and seeing Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: And it looks like it. Chance, thank you so much.

CHANCE YORK: Thank you. Good to talk to you.

CATHY WURZER: Likewise. Chance York is the host of Outside Chance. It's online at TPT.org/outside-chance, new episodes released bi-weekly.