Author and TV show host Baratunde Thurston discovered nature amidst the concrete and steel of the nation's capital. “I was born in Washington, D.C., in 1977, very much a city kid who lived close enough to a park to have easy access to it,” he recalls.

But if it hadn’t been for his mother, he never would have pursued nature.

“My mom was a computer programmer, also the hippiest, crunchiest person you’d ever meet. She was into tofu before anybody, yoga before anybody, community gardens. She put me to work in the community garden. She called it an ‘activity,’ but it was labor,” he smiles.

“And I helped feed the family. She was a Sierra Club member, and we went on hikes and camping trips, and I know now with hindsight my mother was trying to keep me alive.”

Baratunde’s father had been killed in a drug deal when the boy was 6.

“Every moment I was in a park or in the woods or on a camping trip or on a boat, I wasn’t on the street,” he says.

“I wasn’t having the negative peer pressure of crack cocaine and all the stuff going on in the ’80s in D.C. And there was a spiritual element to it for her where it was a peaceful place, a place to heal; my mom had a lot to heal from."

Thurston’s bonding with nature has spun into a PBS TV show, “America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston,” arriving for Season 2 on Wednesday. It seems a perfect gig for the 45-year-old as he treks across the U.S. exploring how Americans interact with nature and with each other.

Among his contacts this season is Dan Devereaux, an oyster farmer from Maine, Lisa Gilbert, mayor of a small town in Arkansas, and Kayle Brown, a sharp shooter silver medalist.

“This show has been a great chance to return to my childhood in many ways, but with a smidgen of wisdom,” he says.

Thurston’s happy wanderings transport him to dangerous places as well, like swimming the icy waters of Maine or encountering unlikely companions like alligators in Florida.

“The gators ... they didn’t scare me, maybe because no one around me was afraid either,” he says.

“The rock climbing has a little more treacherousness to it. Tree climbing in Oregon, that was an intense physical (task) with trying to climb an 80-foot tree, that’s a lot,” he says.

Thurston reports he found the individual states both interesting and unique. “So I would go back everywhere I’ve been, truly. Some do call louder than others. Arkansas is one of those states. That was interesting for me in terms of my personal journey. I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve been around the world, I’ve been to almost every state in the Union,” he says.

“I’ve not been to Alaska, and in the Lower 48, until 2023, I had not been to Arkansas. (I’d) literally been to every state around Arkansas. Never even passed through, never had a layover at the airport. It was zero contact. And I went there and I was astounded by the beauty ...”

The series encompasses a variety of states. “You can’t call the show ‘America Outdoors’ and only be in the Northeast or the Southeast or just in the West,” says Thurston. “We got to get around. Within time and budget constraints and all kinds of other elements, we got to get around. And then we’re looking for America. We’re looking for all kinds of representatives of ‘We the People.’”

In the season opener Thurston encounters a 6-foot-long snake and its handler – not one of his favorite assignations. “It was a comedic moment,” recalls Thurston.

“It was a real moment, too, and he’s like, ‘Do you want to hold this thing?’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m good. I’m good.’ So I have to listen to myself. There have been times .... I was like, ‘I don’t know. Paragliding? I’m just not in the habit of walking off of cliffs. You know what? I like stairs and boots and reasonable grades. Planes work well, so I’m going to jump out of them on a daily basis?’ So doing paragliding. That also pushed my comfort. So some things I try, I end up loving. ...”