Nooooooo

Was clear as day when you’d cry like a little kid when that friend of yours Jesse would come on. Could hear your crying jealously through every word. Hoping you rupture some pulleys kid.

In a recent episode, Steven once again railed against health, agreeing with his guest who said, “We are the most unhealthy we’ve ever been, including during the Industrial Revolution,”—when life expectancy was less than 40. Before antibiotics, vaccines, and widespread grocery stores for readily available organic staples. When people worked like dogs to survive, crowding out time for bouldering projects and self-absorption. At least there weren’t podcasts then. This everything-was-better-in-the-past narrative from disenfranchised influencers (who serve no useful role in society) is ruining all that is good.

As a partner of an autistic individual and parent of an autistic child I’m shocked he had on a guest that is so clueless they tried to link diet to autism. Such a link has not been validated by any sort of research and the fact that he just lets guests spread harmful misinformation and tropes demonstrates he shouldn’t even be doing this in the first place. This was atrocious to sit through.

The nugget had been a favorite podcast for a while and I’ve previously been a patreon supporter. I was pretty bummed when in the political episode, women’s rights and access to abortion was laughed about so carelessly. I’d previously enjoyed how thoughtful and nuanced the nugget is so I was pretty surprised to find it so dismissive. Steven did a separate episode later explaining he would post another episode from a different perspective which I was looking forward to hearing however nothing was ever posted… I continue to listen with the right interviewee but no longer enjoy it as much. 4 star podcast minus 1 star for pushing views that women should just move state if abortion is important to them, followed by laughter suggesting access to abortion shouldn’t be a big deal.

Your pod rocks! Great interviewer and good pace. I don’t judge people for having opposing beliefs and strong convictions. I can appreciate one’s stance. I don’t look through the lens of political buzz words like “inclusion” or DEI rhetoric. Your pod is awesome. Keep it up buddy!

Awesome podcast with great info! Thank you 💕✨

it’s a good podcast sir

All the self-righteous mob think woke-tards who pollute the climbing community can't keep this guy down. Good guy who doesn't need to pander to his audience..it's not only okay to think differently but critical to survival.

My favorite climbing podcast! I’ve learned so much and enjoyed so many good stories! Thanks Steven

This podcast is a great way to take your own climbing to the next level and expose climbers to amazing people that can even help them personally on their own climbing journeys! I was lucky enough to be listening to the episodes about finger injuries with Matt Heyliger right as I was dealing with my first one. Because of The Nugget, I reached out to Matt myself and had an amazing experience working with him. He helped me rehab a pulley injury within a month of my climbing trip to Red Rock, NV. Had the best trip of my life & that would never have happened with The Nugget introducing me to Matt, so grateful for everything Steven is doing for the climbing community!

I think patreon subscribers have dropped 20% since the fiasco political alienation of his listener base

Love the show. Learned a lot.

Just a ton of great info from so many different humans. It includes stuff for different body types, genders, skill levels, etc. Keep up the great work Steven!

Unfortunately there aren’t many climbing podcasts, luckily for us, we got an amazing host who has had a multitude of super stars in the climbing community on to talk.

In seeing other reviews I have listened to 245 and I appreciated it! I’ll also say that I hope the podcast doesn’t venture too far from climbing.

Great show. The human interest component keeps me coming back. Steve elicits sincerity from people with ease. He’s as much of a student of people as he is of climbing.

Highly recommend you give this one a try. I’ve listened to a lot of climbing podcasts and this is the one I keep coming back to. Steven asks great questions and generally has really interesting guests.

Thoughtful, big guests. Cancel culture must stop

Steven does a great job interviewing! Thanks!

Steven is the man, listen to every episode.

The political podcast was his undoing. They denigrated and made light issues felt by real people. To wit: “abortion isn’t a legal issue” with no pushback by the host. And the guest was Harvard educated. My, my. Otherwise, I’ve listened for years as Steven ran around and around the hamster wheel, never getting anywhere.

What started as a show about climbing training has become Steven taking years to continually whine about his lack of improvement and make the show centered around his own insecurities. It then became a platform to spread misinformation and constantly talk about himself instead. Such a shame because the guests are people we want to hear from but he botches every interview.

As a healthcare professional, listening to the medical misinformation in this show made me have serious doubts about the veracity of the rest of it. Too bad; seemed like it had potential.

I’ve started writing and deleted this review a few times. Steven, I just want to start by saying you are loved and I hope you are doing okay. I’ve really appreciated the conversations you’ve had in the past. I want to explain why I am changing my review to one star and cancelling my patreon subscription, at least for the time being. I think you dropped the ball as a voice for inclusion in climbing on episode 245. I don’t think you deserve pushback for where you’ve arrived in your own beliefs, and I hear what you are saying about trade offs in a two party system even if I disagree strongly with where you’ve ended up. As a podcast host and someone who has a powerful voice in the community, when you decide to talk about politics and platform someone who is pro Trump you have a responsibility to talk about how a trump administration would impact the people in the climbing community. Part of the platform trump ran on is limiting access to gender affirming care and trans exclusion in sports. Having this discussion without even a nod towards that was doing this community was a disservice. I feel the need to let you know that and to vote with my dollar. I don’t think you personally agree with a lot of what Kaizen was saying about the Trump’s claims about the election or abortion (can you imagine saying to your female climbing friends “just move to another state”?) but you did him and Donald Trump a huge service by amplifying their talking points and messages and their success will hurt this community and many others.

If you enjoy lots of whining in vain about your injuries or inability to get stronger this is the podcast. There are many better climbing and training podcasts available with solid information and interviews.

Yum! If you haven’t eaten all day and you’re in the mood for a hot, fresh buffet of brazen, negligent media illiteracy then I wholeheartedly recommend episode 245! I don’t think I’ll need to eat another plate for a whole week after that one. Color me satisfied 😊

I very much enjoy this podcast. I am a avid climber of 16yrs so obviously a climbing podcast would appeal to me. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the depth of this podcast. Steven continually digs deeper to find more meaning in people, places, and conversations. I appreciate that it’s not just a echo chamber but at times this podcast has challenged me in climbing as well as my deeper beliefs. Keep doing what your doing and I will keep listening.

What a load of trash. Steven, you have issues. Seek professional guidance for your orthorexia and seek a proper education for literally everything else.

Thank you for sticking your neck out and broaching this taboo topic. I love to climb and talk health and politics, thanks for bringing all these themes together in a beautiful calm and thought provoking interview!

Other climbing podcasts are better anyway nowadays.

Was a Patreon supporter for year, pulled support and stopped listening when Steven continued to platform content that was extremely miss informed from a healthcare perspective and did not prioritize women’s rights.

Thank you for being brave enough to share your thought out opinion even if we don’t see eye to eye. The world needs for grave, love and understanding.

Been listening for a while and loved the expertise and perspective that Steven brought to climbing content. I don’t have an issue with hosts offering their perspective on the issues of the day, even outside their usual content, but Steven’s recent pro-Trump episode demonstrates such a stunning lack of any expert opinion, inability to fact-check or even attempt to verify the “facts” presented by this guest, and a absolutely blindness to his own privilege to the extent that he is simply untrustable and undeserving of our respect. Vote for Trump if you want. Vote however you want, but if you want to put out an episode addressing these issues you better be ready with actual verifiable facts, expert opinions (not some former gamer bro), and a humane approach that demonstrates basic respect for your listeners. If pro-Trump, anti-civil rights, hyper masculine content is your thing, definitely follow. If you enjoy basic humanity and empathy, I’d look to just about anywhere else in the climbing-verse

This was one of my goto climbing podcasts for years until the host went full clown 🤡 and pivoted to politics after amassing heaps of subscribers. I genuinely don’t care what a person’s politics are. Left, right, or even faaaaar right cultists - keep it to yourself. We came to hear about climbing, not your deluded opinions about the dumpster fire that’s American politics.

Dimwit has been spreading nutrition misinformation for a while, so this is not totally surprising, but definitely disappointing.

This was my favorite climbing podcast for years and I’ve been a paid subscriber for several years, but I can’t in good conscience support the recent turn to MAGA content. I hope Steven is ok from whatever pulled him down this rabbit hole and I hope the podcast turns around, but for now I’ve canceled my patreon and unsubscribed

Went from interesting climbing to platforming seriously problematic people and ideas. Seriously disappointed that Steven has devolved to the level of not even considering women to be human enough to be on the same level of importance as an organic banana.

Looking for someone to promote Trump, RFK Jr, and Jordan Peterson? Need more podcast bros questioning sexual assault allegations? Well the Nugget Climbing Podcast has made the rightwing turn and ditched the climbing talk to go pro-Grab Her By The P**** MAGA

You’ve lost the plot. Unsubscribed.

Perfect mix of great conversation, helpful climbing info, and insightful reflection

Steven makes incredible effort to create long-form podcasts that feel like you get an insiders view to an intimate conversation. He follows each guest to where they’d like to go, so don’t rate the podcast based on if you agree with a particular episode. I have loved the podcasts I haven’t related to as much as the ones I have because I appreciate the curiosity that Steven leads with, it rubs off on me. What a wonderful contribution to show off climbers with incredible depth, individuality, and passion. This podcast is eternally on my top. Highly recommend adding it to your list. 10/10!

I’ve been listening to the Nugget for a long time and I love it! There are some topics I’m not interested in, but the diversity of the guests and conversations keep it interesting. I’m often learning knew things that I wasn’t expecting from just a “climbing podcast.” I’m happy to be a Patron!

This is my favorite podcast and the only climbing podcast I listen to. I was a big fan of this podcast when I was first introduced to it. I was interviewed on the show in September of 2023 (ep. 187) and was not surprised to find that Steven is exactly the person who I expected him to be based on how he presents himself on the show. Steven is a bridge between the incredible athletes he interviews, and the climbing community audience. As someone who values transparent and real conversation, this podcast provides exactly what humanity is craving: deep connection. I’m thankful that this podcast provides this for our small, niche community.

My favorite podcast. Steven is so good at asking questions - about climbing, yes, but more importantly, about the person to whom he’s speaking. I always come away with some nugget (see what I did there) of insight, often unrelated to climbing. Keep up the good work!!

The Nugget is one of the great climbing shows of all time. World class interviewing of a really wide range of interesting people. Maybe not every guest is your personal cup of tea, but everyone can learn something from every episode if you’re open minded and curious. Which I feel like is a core value in climbing.

Always look forward to Steven and guests. So many pearls.

I love the wide range of guests and topics and have greatly benefited as a climber (and person) from the different explorations into training, mental game, sustainability, community, and so much more. Steven puts so much of himself into this podcast and it shows, I love the conversational style that makes me feel like I'm in the room with everyone.

He also has a v wide range of climbers on, he does thorough prep for each episode, a pleasure to listen to. I appreciate all the effort he goes through to make the podcasts easy to navigate like the chapter markers and the supporting posts on his website. If you don’t care for an episode, just wait for the next! They’re frequent so you won’t wait long for something interesting.

Steven does a wonderful job of preparing for interviews, conducting thoughtful interviews, and putting out well edited podcasts with a wide ranging set of guests that explore the myriad ways of being a climber. That ranges from interviews with the cutting edge in bouldering, lead and trad climbing, along with elite and everyday climbers. Yes, there are ads, but it’s easy to fast forward or subscribe to get an ad-free experience. And yes, not every interview will be to your tastes — maybe listen to the person of color talking about her experience as a climber and you might change your mind, or skip it and come around next week for an interview about the next cutting edge hang board protocol that you really want to hear about.