“I have really good reason to believe that if I hadn’t have been walking down the strip and found that 72-foot tower to climb, that I would be dead or in prison. I have no doubts about that,” says Juan Rodriguez.
Juan is an American citizen, an immigrant and a climber. Today, we follow Juan’s journey from Mexico to climbing shop owner, through illegal border crossings and to the first rock wall he ever climbed on the Las Vegas strip–a chance encounter that altered the trajectory of his life.
Check out Juan’s climbing shop, AntiGravity Equipment.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Nogales by Cleod9 • Slum Canto by Kai Engel • Manly Nunn Steps Out by Doctor Turtle • The Deal by Hopeless Jack • Oh Josephine by Vienna Ditto • Conviction by Little Glass Men • I Dare You by Little Glass Men • The Undefeated by Vienna Ditto
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.
Just finished listening….great podcast about Juan’s experience…..
That was pretty intense, great story and episode.
I love the dirtbag diaries and often listen to them with my kids while returning from some camping adventure. This weekend When we were returning from a camping adventure I was feeling a bit tired from all the constant political noise that has been going on and thought I would relax with a little ducttape then beer outdoor stories. But then I found that politics has also infiltrated what I thought was a safe place. I actually agree with the story about Juan and his family politically and believe we need to do more to help people like him and his family but I just would like to find a place where a political agenda is not being presented.
I hear you on the political exhaustion and I appreciate the thoughtful weigh in. Per the intro to that episode, the righteousness on both sides passing for conversation is troubling to me, but we didn’t sense that in Juan’s story. We sensed that someone was ready to share. I concede that it’s impossible in this day and age to tell a story about a young child immigrating to the US and not have it be deemed political. I also think that stories like Juan’s illustrate a simple point — maybe how we detain young children and families at the border isn’t a political issue, but a moral one. In general that’s a vital point as American’s. What do we agree on morally? And what do we agree on politically? Those two things have grown to be the same and I think that is unfortunate.
I will also say this. I think — we’ve always told thoughtful stories about people striving, growing, struggling and succeeding. While the Diaries can be fun — and damn I love it when it is — it’s also tough. I think of Kyle and Terry’s conversations about death and Kyle’s passing just two years later. I think of 081. It’s interesting, because I think had we run Juan’s story four years ago, it might not have seemed political — just an incredible story of how climbing and the outdoors became a support network for a someone striving against long odds. Times have changed.
Again, thank you for the thoughtful comment.
Thanks for making an episode that really matters, Fitz. This is the kind of story-telling that made me fall in love with the Diaries in the first place. I’m stoked to see y’all’s stories doing the same!